MORE POPE THAN YOU
Purity and simplicity having been always potent factors in the
development of the spiritual life, it followed, as the night the day,
that Cluny's ever-growing indulgencies and luxury, while they sapped
her own strength, laid her open to supercession by the devotees of an
uncorrupted order. By the time of Pierre le Vénérable, that rival had
already arisen. The Cistercian Order, under the rule of St. Bernard, at
Clairvaux, had already supplanted Cluny as the first religious power
of Europe. The story of the rise of Citeaux is full of legendary and
historical interest.
About the middle of the eleventh century, Eringarde, the wife of
Theodoric, a nobleman of Normandy, was about to become a mother. On
the eve of the expected birth, the Holy Virgin appeared to the lady,
and showed to her a golden ring, saying: "With this ring I betrothe
to myself the son whom you shall bring into the world." The child was
baptized under the name of Robert. When he was grown up, and had heard
the story of his mother's vision, he left his native home, and betook
himself to Burgundy, there to consecrate a monastery to the cult of
God and St. Mary. The spot he chose for the foundation, in the year
1075, was in the forest of Molême, beyond Châtillon. There a company
of fellow anchorites built, of the branches of trees, a chapel in
honour of the Virgin, and there, in that solitude, they led a life so
austere, so laborious, so fervent, that the monks of Molême came to be
known rather as angels than men.
But, before many years had passed, abundance and prosperity had brought
about a general lassitude, and departure from the austerity of the
early rule. Robert's disciples mutinied against their Abbot, who then
knew that the time for departure was come. Early in the year 1098,
a little band of Benedictine monks, twenty-one in number, including
Robert, the prior, and sub-prior, might have been seen issuing from
the abbey gateway of Molême. They took with them no other provision
for their travels than the vestments and sacred vessels for the
celebration of the most holy mysteries, and a large breviary for the
due performance of the divine office. Through wild and rugged paths, by
mountain and forest, they journeyed on, chanting the divine praises,
until, in the midst of the great plain of Burgundy, they came upon a
vast solitude, the haunt of wild beasts, which, among the forest trees,
found shelter in the underwood and brambles. Here, as they wended their
way along the banks of a stream, beside reed-fringed, stagnant pools,
where only the discordant cry of the water-fowl broke the awful silence
of nature, the travellers heard a voice from Heaven, crying "Sistite
hic!" (halt here), and knew that this forest was the spot in which God
willed that they should serve Him.
Obtaining grant of the land, and aid, from Eudes, Duke of Burgundy, and
the Vicomte de Beaune, whose it was, they raised their monastery, which
was solemnly dedicated, on the 21st March, 1098, to the Virgin Mary,
and named Citeaux, in memory of the divine command they had heard.[98]
St. Robert stayed only for one year in Citeaux, before an order of
the sovereign pontiff recalled him to Molême; but the new monastery
continued to flourish under the guidance of Stephen Harding, a young
English monk.
About this time it pleased the Virgin to show conspicuously to the
brethren her good pleasure in the life they were leading in her honour.
One day, when they were chanting matins, Mary, Queen of Heaven and
Earth, resplendent in glory, appeared to them with the first rays of
the dawn, and, in a moment, with a touch of her hand, changed the tawny
robes of the Cistercians into garments of spotless purity. The vision
vanished; but cowl and tunic retained the dazzling brilliancy of snow.
Then the pious cenobites understood that they must adopt,
henceforth, the white dress, as symbol of her--that flawless
lily-of-the-valley--whose servants they were, and towards whose
unspotted purity they were ever to strive.[99]
In after years, when the black monks reproached the Cistercians with
wearing a garment fit only for a time of joy, whilst the monastic state
was one of penitence, the white monks would answer, that the religious
life was not only one of penitence, but was like that of the angels,
and therefore they wore white garments to show the spiritual joy of
their hearts.[100] The Cistercian habit bore about it another touch of
grace, derived from long and holy association. In the black scapular,
worn over the white tunic, broad about the shoulders, then falling in
a narrow strip to the feet, they saw the form of the Lord's cross, and
thus they loved to bear it about with them, even in their sleep.[101]
And notwithstanding their coarser bread, hard beds, and clothing no
better than that of the peasantry, there was ever a cheerfulness about
the Cistercians that comes always to him whose heart beats in sympathy
with the warm heart of mother nature, whose work lay where their days
were passed, not in towns, but in sequestered valleys and lonely
uplands, among fruitful vineyard, meadow, and cornfield.
