It appears that it was on the suggestion of Francis van Coudenberg that
the three holy priests resolved to abandon Brussels to seek elsewhere for
themselves a refuge of greater security and retirement. It was through
the influence also of van Coudenberg with John III., Duke of Brabant,
that they obtained the cession of an ideal property for their purpose,
the hermitage, namely, of Groenendael, with its lands and lake.
The spot had already been sanctified by the prayers and penances of holy
recluses for nigh forty years. The first to retire thither had been one
John Busch, of the ducal house of Brabant, who, weary of the strife,
frivolities, and perils of court life, obtained from his kinsman, John
II., leave to retire into the forest of Soignes, to build himself a hut
and enclose a space of land there to be cultivated with his own hands for
his support. The deed of gift was dated the Friday after the Assumption
of Mary, 1304, and it stipulated that on the death or departure of the
grantee, another hermit should take his place, and so on for ever. In
effect, the noble John Busch was succeeded by one Arnold of Diest, who,
on entering, made a vow never to sally forth save on festivals for the
purpose of hearing Mass and receiving Holy Communion in the Parish Church
of St. Clement at Hoolaert. God rewarded this generous sacrifice by a
singular favour: Arnold was passionately devoted to the memory of the
Holy Apostles and Martyrs of Rome, and he was transported in spirit so
frequently thither that the shrines and sanctuaries of the Eternal City
became as familiar to him as to a native. When in a green old age he came
to die, Arnold surprised the bystanders with the request that he should
be laid to rest in the hermitage grounds. They objected that the
enclosure was not consecrated: he responded that one day it would be the
site of a monastery, the home of saintly Religious, and the Mother-house
of a holy congregation. However, he was buried in the Parish Church of
Hoolaert before the altar of St. Nicholas. His successor, Lambert, the
last of the Groenendael hermits, was so poor in spirit as not to be
attached even to his cell. He cheerfully yielded place to John Hinckaert,
van Coudenberg, and Ruysbroeck, and retired to a cell which they had
procured for him at Hoetendael, the modern Uccle. Groenendael was handed
over to the three companions by the Duke of Brabant on Easter Wednesday,
1343, on the condition that they should forthwith erect a house to
accommodate a community of at least five, two of whom should be priests
_viventes religiose_.
The taking of possession is recorded in the Groenendael Chronicle thus:
"In 1344 the aforesaid, with the bishop's consent, began to build a
chapel in Groenendael. And the Vicars of Lord Guy, then Bishop of
Cambrai, inspected the building on March 13, 1344, and decreed that it
should be consecrated, together with a cemetery adjacent, two altars, and
other necessary appurtenances. On the same day of the same year the said
Vicars conferred on Dom Francis the cure of the brethren, the household,
and the servants, appointing him their Father and Parish Priest. Then the
same year, on March 17, the Venerable Lord Brother Matthias, Bishop of
the Church of Trebizond (Coadjutor of Cambrai), by faculty and licence of
the said Vicars of the Lord Bishop Guy, consecrated the aforesaid first
church in the honour of St. James, and erected it into a Parochial Church
for the same Dom Francis, his brethren and household."
For five years Dom Francis van Coudenberg and his companions continued to
live thus in community, bound by no other rule than their own profound
spirit of prayer and intense desire of perfection. Nor were they long
left to enjoy alone the solitude of their retreat. Many sought admission
into their company; still larger numbers flocked from Brussels and
elsewhere to seek spiritual aid and consolation. If he had consulted his
own inclination and bent, Ruysbroeck would have denied himself to all;
but van Coudenberg represented that they should not in charity refuse
assistance to souls in need. And Blessed John yielded the more easily,
remarks one of his biographers, because for his part he was assured of
being able to repose in God amid the most distracting calls and absorbing
occupations.
One of their earliest associates, John van Leeuwen, attained a high
reputation for sanctity. A poor and ignorant layman of Afflighem, he had
offered his services as their domestic _gratis_. Before long he was known
far and wide as the "Good Cook of Groenendael." The multitude of visitors
upon whom he was called to attend left him but little leisure, yet he
found time not only to be absorbed in prayer and contemplation, but even
to compose treatises of an exalted spirituality. Like his master
Ruysbroeck, whom he venerated profoundly, he was deeply recollected amid
the most exacting duties, and frequently he was favoured with heavenly
visions. It was while in a state of ecstasy that the sublime gifts and
heroic holiness of Blessed John were revealed to him; ever after no terms
seemed to him too exalted in which to describe the worth of the servant
of God. The general esteem in which van Leeuwen himself was held is
sufficiently attested by the inscription on his tomb: "Reliquiae Fratris
Joannis de Leeuwis vulgo Boni Coci viri a Deo illuminati et scriptis
mysticis clari obiit anno MCCCLXXVII. V. Februarii." _The Remains of
Brother John van Leeuwen, commonly called the Good Cook, a man
enlightened by God and renowned for his mystic writings. He died February
5, 1377._
Much more distracting to the recluses than the frequent visits of pilgrim
penitents or the arrival of fresh neophytes was the constant coming and
going of huntsmen from the household of the Duke of Brabant. The forest
of Soignes, in which Groenendael is situate, was a favourite resort for
the chase, and the position of the hermitage itself, within a few miles
of the capital, made it a very convenient place of rest and refreshment
for the hunters and their hounds. But the noise and bustle attendant on
such company were scarcely conducive to the spirit of prayer, and the
demands thus made on the hospitality of the young Community were a heavy
drain on its resources. Nevertheless the solitaries were naturally
fearful of giving offence to the followers of their Patron the Duke.
Moreover, since they were not established as a regular Religious
Community, they could not claim the privileges of the cloister.
V