Blessed John Ruysbroeck, surnamed the Admirable and the Divine Doctor, by
common consent the greatest Mystic the Low Countries have ever produced,
was born, A.D. 1293, at Ruysbroeck, a village some miles south of
Brussels, lying between that city and Hal. According to the fashion of
those days, especially with Religious, he was named after his birthplace,
John van Ruysbroeck, or John Ruysbroeck. The Venerable a Kempis, the
Latinised form of van Kempen, is a case in point; Thomas was so named
after his native town, Kempen, though his patronymic was Haemerken. Of
Ruysbroeck, however, we know of no other surname; neither do his
biographers so much as mention his father. But like many another great
servant of God, John was blessed with a good mother, a devout woman who
trained her child from the cradle to walk in the paths of Christian piety
and perfection. She is charged with only one fault, that she loved her
son too tenderly!
Perhaps we are to understand by this that the poor woman opposed the
boy's early aspirations after a more retired life than could be found
even in the peaceful shelter of his own pious home. This would also
explain John's first recorded act. At the age of eleven years he ran away
from home! How many a lad before and since has torn himself away from a
loving mother's too fond embrace to quell the ardour of a restless spirit
in the quest of adventure! John also was eager and dissatisfied; but the
larger sphere for which he sighed was to be sought along the unaccustomed
ways which lead to the sublime heights and the rarified atmosphere of
mystic contemplation.
The pious truant made his way to Brussels, there to call upon an uncle of
his, one John Hinckaert, a major Canon of St. Gudule's. The son and heir
of a wealthy magistrate of the city, and possessed, moreover, of a rich
benefice, for many years John Hinckaert had been somewhat worldly in his
ways; but one day Divine grace found him out as he was listening to a
sermon, and drew him sweetly and strongly to a life of extreme simplicity
and mortification. His example was soon followed by a fellow Canon, by
name Francis van Coudenberg, a Master of Arts, possessed of considerable
means, and a man of great repute with the people. These two agreed, for
their mutual edification and support, to live together in common. Their
material requirements were reduced to the barest necessaries; and the
surplus of their revenue was distributed among the poor. In this devout
household the lad John met with a kindly welcome; and there he found at
once a home after his own heart in an atmosphere saturated with
"other-worldliness" and prayer. His good uncle also took charge of his
education. For four years Ruysbroeck followed the ordinary course of
Humanities in the public schools of Brussels, and then, with a view to
the priesthood, he devoted himself to the more congenial study of the
sacred sciences.
Meanwhile the bereaved mother had discovered the place of John's retreat
and had quitted her village of Ruysbroeck to reside with him at Brussels.
As, however, she was not permitted to dwell in the Presbytery, she made
her abode in a _Beguinage_ hard by. Thus she had at least the consolation
of seeing her son from time to time. She must have been much comforted
also for the deprivation of his company by the constant evidence of his
growing sanctity. And, further, we are assured that she set herself to
make profit of her sacrifice by emulating in her own person the holy life
of her son John, and his saintly masters, Hinckaert and van Coudenberg.