After a while, upon Citeaux, too, in its turn, came evil days, when
one by one the monks fell away and died, until Stephen began to doubt
whether the austerities of his rule were not above human strength, and
to fear that God had willed the destruction of the new community. One
day, when he, with his brothers, was seated at the bed-side of a dying
priest, he told the sufferer of his fear, and ordered him, in Christ's
Name, to return from among the dead, and reveal to him God's Will
concerning the future of the Abbey.
The monk promised to do so, in so far as might be permitted him. Then
he died.
Some days after the passing of that brother, Stephen, at work in the
fields, gave the signal for rest. Withdrawing himself from the others,
he knelt down to pray, when the dead monk, ashine with heavenly light,
and seeming rather to float above the ground than to be standing upon
it, appeared to him.
"Father," said he, "The Lord Christ has sent me to tell you that
your way of life is good in His sight, and that the desolation and
sterility of Citeaux are about to pass away. Soon your children will be
saying to you, 'Make room for us; the abode is too narrow; enlarge its
boundaries.' Multitudes of men will come to range themselves beneath
your crook, and among them shall be many learned ones, and many a lord.
Your disciples, in number as bees when they swarm, shall go hence to
found new abbeys in far off lands."
Not long after this vision, one evening, in the year 1113, whilst
Stephen and the remnant of his little flock were imploring God to
fulfil His promises, a band of thirty persons, under the guidance of a
young man, was slowly traversing the forest towards the abbey. Soon the
sound of the iron knocker, clanging upon the gate, summoned the porter,
whose bell announced the arrival of strangers. The new-comers entered,
prostrated themselves at the feet of Stephen, and begged to be admitted
into the number of his monks. They were a notable company; young lords,
noble in feature and deportment, from among the greatest houses in
Burgundy; older men who had shone in the councils of princes, and had
worn, hitherto, only the furred mantle, or the steel hauberk, now to be
exchanged for the lowly cowl of St. Benedict.
"At the head of the troops was a young man of about twenty-three years
of age, of exceeding beauty. He was rather tall of stature, his neck
long and delicate, his whole frame very thin like that of a man in
weak health. His hair was of a light colour, and his complexion fair;
but with all its pallor, there was a virgin bloom spread over the thin
skin of his cheek; an angelic purity and a dove-like simplicity shone
forth from his eye, which showed at once the serene chastity of his
soul."[102] Such, in aspect, was Bernard, the young saint, who, before
many years had passed, was to be the dominant force in the policies of
western Europe.
Bernard's origin was not less worthy than that of his companions.
His father, Tescelin le Roux (the Red), could trace back his descent
through the chevaliers of old, to immemorial times. Born at Châtillon
on Seine, he belonged to the seigneurial family of that town, though he
resided much at his castle of Fontaines-les-Dijon, where Bernard was
born, only a short distance from the Burgundian capital. Tescelin's
wife, Alethea, was descended in direct line from the Counts of
Montbard, and through them was connected with the Dukes of Burgundy,
in whose court, as counsellor of Eudes I. and Hugues II., Tescelin was
high in favour. He was a man of honour, strong and firm of character;
she, a girl of fifteen at the time of her marriage, was of gentle
disposition, sorrowing often because God had seen fit to thwart her
leanings towards the cloister life. As the mother of Bernard, third
of her seven children, a yet nobler destiny was reserved for her.
Shortly before the birth of this third child, there came to Alethea a
mysterious dream, in which she seemed to see, imprisoned within her
own body, a little red and white dog, who barked without ceasing.
Astonished and troubled by this vision, she consulted a priest, as to
what it might mean. His interpretation filled her heart with joy.
