Religious and Monastic Life Explained by Dom Prosper Guéranger ~ Chapter V: On Faith

The fear of the Lord, so necessary to every Christian, docility to His teachings, the study of His precepts, abhorrence for all that He condemns, all these assume the virtue of faith, which alone reveals to us Jesus Christ, His rights over us and what we have to fear if we do not listen to His voice.

Faith is the beginning of our salvation: by it we come into contact with God; without it, we should remain in darkness; if our faith is lively, we are full of light; if it is weak, then our entire soul becomes languid. Therefore the Apostle says: “Without faith, it is impossible to please God.” (Heb. xi, 6.)

Now, the faithful in the world can maintain their relations with God only by means of this virtue, which places before them the sublime motives which must regulate their lives. How, then, can the religious preserve the life of his soul and advance on the more perfect way which he must constantly pursue, unless he possess a lively faith? Hence our great duty of acquiring this virtue in an eminent degree and making a steady progress in it. In order to accomplish this, turn to God, and ask Him for an increase of this admirable gift, beseeching Him with the Apostles: “Domine, adauge nobis fidem.” (Luke xvii, 5.) Aspire constantly after the supernatural, and learn to appreciate and to judge all things from the standpoint of faith alone. It is that of God Himself, who mercifully sent into our midst His purest light to prevent our minds from going astray and our corrupt nature from failing into error.

The state to which you aspire is foolishness in the eyes of the world. Experience will show, that it is possible to succeed in it only if, with singleness of purpose, you model your thoughts, impressions, even your inclinations, after the life and actions of our Lord, which have nothing in common with what is purely natural, after the holy Rule, which involves conditions altogether contrary to those induced by our natural propensities and finally, after the example of the Saints, who victoriously put nature under foot because, being foolish in the eyes of the world, they were filled with the wisdom of God.

Strive constantly to effect this union in thought and intention with Jesus Christ and His saints. Establish yourselves firmly in faith and the safety of your entire spiritual edifice will be assured. Experience will make it evident to you that your perseverance will be certain so long as this foundation remains unshaken, but that as soon as it threatens to collapse, you, like the Christian in the world, will be unable to retain your foothold on that height to which you were guided by faith and where faith alone can uphold you. The prophet tells us, “The just shall live in his faith.” (Hab. ii, 4.) If this be true of the simple Christian, how much more of the religious! Faith must be his element, his nourishment, his joy, his delight; for it is first and principally through faith that God communicates Himself to man and transforms and supernaturalizes his life.

The eyes of those faithful to grace are opened by this divine light, and all things appear in a purer and fuller aspect. The world and this present life are transformed in their sight. They clearly behold the immensity of God and the nothingness of the creature. The goodness of God, the honour and happiness attained in denying one’s self for his sake, the insignificance of the sacrifices involved in following Him are then unfolded and fill them with joy and peace. All these blessings we owe to faith. Its holy enthusiasm should be ever active in us and should be constantly renewed by giving thanks to God, who has condescended to enlighten us, and also by earnest prayer for the increase in us of this ineffable gift.

Let the spirit of faith breathe forth in all your words and actions. You should be most responsive to everything that promotes it, but should shrink from that which is contrary to, or hinders it. From it arises a supreme reverence for whatever has reference to God and a tender veneration of holy things, even the least of them. Those objects should be particularly dear to you which are sanctified by the prayers of the Church and bear direct or indirect reference to the supernatural. Living in this blessed atmosphere which the spirit of faith diffuses around the faithful soul, you will be safe against numberless dangers and discern more distinctly the voice of God within you. Another effect of this state, which should be common to all Christians, is the perceptible diminution of the power exercised over the soul by Satan, who generally opens his attacks by awakening the spirit of rationalism, which is, however, neutralized instantly by faith.

Let it be understood that the faith so necessary for us does not consist in that purely intellectual conviction of the truth of Christianity which may also be obtained from study and observation. Most assuredly, reason must be employed to the degree granted by God for gaining an unshaken conviction of the fact of divine revelation and the reality of the mysteries by means of which God condescends to come into relation with man. It may, however, be easily noticed, from practical life, that this faith is not sufficient for the sanctification of man. The evil spirits and the damned in hell have this faith and are neither saved nor converted by it. It is the virtue of faith, and not the more or less learned deduction of the arguments of the teachers, that saves and converts. The Christian believes, because he wills to believe; because he is humble before God; because he knows that God will impart His light to the simple of heart; and that the faith of reason remains sterile as long as it is not supplemented by the faith of the heart.

To aspire to this virtue of faith must, therefore, be the first concern of the religious. He should, so to say, possess it in a higher degree than that necessary for the simple faithful, since he is called to a closer union with God, who dwells in an inaccessible light, in the midst of which we must, to avoid being blinded, close our mortal eyes in love and confidence.

From this it follows that the religious should profess unbounded adherence to holy Church, which has been intrusted by her Divine Spouse with the special charge of leading us to this light. Let us not be content with submitting our reason to the formal decisions of her whom the Apostle calls “the pillar and ground of truth.” (Tim. iii. 15) Let our hearts also incline towards the pious beliefs which she favours, and be filled with horror by everything that deviates from her holy teachings, assured that we shall be in the right as long as we remain united with her in even the least point of doctrine. Let us inquire into the different ways by which the spirit of God worketh in her and resolve to conform heart and soul to the slightest manifestation of her views and desires. And since the centre of truth and life in the holy Church is the Apostolic See, we will profess a tender devotedness to all the prerogatives of the Roman Pontiff: to his infallibility in doctrine, to his full and divine authority over the entire Church, which is greater than the authority of any other power on earth, even the Oecumenical Council, because he is the true Vicar of Christ. Let us beware of the contrary teaching, which is incompatible with true science, as well as with the spirit of faith. * If anyone be unable to divest himself of the prejudices which he may have imbibed on this point in the world, he should withdraw rather than injure himself and others by remaining in a society whose first law is adherence to the Roman doctrine, concerning the divinely established monarchy of the Church.

Finding us united to His Spouse by the bond of sincere submission, the Divine Saviour will diffuse in us this spirit of faith which will become a reservoir of all graces, the principle of a supernatural enlightenment that shall guide and confirm us in all things and prepare us to behold, for all eternity, in unveiled splendour, that indescribable light whose faintest ray we shall have prized so dearly even in this world.

* These pages were written by the author long before the Vatican Council. Dom Guéranger, in reviving the Benedictine Order in France, demanded, as we see, an explicit Profession of belief in the infallibility of the Supreme Pontiff as a necessary condition of admittance into the novitiate.