Note: This is the fifth installment in a series on the Christian contemplatives. For the first article in the series, please click here.
Gregory the Great: Setting the Stage for the Medieval Period
As the 6th century drew to a close, Rome forced the son of a Roman senator and a Christian mother into the papacy. The man in question had all the credentials: legal training, experience as the prefect of Rome and diplomat to Constantinople, abbot of a monastery and founder of six others, and a heart for God.
There was only one problem: Gregory had no interest in the job.
Unlike Augustine, who found himself in a similar position, Gregory was a genuine contemplative. He regularly went beyond his mind to commune with God. Gregory’s soul had been ascending to God since his early 30’s. Gregory, unlike the monks pictured above (fun fact: a rough translation of the monks’ Latin recitation in Monty Python is “Sweet Jesus, make it stop!), rather enjoyed the contemplative life. Yes, his extreme fasting affected his health. But otherwise, the monastic lifestyle fit him perfectly. He enjoyed a life of unity with the Father and preferred to leave worldly concerns behind.
For Gregory, accepting the office of Pope meant diving headlong back into the world. And what a “world” it was! 590 AD Italy was a disaster. A recent flood had devastated grain reseves, the presence of the Lombards and influence of the Byzantines divided “the country”, and the people were still recovering from losing 1/3 of thr population to the plague (including Pelagius III, whom Gregory succeeded).
Gregory reluctantly agreed to the job.
Just a few years into his term as Pope, Gregory shared,
For do you not behold at this present, how I am tossed with the waves of this wicked world, and see the ship of my soul beaten with the storms of a terrible tempest? And therefore, when I remember my former state of life, I cannot but sigh to look back, and cast mine eyes upon the forsaken shore.
Dialogues: Book 1, Chapter 1
Servant of the Servants of God
Gregory was not happy as Pope, but he did make a large, positive impact. When reading Gregory, I thought of Plato’s concept of the philosopher king. Such a leader does not desire the role. However, this very fact makes him the best person for the job. Gregory viewed his role as Pope as service to God and worked with all of his heart.
Gregory served as Pope until his death in 604 AD. In those 14 years, he:
- Almost single-handedly (because Constantinople was no help) made peace with the Lombards
- Fed the hungry with the church grain stores
- Refused to patronize local nobles and gave that money to those in need
- Took lay positions within the church and gave them to the monks
- Converted England to Christianity
- Strengthened the Church Across Europe
- Defended the rights of individual churches and created the precedence of monks’ partial exemption from bishop/papal control
Not bad for someone who didn’t want the job.
The Soul Suffers
As a result of Gregory’s heart for service, the church and the western world as a whole were stabilized to start the medieval period. Ultimately, the one who called himself the “servant of the servants of God” sacrificed the good of his own soul for the benefit of many.
I see myself so carried away amain with the boisterous blasts of this troublesome world, that I cannot now scarce behold the port from whence I did first hoist sail; for such be the downfalls of our soul, that first it loseth that goodness and virtue which before it possessed; yet so that it doth still remember what it hath lost; but afterwards, carried away more and more, and straying further from the path of virtue, it cometh at length to that pass, that it doth not so much as keep in mind what before it did daily practise: and so in conclusion, it falleth out.
Dialogues; Book 1, Chapter 1
Worthwhile Sacrifice?
Ultimately, was Gregory’s sacrifice worthwhile? 500 years later, two monks and close friends, William of St. Thierry and Bernard of Clairvaux, struggled wtih similar questions.
No one asked them to step up to be Pope. However, they both struggled with calls, both inward and outward, to serve. Bernard willingly involved himself in the things of this world, hoping to make a positive impact. Meanwhile, his friend William struggled even with the call to be Abbot, and ultimately chose to remove himself from any active worldly responsibilities into a lifestyle of contemplation.
Bernard of Clairvaux
A far cry from Pope Gregory, who kicked off the whole medieval period, Bernard made little effort to remove himself from the concerns of the world. In fact, he willingly threw himself headlong into the controversies of the church of the time.
Bernard reveled in an extreme version of monasticism, extremes that both won him the position of abbot within three years of entering the monastary and cost him his health. He was a member of the Cistercian order, which longed to re-establish austerity in the monastic life (austerity that had apparently died off centuries after St. Benedict’s time). Bernard was all-in on the re-establishment of the austere lifestyle and showed no mercy as abbot. He expected extreme discipline and sacrifice from his monks.
