quies
Exterior solitude creates the propitious atmosphere for a more
perfect solitude to be developed, the interior solitude.
- What is this interior solitude?
- It is a spiritual process through which memory, intellect and will
progressively die to every interest and complacence for things. God
begins, instead, to be felt as the only one who can satisfy the deep
realms of the spirit. It is only when the Carthusian discovers,
bathed in admiration, that only God satisfies him that he begins to
really be a true contemplative. Feeling that only God can satisfy
him produces such a feeling of interior freedom and joy that it is
difficult to express it in words.
- It seems to me that you are speaking about your own experience.
- I wish I was!
- Is this contemplative experience something typical of the
Charterhouse and restricted to it?
- It is a spiritual process that we find already described in the
spirituality of the Fathers of the Desert, such as Evagrio and, in
general, in the Christian mystics of all ages.
- How do you Carthusians resume it?
- I think that this whole process could be summed up in a word that
was well beloved by Saint Bruno and by the first Carthusians:
"quies", that is to say, stillness or spiritual peacefulness.
- If I have understood you correctly, you mean that all this
Carthusian atmosphere leads to…
- The ambiance of solitude, the absence of any disturbing noise and
of worldly desires and images, the quiet and calm attention of the
mind to God, helped by prayer and leisurely reading, flow into that
"quies" or "rest" of the soul in God. A simple and joyful rest, full
of God, that leads the monk to feel, in some way, the beauty of
eternal life.
- Which degree of contemplation would this be?
- Let's say that "quies" or "quietude" is the coveted goal of
Carthusians. source
  | The
Joy of being a Carthusian
Carthusian Statutes
- One "cannot attain to this repose except at the cost of
stern battle; both by living austerely in fidelity to the law
of the cross, and willingly accepting the tribulations by
which God will try him as gold in the furnace. In this way,
having been cleansed in the night of patience, and having been
consoled and sustained by assiduous meditation of the
Scriptures, and having been led by the Holy Spirit into the
depths of his own soul, he is now ready, not only to serve
God, but even to cleave to him in love". Carthusian
Statutes Chapter 3 no 2
- To the praise of the glory of God, Christ, the Father’s
Word, has through the Holy Spirit, from the beginning chosen
certain men, whom he willed to lead into solitude and unite to
himself in intimate love. In obedience to such a call, Master
Bruno and six companions entered the desert of Chartreuse in
the year of our Lord 1084 and settled there; under the
guidance of the Holy Spirit, they and their successors,
learning from experience, gradually evolved a special form of
hermit life, which was handed on to succeeding generations,
not by the written word, but by example. Carthusian
Statutes Chapter 2, no 1
- Those monks who have praised solitude wished to bear
witness to a mystery, whose riches they had indeed
experienced, but whose full penetration is reserved for heaven
alone; for in solitude there is ever being enacted the great
mystery of Christ and his Church, of which our Lady is the
outstanding exemplar, but which lies hidden in its entirety in
the depths of every faithful soul, where to its unfolding
solitude greatly contributes. Carthusian
Statutes Chapter 2, no 1
Scripture and Tradition
- "It is the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ with the
Catholic interpretation of the Doctors of the Church that will
serve rule to all Carthusians; it will also be the living
examples of monastic life, given by the fathers who have
preceded us in the eremitical life, or of (perfect) observance
of the evangelical counsels given by the patriarchs of the
religious orders". (The 1st of 21 prescriptions
that would have been composed by Bruno and Landuin)
Silence and solitude
- The spiritual journey of Saint Bruno is characterized by
the search for God in solitude, this God he knows to be
intimately present in his heart. It would be desirable that
the members of the CLC consecrate every day, according to
their possibilities, a few moments to silence for: prayer of
the heart, meditation or reading. (Gd 1)
- Esprit
Cartusien (français) Extract
of an article (in french) that develops the
characteristics of the carthusian spirit (of solitude
and silence): spiritual virginity, simplicity,
self-effacement, joy.
Study
- CLC officials will provide, at the disposal of their
members, a few essential elements to help in the development
of this prayer (texts, life of St. Bruno, order history,
excerpts of the Statutes of the Order). (Gd 2)
Sacraments
- It is important to encourage a regular sacramental
practice, depending on the possibilities of each one (the
Eucharist and confession), as well as to make an annual
retreat to better be impregnated of silence and solitude.