"Fear not," said he, "You are to become the mother of a marvellous
child. Like unto a faithful dog he will keep guard over the House of
the Lord, and shall make his cry heard against the enemies of the
faith. He shall surpass all other preachers, and his word, full of
light and authority, shall be the saving of many."[103]
The young child in every way fulfilled the heavenly promise; yet,
for many a year, he was torn mentally between the calls of the world
and of the cloister; both in his early training at the schools of
Châtillon-sur-Seine, and later, when in spiritual solitude, at the
château of Fontaines, he looked down upon the dead body of his
mother. The world would not yield, without a struggle, so promising
a recruit as Bernard, whose father, never dreaming that the gates of
the monastery were soon to close upon him too, was not alone in his
endeavours to keep his son from the religious life.
Bernard, however, was proof against all persuasion; nor was it long
before his fast-developing strength of character and conviction caused
him, in his turn, to become the aggressor. One by one the brothers were
won over, until, at last, all, save Gérard, were upon Bernard's side.
Resolute, he still turned with indignation from all the young saint's
proposals. Bernard laid his hand upon his brother's side:
"I see," said he, "that misfortune alone can enlighten thee. A day is
coming, and it is not far off, when a lance shall pierce this body, and
open, towards the heart, an easy passage to the thought of salvation."
And so it came about; for some days later, at the siege of the castle
of Grancy, Gérard fell, struck by a lance; and, covered with blood, was
carried into the fortress prison. Then he recalled Bernard's saying,
saw his destiny clearly, and accepted the religious life.
Bernard's brothers were among the company who had knocked that day at
the gate of Citeaux. The new-comers remained for a week in the guest
house of the monastery. On the eighth day they were taken into the
chapter house, where the Abbot and his monks were assembled. As they
knelt before him, the Abbot put to each of them the question prescribed
by the rule:
"What seek you?" to which they replied in turn:
"My Father, God's Mercy, and yours." Then were read to them the
stricter points of the Cistercian rule, and the Abbot dismissed them
saying,
"My sons; may God fulfil in you that which His Grace has begun."[104]
From the commencement of his novitiate, Bernard practised austerities
that were severe--even for a Cistercian. He would kneel until, on
rising, his swollen limbs refused, almost, to support him, and, while
always ready with a helping hand to lighten the toil of other monks
in the forest or the marsh, he prepared himself for his labours with
nourishment so poor that his body wasted and fever consumed him,
until his life was despaired of. Devoting all his mind to the inward
and spiritual, to answering well the question he was always asking
himself, "Bernarde ad quid venisti?" (Bernard, wherefore art thou
here?), he seems to have been almost unobservant of outward things. The
old chronicler relates how, one day, being thirsty, the saint drank,
without noticing its taste, (nihil sapiebat gustandi) a jar of oil
whose contents he had mistaken for water. On another occasion, when
asked whether the ceiling of his cell was flat or vaulted, he was quite
unable to answer.
The immediate result of the coming of such a man, with such companions,
was an enormous increase in the numbers and power of that order.
Postulates flocked in hundreds to the Abbey of Citeaux, and, by the
year 1113, it had become necessary to establish daughter abbeys. The
first was La Ferté (Firmitas), so called to signify the strength and
consistency that the Almighty had already bestowed upon the rising
order. Then followed Pontigny, where Bernard's friend, Hugues de Mâcon,
was sent as abbot; then, in 1115, Morimond, and Clairvaux (Claire
Vallée)--once the robber-haunted Valley of Wormwood. Before long, the
order had the choice of the fairest fields of France; indeed, of all
Europe.
But Clairvaux had no abbot; and Citeaux must supply one. The choice
fell upon St. Bernard, twenty-five years of age, hardly out of his
novitiate, scarce able to support the exercise of his rule, and little
fitted, as it seemed, to undertake a voyage of discovery to the
loneliest forest in all the diocese of Langres. Yet he must go.
