Dear Friends,
October 6 is the feast day of St. Bruno, the founder of the Carthusian order.
Delve into Church history a bit, and eventually you learn how the Carthusians never had to be reformed … because they were never deformed.
One trait that has served them well is their austere lifestyle, renowned even among other religious.
That austerity marks the lone Carthusian monastery in North America, in Vermont.
A writer who visited the monastery recalled one (apparently faint-hearted) visitor: “One arrived by taxi, without luggage, of course, entered the building, approached his cell, then stopped, turned around, and sped back to the same taxi, never to return.”
Few are called to the hardscrabble life of a Carthusian. But all of us can learn something practical from the monks, namely, to be willing to embrace tough choices and stick with them.
What might those tough choices be? Perhaps getting rid of cable TV or streaming services. Or going back to flip phones if the smart ones make a mess of our spiritual lives. Or purging our homes of every superfluous gadget or item of clothing or piece of furniture.
Given the state of the culture, now is as good a time to make radical decisions to change the contours of our lives.
In a world that prizes wealth and pleasure, we can gain a lot by cultivating a spirit of poverty and austerity.
To that end, it might be helpful to pray with our Retreat Guide on the First Beatitude.
The Carthusians have endured, thanks in part to their asceticism. That’s a trait that could help the rest of us who must live more embedded in the world.
In Christ,
Father Edward McIlmail, LC
Ask a Priest contributor