(Gd 3)
Community
- Contacts
between members are to be encouraged, indirectly through the
internet forum, but also through small groups when this is
possible. Leaders will organize these internet contacts within
a frequency which can vary between two and four weeks (video
conferencing?). It is advisable to set themes and 'helm' the
exchanges. (Gd 4)
The Will of God: Fiat
- "Perfection is founded entirely on the love of God:
‘Charity is the bond of perfection;’ and perfect love of God
means the complete union of our will with God’s." Saint
Alphonsus Maria de Liguori
- Resignation to
the Will of God: "True
and perfect resignation is the mark of sure predestination,
and the sure possession that the soul has of God, because by
living in my Will, the soul acquires the most heroic love, and
reaches the point of loving Me with my own love. She becomes
all love, and becoming all love, she is in continuous contact
with Me. So, she is with Me, in Me, and for Me she does
everything I want; nor does she move or desire anything but my
Will, in which all the love of the Eternal One is enclosed,
and in which she herself remains enclosed. By living in this
way, the soul almost comes to the point of dissolving faith
and hope, because as she comes to live of Divine Will, the
soul no longer feels in contact with faith and hope. Since she
lives of the Will of God, what does she have to believe if she
has found It and made of It her food? And what does she have
to hope for, if she already possesses It by living, not
outside of God, but in God? Therefore, true and perfect
resignation is the mark of sure predestination, and the sure
possession that the soul has of God. Have you understood?
Think it over carefully.” source
- Abandonment
to Divine Providence
- Peace/Quies is the fruit of being continually in the
Will of God, a grace we personally and collectively
aspire and feel called to fulfill as lay faithful, essentially
guided by Saint Bruno's desert father's spirituality.
- "In simplicity of heart, then, and in purity of mind let us
strive with all our power to fix our thoughts and affections
continually on God." Carthusian
Statutes Chapter 33, no 3
- The Will of God is the rest of the soul; It is the rest of
God in the soul; It is fulfilled only and exclusively through
the giving of oneself completely and without reserve to Jesus,
the only salvation. The entire point of the Living in the Will
of God is a Holiness which gives a continuous growth in grace.
"My presence is like a sea which does not have any borders;
whoever finds themselves in My presence is like a droplet that
is dispersed in My sea"; Faith is light for the sight of the
soul which guides the soul to eternal life. "Our Father
Who art in Heaven; Your Will be done on earth as it
is in Heaven". source
- Fiat, I am the servant of the Lord.
- "The human will has this poison: it makes one lose taste
for the Divine Will." source
- "Therefore, be attentive; when you want something, never do
it on your own, but pray to Me that my Will may do it in you.
In fact, that same thing, if you do it yourself, sounds bad,
gives of human; but if my Will does it, it sounds good, it
harmonizes with Heaven, it is sustained by a divine grace and
power, it is the Creator that operates in the creature, its
fragrance is divine; and rising everywhere, it embraces
everyone with one single embrace, in such a way that all feel
the good of the operating of the Creator in the creature." source
- "Neither graces, nor revelations, nor raptures, nor gifts
granted to a soul make it perfect, but rather the intimate
union of the soul with God. .......My sanctity and perfection
is based upon the close union of my will with the will of God”
(Diary, 1107) - DIARY
of Saint Maria Faustina
Kowalska Divine Mercy in My Soul,
page 7
- From today on, my own will does not exist,” ... “From today
on, I do the will of God everywhere, always, and in
everything. (Diary,
374) - DIARY
of Saint Maria Faustina
Kowalska Divine Mercy in My Soul,
page 115
Quies/Fiat - spiritual
virginity
- Quies/Fiat is trust not in human alliances, contacts; but in
God only; Soli Deo.
- The Quies/Fiat synergy, develops to continuous
growth in grace; in theologal Charity.
- "35 Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps lit. 36 Be
like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from
the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door
to him when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those slaves
whom the master will find on the alert when he comes; truly I
say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them
recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them. 38
Whether he comes in the second watch, or even in the third,
and finds them so, blessed are those slaves." Luke
12:35 seq
- My Will alone is celestial rest. source
- Peace is the beneficial dew which vivifies everything and
bejewels the soul with an enrapturing beauty, and attracts the
continuous kiss of my Will upon her. source
- "10 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, 11 “Ask the Lord your God
for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest
heights.” 12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I
will not put the Lord to the test.” 13 Then
Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough
to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my
God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign:
The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will
call him Immanuel. 15 He will be eating curds and honey when
he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, 16
for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose
the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid
waste." Isaiah
7:10-16
- The virgin (Quies/Fiat) will conceive and give
birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. 15 He will be
eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the
wrong and choose the right, 16 for before the boy knows
enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of
the two kings you dread will be laid waste.