The form in which such an expedition set out was characteristic, and
impressive in its simplicity. The monks, having been assembled by sound
of the bell, all the community went down upon their knees. After a long
silence, the Abbot intoned a psalm; then, taking a cross of wood from
the altar, he handed it, as the token of office, to the new Abbot. The
latter received it in silence, kissed it, still without speaking, and
left his stall, followed by twelve other monks, symbols of the Christ
and apostles. All the brothers then ranged themselves in the cloister,
while, with heads bowed, the thirteen passed between them. Silently
the gates of the monastery swung open, revealing to all a glimpse of
the dangerous world beyond. The pilgrims filed out; and the clang of
closing gates announced the termination of the ceremony.
We have not space to follow further the career of the "Last of the
Fathers," as he was called, or to trace in detail the growth of an
influence so extraordinary, that about the year 1148, we find Pierre
le Vénérable, Abbot of Cluny, writing of "Bernard of Clairvaux, the
splendid and immovable column that sustains not the monastic order
only, but the entire church," while Bernard himself, broken down by the
weight of affairs pressing upon him, writes to Eugène III: "People are
pretending everywhere that you are not pope, but I; and all who have
business, flock to me for help," (Aiunt non vos esse papam, sed me).
Geoffrey, Bernard's secretary and successor, writing two years after
his master's death, said: "Whoso has met Bernard has seen Christ. For
in him the whole Christ dwelt."[105]
Without, indeed, going so far in praise as did his secretary, we may
agree that Bernard's character comprised most of those elemental
virtues, that, blended, make the perfect man. In him, calmness and
vehemence, tenderness and serenity, tenacity and flexibility, vivid
imagination and unswerving rectitude, were all present; ever ready
to meet the necessities of any occasion that might arise. With all
these varied gifts he never flattered, never betrayed the truth, never
dissembled the sacred ardour that burned within him. Everywhere he
was listened to with profound respect; his stern voice was heard in
the cottages of the poor, and in the palaces of kings. Neither his
enthusiasm, nor his ceaseless activities, caused him to lose lucidity
nor precision of argument in debate. His repartee was gentle and
penetrating; swift to disentangle truth from error, without practising
the subtleties of the schools. He was that rarest of phenomena, a
practical idealist, an enlightened fanatic. And with all these varied
faculties, high above men of his time though his intellect was, he
remained ever a true son of the Church, nor sought to free himself
from the yoke of Catholic authority. Therein lay the secret of his
subsequent bitter antagonism to the teachings of Abélard.
A few words as to Cistercian ideals, and especially as to Cistercian
rule, as compared with that of Cluny, may not be out of place here.
For the sites of all their monasteries, they chose invariably lonely
and wild lands, marshy valleys, swamps, or lake, or forest, where
the monks would be under no temptation from the vicinity of worldly
attractions, nor from too close contact with the secular clergy, whose
influence was sometimes harmful. The Cistercian's first duty was the
first duty of man--to reclaim the dark places of the earth from watery
desolation to culture and fertility; just as, later on, the first duty
of preaching friars was to win back the souls of men, from the power of
Satan unto God. Faurtride, third abbot of Clairvaux, quotes St. Bernard
as giving another reason. "It is not sufficient for a monk to allege
illness (as an excuse for shirking the austerities of the rule).
The holy fathers, our predecessors, sought deep damp valleys for their
monasteries, so that the monks might be often ailing, and having death
always before their eyes, should never live in security."[106]
It may be well imagined, that an order founding its houses upon such
sites, and for such a reason, did not err upon the side of indulgence.
The rule was more strict, even, than that followed by Cluny in early
days, both as regards abstinence from food and the rigid enforcement of
silence. Vegetables were not to be served with fat or butter; meat was
absolutely forbidden, unless sometimes to the sick; and fish, except
herrings during Advent and Lent, was allowed only on rare occasions.
When Pope Innocent II. visited Clairvaux in 1131, the monks had a hard
task to find a single herring for his table. In the matter of clothing,
too, they were much more simple than the Clunisians, and closer to the
Benedictine rule; for instance, the gloves, boots, and furred pelisses,
permitted in the older abbey during the winter, were forbidden to monks
of the rival order.
The whole secret of Citeaux's influence may be summed up in two
words--simplicity and self-sacrifice. These principles extended right
through the life of the order, even to its architecture and to its art.
