God, a Woman, and the Way [antikvár]

Our HopeIN THE HANDS OF A WOMANHOLY WEEK for a Trappist is something tremendous. It is the noisiest of all the weeks in his swift, silent cycle of fifty-two. For he opens it with "Hosannas" that once shook the City^^ of Jerusalem, and closes it with "Alleluias" that have shaken the centuries, and will ever shake the City of God. But what lies between shakes the Trappist's very soul.We monks are contemplatives. Now that means only one thing. It means that we are under serious and holy obligation to strive ever to live in Christ Jesus. In recent years much has been written on contemplation; but I fear there has been altogether too much brilliance and too little Ught, so we look for clarity in vain. Yet, Augustine summed the whole thing up in three words long centuries ago. He simply said: Vivere in Verbo. There you have the essence and even the quintessence of the contemplative life. There you have the complete description of a contemplative. He is one who strives ever to live in the Word. Imagine, if you can, what that means to us monks in Holy Week, when you realize that Jesus is the Word.Jesus was a contemplative. From Him undoubtedly, and perhaps in Holy Week, Augustine got his definition and description. For it is in this week that Christ takes the center of the stage and shows us, as never before, just what a contemplative is and what a contemplative does. You and I and all our fellow men were the object of Christ's contemplation.1