As a result of his strict standards, Bernard wasn’t always popular with his monks. However, his presence, most likely as a result of the power of the indwelling Spirit, led not only the monks within his monastery but also outside of his spiritual community to seek Bernard’s company and counsel. Bernard was known as a miracle worker, a prophet, and a man of great serenity. He was also quite productive. Within his lifetime, Bernard founded an additional nearly 100 Cistercian monastaries.
Out of the Silence, Into the World
Bernard loved the contemplative life, but he seemed drawn to service to the world. For a start (and a big start at that), he strongly influenced the papacy. Bernard, unwilling to see corruption heading the church, was instrumental in ensuring that Innocent II rather than Anacletus II (suspected of questionable ethics) entered the papacy. Later, during the papacy of Pope Eugenius III, Bernard influence was so great that Bernard claimed that many came to him with concerns rather than Eugenius, saying that Bernard was the “true pope”.
However, Bernard’s service extended beyond his influence in Rome. He denounced a controversial theologian, Abelard. Because of Bernard’s influence on the papacy, he not only denounced Abelard, but he made Abelard’s life fairly miserable for a bit. Bernard was also called on to preach/recruit for the second crusade–a mission he appeared to believe in (perhaps he was not so much into the “top of the mountain” perspective of contemplative Christianity, or was more focused on the access to the Holy Land bit of things).
William of Thierry
Bernard’s close friend William was also a Cistercian abbot for a nearby monastery under Bernard’s watch. Unlike Bernard, William wanted nothing to do with the world. Unfortunately for William, who looked up to Bernard, his friend put a damper on his friend’s dreams of the full-on contemplative life for more than a decade.
Multiple times, William wrote Bernard, asking him for permission to step down from his post as abbot and live as a “regular” monk in Bernard’s monastery–in part for the ability to devote himself to contemplation and in part to be close to his friend.
No, replied Bernard. After years of waiting, William decided to ask for forgiveness rather than permission and stepped down from his role of abbot and moved to a different monastery where he could have the lifestyle he desired.
Fruit of the Contemplative Life
William’s writing speaks of a depth of contemplation that seems to surpass both Gregory and Bernard’s. After explaining the wonders of union with God in contemplation, William states:
This is the goal for which the solitary strives, this is the end he has in view, this is his reward, the rest that comes after his labors, the consolation of his pains; and this is the perfection and true wisdom of man.
William of Thierry “The Spiritual Man”
William seems balanced and at peace. Also, different than the other two medieval contemplatives discussed here, he valued asceticism only for the purpose of drawing closer to God, nothing more. As a result, his health was considerably better than that of Gregory or Bernard.
The Biblical Perspective
If Jesus’ life and teaching is our model, William’s 100% contemplative approach does not seem to match. Jesus urged his disciples to share the good news, heal, and advance the kingdom. Jesus himself was very service-based. Though he spent (most likely) hours each morning in prayer, his days were spent in active service to God.
And yet, at the house of Mary and Martha, Jesus reminds us that sitting at God’s feet is “the only thing that matters.”
Going Within First
So, how can we find balance between prayer and service? For, without hearts filled with love, we are, in the words of Paul, “resounding gongs and clanging cymbals…nothing” (1 Corinthians 13: 1-3). Ultimately, as William explains, the perfect balance of contemplation and action in the world will align with God’s will.
…to will what God wills is already to be like God, to be able to will only what God wills is already to be what God is; for him to will and to be are the same thing.
William of Thierry “The Spiritual Man”
Easy enough. Yet, how do we discern what God’s will is? Especially in the modern world, determining God’s will for our lives seems like the elusive “Holy Grail”. Attuning our souls to hear the still, quiet voice of the Spirit, to determine God’s will, requires significant time in contemplation.
For most reading this post, and for the writer, it is likely that we don’t spend enough time in contemplation. The level of inner quiet required to discern God’s will evades us. The “needs” of the world (some legitimate, many that could be released) pull at us and prevent us from doing the one thing that matters–sitting with God and discerning His will for our lives.
Most likely, some form of service will be a part of God’s will. This may not take the form we expect or even think that we want, but it will be exactly what our soul’s growth requires and what the world needs.
And if God asks you to leave the world behind, and, like Jesus himself did for more than a month of his own life, spend time in contemplation only, just don’t ask Bernard’s permission first.