Already, at the time of the coming of St. Bernard, the Clunisians were
beginning to lighten with sculpture the splendid severity of their
Romanesque buildings, to deck their statues with precious stones, and
with beautiful glass; to adorn with gilding and voluptuous colour the
gray stones of aisle and nave.
[Illustration: ST. JOHN. BURGUNDIAN SCHOOL]
St. Bernard, quick to see the danger, sent his masons back to the
essential. Nave and choir were to be of low elevation, and without
towers; within must be neither painting, nor sculpture, nor crucifix,
nor colour, nor any other ornament. Even the tympanum of the porch,
so richly carved in Clunisian churches, might show only a cross in
bas-relief, sometimes surmounted by the Lamb of God. Any sculpture in
the interior must be confined to simple flowers and foliage on the
capitals, with perhaps a claw at the base of the pillars; the apse and
chapels were to be square, not polygonal nor semi-circular, as in the
work of the other school. Above all, the Cistercians banished from
their churches the scenes from the Ancient and New Testaments, the
symbolical figures and fantastic animals, of which the Clunisians were
so fond. Their cloisters were low and heavy, and the windows of the
monastic buildings were narrow, almost, as loopholes.
In ceremonial observances they were equally simple, and contented
themselves with a monotonous psalmody, poor and thin compared with the
melodious chants that rang down the aisles of Cluny. The manuscripts
showed the same scorn of art. Cluny bound their parchments beautifully
in gold and silver, and ornamented them with precious stones; Citeaux
was content with a rough binding of pig-skin, decorated with nails, and
fastened with copper bands.
It was inevitable that such vital difference of opinion should find
contemporary expression in words, as well as deeds. Bernard protests
vehemently against luxe. His correspondence on the subject with his
friend, Pierre le Vénérable, is full of interest.
"I do not speak," he writes, "of the prodigious height of the churches,
of their immeasurable length, of their unnecessary width, of their
sumptuous ornaments, of their curious paintings, which draw the glances
of those who are at prayer, and prevent them from praying. As a monk,
I address myself to monks, and I say to them: You who should be poor,
what do you with this gold in the sanctuary? Other than this should
be the conduct of the bishops, other than this that of the monks. The
bishops, as we know, extend their solicitude to the foolish as well as
to the wise. That they should seek to arouse by exterior ornament the
devotion of a carnal people insensible to the ornaments of the soul,
we can well understand; but we who have come forth from the bosom of
this people, who, for the love of Christ, have left the world and all
which is precious and apparent, we who regard as dung all that shines
by beauty, all that flatters the ear by harmony, that pleases the
senses of smell and touch, in a word, all that can give rise to sensual
pleasure, whose devotion do we aspire to arouse by these ornaments?
"And to speak my thought openly, is it not avarice, that idolatry of
slaves, which inspires us, and do we not seek rather the gifts of
matter than the fruits of the spirit? How so, will you reply? I will
tell you. Gold is lavished on every hand that it may multiply; it is
spread abroad that it may be augmented. At the sight of these sumptuous
vanities which excite astonishment, men feel themselves inflamed with
the will to give, rather than with the will to pray. I do not know what
this penchant may be, that bids us give more willingly to him that
already has much. Eyes are dazzled by reliquaries covered with gold,
and the sight of them opens every purse. The more the chasse shines in
beauty, the more sacred are the relics held to be. We hasten to kiss
them, and we feel ourselves drawn on into giving; we admire that which
strikes the eye, rather than venerate holy things. In the churches are
exposed, not crowns, but wheels encrusted with pearls, and the lamps
which surround them cast a light less bright than the precious stones.
For candalabra, we see rise a tier of enormous weight, fashioned with a
marvellous art, which glitters less by the candles which surmount it,
than by the diamonds with which it is adorned.
