Whether a Religious Order Should Be Established for the Works of the
Active Life?
Objection 1: It would seem that no religious order should be
established for the works of the active life. For every religious
order belongs to the state of perfection, as stated above (Q. 184, A.
5; Q. 186, A. 1). Now the perfection of the religious state consists
in the contemplation of divine things. For Dionysius says (Eccl.
Hier. vi) that they are "called servants of God by reason of their
rendering pure service and subjection to God, and on account of the
indivisible and singular life which unites them by holy reflections,"
i.e. contemplations, "on invisible things, to the Godlike unity and
the perfection beloved of God." Therefore seemingly no religious
order should be established for the works of the active life.
Obj. 2: Further, seemingly the same judgment applies to canons
regular as to monks, according to Extra, De Postul., cap. Ex parte;
and De Statu Monach., cap. Quod Dei timorem: for it is stated that
"they are not considered to be separated from the fellowship of
monks": and the same would seem to apply to all other religious. Now
the monastic rule was established for the purpose of the
contemplative life; wherefore Jerome says (Ep. lviii ad Paulin.): "If
you wish to be what you are called, a monk," i.e. a solitary, "what
business have you in a city?" The same is found stated in Extra, De
Renuntiatione, cap. Nisi cum pridem; and De Regular., cap. Licet
quibusdam. Therefore it would seem that every religious order is
directed to the contemplative life, and none to the active life.
Obj. 3: Further, the active life is concerned with the present world.
Now all religious are said to renounce the world; wherefore Gregory
says (Hom. xx in Ezech.): "He who renounces this world, and does all
the good he can, is like one who has gone out of Egypt and offers
sacrifice in the wilderness." Therefore it would seem that no
religious order can be directed to the active life.
_On the contrary,_ It is written (James 1:27): "Religion clean and
undefiled before God and the Father, is this: to visit the fatherless
and widows in their tribulation." Now this belongs to the active
life. Therefore religious life can be fittingly directed to the
active life.
_I answer that,_ As stated above (A. 1), the religious state is
directed to the perfection of charity, which extends to the love of
God and of our neighbor. Now the contemplative life which seeks to
devote itself to God alone belongs directly to the love of God, while
the active life, which ministers to our neighbor's needs, belongs
directly to the love of one's neighbor. And just as out of charity we
love our neighbor for God's sake, so the services we render our
neighbor redound to God, according to Matt. 25:40, "What you have
done [Vulg.: 'As long as you did it'] to one of these My least
brethren, you did it to Me." Consequently those services which we
render our neighbor, in so far as we refer them to God, are described
as sacrifices, according to Heb. 13:16, "Do not forget to do good and
to impart, for by such sacrifices God's favor is obtained." And since
it belongs properly to religion to offer sacrifice to God, as stated
above (Q. 81, A. 1, ad 1; A. 4, ad 1), it follows that certain
religious orders are fittingly directed to the works of the active
life. Wherefore in the Conferences of the Fathers (Coll. xiv, 4) the
Abbot Nesteros in distinguishing the various aims of religious orders
says: "Some direct their intention exclusively to the hidden life of
the desert and purity of heart; some are occupied with the
instruction of the brethren and the care of the monasteries; while
others delight in the service of the guesthouse," i.e. in hospitality.
Reply Obj. 1: Service and subjection rendered to God are not
precluded by the works of the active life, whereby a man serves his
neighbor for God's sake, as stated in the Article. Nor do these works
preclude singularity of life; not that they involve man's living
apart from his fellow-men, but in the sense that each man
individually devotes himself to things pertaining to the service of
God; and since religious occupy themselves with the works of the
active life for God's sake, it follows that their action results from
their contemplation of divine things. Hence they are not entirely
deprived of the fruit of the contemplative life.
Reply Obj. 2: The same judgment applies to monks and to all other
religious, as regards things common to all religious orders: for
instance as regards their devoting themselves wholly to the divine
service, their observance of the essential vows of religion, and
their refraining from worldly business. But it does not follow that
this likeness extends to other things that are proper to the monastic
profession, and are directed especially to the contemplative life.
Hence in the aforesaid Decretal, De Postulando, it is not simply
stated that "the same judgment applies to canons regular" as "to
monks," but that it applies "in matters already mentioned," namely
that "they are not to act as advocates in lawsuits." Again the
Decretal quoted, De Statu Monach., after the statement that "canons
regular are not considered to be separated from the fellowship of
monks," goes on to say: "Nevertheless they obey an easier rule."
Hence it is evident that they are not bound to all that monks are
bound.
Reply Obj. 3: A man may be in the world in two ways: in one way by
his bodily presence, in another way by the bent of his mind. Hence
our Lord said to His disciples (John 15:19): "I have chosen you out
of the world," and yet speaking of them to His Father He said (John
17:11): "These are in the world, and I come to Thee." Although, then,
religious who are occupied with the works of the active life are in
the world as to the presence of the body, they are not in the world
as regards their bent of mind, because they are occupied with
external things, not as seeking anything of the world, but merely for
the sake of serving God: for "they . . . use this world, as if they
used it not," to quote 1 Cor. 7:31. Hence (James 1:27) after it is
stated that "religion clean and undefiled . . . is . . . to visit the
fatherless and widows in their tribulation," it is added, "and to
keep one's self unspotted from this world," namely to avoid being
attached to worldly things.
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