"What seek ye in all that, I ask you; is it the compunction of
penitence or the astonishment of the eye? O Vanity of Vanities, O
Folly! In her buildings, the church is ashine, in her poor she is
all impoverished. She clothes her stones with gold, she leaves her
children naked. 'Tis at the expense of the poor that we seek to flatter
the eye of the rich. The curious find wherewithal to charm them;
the unfortunate seek in vain their daily bread. Do we not abuse our
veneration of the images of the saints, until they are ready to rise
from the paving-stones? Here one is spitting in an angel's mouth; there
the passers-by tread upon the face of a saint. If you do not respect
these holy images, why do you not respect at least their brilliant
colouring? Of what use is it to decorate these figures if they are to
be continually soiled with dust? Of what use are they to the poor, to
the monks, to spiritual men?
"What is the meaning in the cloisters, before the brother occupied in
reading, of those ridiculous monsters, those deformed beauties, those
beautiful deformities? What do they there, those unclean apes, those
fierce lions, those monstrous centaurs, those figures half man, half
beast, those striped tigers, those fighting soldiers, those huntsmen
who sound the horn? On one side, I see many heads on a single body;
on the other, many bodies with a single head; here a beast with a
serpent's tail; there a fish with an animal's head. Half a horse ends
in half a goat; a horned animal bears a horse's croup. Everywhere
appears a multitude of varied and uncouth forms. More pleasure is taken
in reading on marble than in books; we choose rather to pass the whole
day in looking upon these pictures than in meditating upon the Divine
Law. Great God, though we blush not at such follies, let us blush, at
least, at the sums they cost!"[107]
However worthy such ideals might be from the spiritual point of
view--and no one, surely, can read Bernard's letter without feeling
its power and sincerity--it is obvious that, like those of the later
Puritanism, they bore within them the germs of their own destruction.
No community of man, even in those glorious days of the early middle
ages, could live, for long, up to that standard; and as the order
established itself all over Europe, almost, the diffusion of its
forces resulted necessarily in a swift falling away, and loss of
prestige. That change, though, perhaps, a disaster for the Christian
church, was the salvation of Western Europe; for, had the ideals of
Citeaux finally prevailed over those of Cluny, the glorious Gothic
arts of the next three centuries, upon which Cluny certainly exercised
great influence--of which, indeed, she was the mother--would not have
attained the same development.
* * * * *
Among the distinguished visitors to Citeaux, were Louis le Gros, in
1127; Pope Eugène III., who presided over the chapter general, in 1148;
Louis VII., in 1166; and Louis IX. (St. Louis), who came here from
Vézelay, in 1244.
On that occasion, according to custom, the Duke of Burgundy, Hugues
IV., preceded the royal cortège up to the limit of his lands. As they
approached Citeaux, coming in sight of the church, all left their
horses, and advanced on foot in the attitude of prayer. The prelates,
the abbots who were there, and the monks, to the number of five
hundred, came forth in procession to welcome the monarch visiting them
for the first time. Louis IX. and Queen Blanche did not lodge in the
abbey, but in the Hotel du Duc de Bourgogne, without the walls. They
were specially authorized to eat meat during their stay, on condition
that such permission would not be granted on a future occasion.[108]
Upon the fair fame of the later history of the order there rests one
indelible stain. Citeaux was largely responsible for that series of
awful crimes and massacres known as the Albigensian crusade. Early
in the thirteenth century, Innocent III., weary of vain attempts by
spiritual force to crush out heresy from the church, decided to employ
the not unwilling Cistercians to preach a new crusade. A great army
of "Crusaders," under the command of Eudes III., Duke of Burgundy,
crossed the Rhône at Avignon, and passing through Montpellier, came to
Béziers, where they proceeded to indulge in "the greatest massacre ever
committed in all the world; for they spared neither young nor old, nor
even infants at the breast." It seems a cruel irony that from Arnaud,
Abbot of Citeaux, a successor of St. Robert and St. Bernard, should
have come the answer to the question how they were to deal with the
heretics: "Kill them all; God will know His Own!"
* * * * *
But happier recollections than those were in my mind when last I rode
to Citeaux from Dijon, on a dull and rainy morning of October, a
fitting day on which to visit that savage and lonely site. There are
people--cultured people, even, such as Emile Montégut--who will tell
you that, because the country here is flat, and the old monastery
almost entirely destroyed, Citeaux is not worthy of a visit. I find
it hard to understand how anyone possessing a spark of historic
imagination, can thus deprive himself of the pleasure of seeing the
abbey; though there were certainly less inducement to go there when
the place was a penitentiary school, than now, when it is again in
the occupation of the white monks. I hope that this account of my own
pilgrimage there will induce others to follow my example.
I rode to Citeaux by way of Rouvres, a lonely village on the plain
south of Dijon. It has, or had, a château--not now visible within its
belt of trees--that has some interesting historical associations, and
there is a Romanesque church accessible, I remember, by a somewhat
unique bridge, consisting of gravestones, evidently taken from the
churchyard, laid, with the inscriptions uppermost, across the stream
where the ducks paddle.
Passing through many a tangled and dilapidated Burgundian village, I
came at last, after miles of plodding across the plain, to a spot so
savage of aspect, that it might well be a halting-place, even to-day,
for an ascetic brotherhood faring forth in search of a site for a
new foundation. On the left of the lonely road was a stagnant marsh,
bordered with clumps of yellow reeds and brown bullrushes. Before me,
a great expanse of sullen water, fringed with a line of distant, black
fir trees, reflected on its broken surface the drifting, gray clouds.
A dismal lake it was, marged with red and green rushes, dappled with
broad-leaved water plants, and spotted with splashing drops. No human
note broke the silence; no sound but the harsh cry of wild fowl,
the croaking of frogs, the monotonous swish of falling rain. At my
feet were growing thistles and deadly night-shade; through the reeds
I caught a glimpse of a pink sow snouting in the mud. A feeling of
intense exaltation arose within me--the delight born of unity with
Nature in her elemental mood. I knew now why the Cistercians loved
these spots. There welled up in me the same sensation of burning
pleasure that lightened the life of the ascetic of eight hundred years
ago, when, leaning upon the handle of his spade, as he paused for a
moment from his labour, he watched the wind furrowing the rippled
water, and heard the holy spirits of the air singing to the bending
rushes on the bank.
I rode on, past the gateway of the Abbey grounds, to the village
of Citeaux, where I lunched with an asceticism that, though not
inappropriate to the occasion, was due, I must confess, rather to
the limitations of the innkeeper's resources, than to a voluntary
compliance with the rule of St. Benedict. During the repast, Madame,
standing before me, and punctuating her remarks with an occasional
sweep of the back of her hand across her mouth, held forth upon the
history of the Abbey. Learning from her that the buildings could be
visited, I determined to see what was to be seen. Cycling boldly up to
the gate of the monastery, and ignoring utterly a mighty hound, who
nearly strangled himself in his efforts to rend me limb from limb, I
looked about me. Near the gate was a white monk, walking slowly, with
his eyes upon the ground. He bowed in response to my salutation; but,
when he raised his head, his hesitation, and the spasmodic movements of
his lips before he spoke, betrayed the effect of the rule of silence.
The words came with an effort.
"Vous n'avez qu'à sonner à la porte."
I rang the bell accordingly, when there emerged, from the lodge
opposite to the gate, another little, square-headed, white-robed monk,
who, smiling, and bowing low, with spread hands, welcomed me to the
monastery.
My guide was an intelligent, affectionate, resigned little Flamand,
his natural cheerfulness of disposition tempered by the inevitable
sadness of a vocation now generally despised, and quite apart from
the swiftly-flowing current of modern life. Together we traversed
the rooms and corridors of the modern buildings--until recently a
penitentiary school--from which the members of the chapter, held
annually in September, had departed only the day before my visit. On
the walls of the assembly room were plans of the four daughter abbeys
of Citeaux--La Ferté, Pontigny, Clairvaux, and Morimond; "Une mère bien
féconde," as my guide said--and the signed letter of Pope Leo XIII.,
restoring Citeaux to the Cistercian order. The chapter table, round
which ran the names of the abbeys represented, was still littered with
pens and ink for use at the function. My monk pointed out the little
ballot-box, filled with white beans, by means of which the voting was
done. A majority of one carries the day, and the ballot is open, unless
one member expresses a desire for it to be secret. The rule of St.
Benedict, and the book of the constitutions, are kept on the table for
reference, if necessary.
We passed beneath the bust of St. Bernard, which is over the door, and
descended to the foot of the stairs, where my companion put on again,
over his sandalled feet, the sabots he had kicked off on entering. A
moment later we were standing in the refectory, where, upon the table,
were laid the spoons, the brown earthenware plates, the bowls and the
napkins, all ready for the next meal. The abbot sits, as of old, at the
head of his twenty-five monks, and in the middle is a table with three
"couverts," where the same vegetarian repast is served to three souls
in purgatory, the remains being given to the poor. Thence, I was taken
to see the little cloister, the staircase tower and library, probably
of the fourteenth century, all that remains of the great Abbey. On the
way we passed through the garden, where a dozen or more black and
white-robed brethren were busily digging the ground, still carrying on
the tradition of St. Benedict, that in the sweat of their brow they
should eat bread. That sight alone repaid well the trouble of coming to
Citeaux in the rain.
[Illustration: Justice and Truth]
Meanwhile, my gentle guide talked resignedly of the ruin of the
building, of the decay of the order. There was a note of deep sadness
in his voice, as he said:--
"Justice and truth are like the sun; they traverse the earth; they set."
"They rise again on the other side," I added. A smile lit up the
peaceful, flamand face.
"Yes, they rise again on the other side."
We were at the gate.
"How I wish my wife had been here," I said, thoughtlessly. "She would
so have enjoyed talking with you."
The little monk smiled, twinkled almost. Here was an artless stranger,
indeed!
"Monsieur," shaking his head, "We do not allow ladies to pass the
gate." It was my turn to smile, and to apologise. My friend guide
understood. He took my hand.
"Probably," he murmured, "we meet no more in this world. Then, adieu."
Again he bowed low, with spread hands. The iron gate of Citeaux clanged
behind me; I was out in the living world once more. As I rode to
Nuits in the rain, between the dripping trees of the ancient forest,
whose glades had echoed to the foot-fall of St. Bernard, I felt, more
strongly than ever before, how close is the rapport existing between
the ascetic mysticism of that time--symbolising the soul of things
in saint and hermit--and the wider transcendentalism of to-day,
that, taking, as Bacon took, the all for its medium, works, through
art, through science, through poetry, through even subtler and more
recondite communion of the human spirit with fellow spirits and with
nature, towards the ultimate goal of truth.
FOOTNOTES:
[98] Some authorities think that the name refers to the many pools,
overgrown with bulrushes and other aquatic plants--Cit-eaux.
[99] The author of "A Concise History of the Cistercian Order," cap.
iii. p. 67, states that tradition assigns the appearance of the
vision to St. Alberic, but he adds that the immediate historical
cause of the adoption of the white habit is somewhat mysterious. I
venture to think that the legendary cause was also the historical
one, seeing that all the Cistercian houses were dedicated to "the
Queen of Heaven and Earth, Holy Mary." Moreover, what more natural
than such a symbol in a wholly symbolical age?
[100] See Life of St. Stephen in "Cistercian Saints" quoted in
"A Concise History of the Cistercian Order." p. 68.
[101] Martenne Thes. Anec. Tome v., p. 1650, quoted in "History of
Cistercian Order." p. 71.
[102] "Cistercian Saints" cap. xiii., quoted in "A Concise History of
the Cistercian Order." Chevalier speaks also of a boy face, and
a white forehead; and adds that his bearing would have appeared
proud but for a slight drooping of the head upon the shoulders,
which lent sweetness to his general appearance.
[103] Guill. Vit. S. Bern: lib. 1, n. 2. Quoted Chevalier's "Histoire
de St. Bernard," p. 8.
[104] Chevalier's "Life of St. Bernard." p. 55.
[105] Chevalier's "St. Bernard," vol. xi., p. 357.
[106] Quoted "Histoire de St. Bernard," Chevalier, vol. ii., p. 350.
[107] Pignot's "Cluny," Tome iii., pp. 108-114.
[108] Petit. "Histoire des Ducs Capétiens."
[Illustration: Heading of chapter VIII; Paray-le-Monial; the Church]