Quies/Fiat is trust not in human alliances, contacts; but in
God only.
Quies -
means to an end - obedience/Fiat
- The
Carthusian vocation is a mystery known only by who has
experienced it Few
are called to the monastic Carthusian life; but in the open
world, following the 11 guidelines will help to rediscover
and foster the contemplative dimension inherent in every
Christian existence and to give it more space in our daily
life…
- Our goal/charism as SBPCLC, IFSB/SBLC is ultimately God only:
Soli Deo.
- Quies through Apatheia
(ἀπάθεια) might be
construed as being a means to an end; not the end in
itself, which is Soli Deo.
- But "In Christian thought pathos is willpower
exerted over oneself, for oneself. Apatheia delivers
us from such wilfulness. Obedience is a virtue. This
means that it is not, as for the Greeks, a provisional means
to an end, but rather an end in itself."
- "The second important alteration concerns the problem of
obedience. In the Hebrew conception, God being a shepherd,
the flock following him complies to his will, to his law.
Christianity, on the other hand, conceived the
shepherd-sheep relationship as one of individual and
complete dependence. This is undoubtedly one of the points
at which Christian pastorship radically diverged from
Greek thought. If a Greek had to obey, he did so because
it was the law, or the will of the city. If he did happen
to follow the will of someone in particular (a physician,
an orator, a pedagogue), then that person had rationally
persuaded him to do so. And it had to be for a strictly
determined aim: to be cured, to acquire a skill, to make
the best choice.
In Christianity, the tie with the shepherd is an
individual one. It is personal submission to him. His will
is done, not because it is consistent with the law, and
not just as far as it is consistent with it, but,
principally, because it is his will. In Cassian's Coenobitical
Institutions there are many edifying anecdotes in
which the monk finds salvation by carrying out the
absurdest of his superior's orders. Obedience is a virtue.
This means that it is not, as for the Greeks, a
provisional means to an end, but rather an end in itself.
It is a permanent state; the sheep must permanently submit
to their pastors: subditi. As St Benedict says,
monks do not live according to their own free will; their
wish is to be under the abbot's command: ambulantes
alieno judicio et imperio. Greek Christianity named
this state of obedience apatheia. The
evolution of the word's meaning is significant. In
Greek philosophy apatheia denotes
the control that the individual, thanks to the exercise
of reason, can exert over his passions. In Christian
thought pathos is willpower
exerted over oneself, for oneself. Apatheia delivers
us from such wilfulness." Religion
and culture, Michel Foucault
| PNG
- So could we not say that Quies through Apatheia
(obedience), is truly an end in itself for us
ultimately, because it is the only way
(obedience) delivering us from pathos (willpower
exerted over oneself, for oneself) estranging us from Soli
Deo ?
- So in obeying the 11 guidelines
blueprint to our eventual customs,
faithfulness in exterior practices as the Carthusian monks
obey the carthusian customs, we will be delivered ultimately
from pathos (willpower exerted over oneself, for
oneself) estranging us from our Saint Bruno spirituality goal
which is: Soli Deo; Apatheia (obedience)
delivers us. Soli Deo cannot be attained in any
other way than through obedience or christian Apatheia.
Obedience (apatheia),
as a virtue, is surely not a provisional means to an
end, but rather an absolute and eternal end in itself: Fiat.
- "Amongst the moral virtues obedience enjoys a primacy of
honour. The reason is that the greater or lesser
excellence of a moral virtue is determined by the greater
or lesser value of the object which it qualifies one to
put aside in order to give oneself to God. Now amongst our
various possessions, whether goods of the body or goods of
the soul, it is clear that the human
will is the most intimately personal and most
cherished of all. So it happens that obedience, which
makes a man yield up the most dearly prized stronghold of
the individual soul in order to do the good pleasure of
his Creator, is accounted the greatest of the moral
virtues". Obedience
- Abba Ammonas
was asked, 'What is the "narrow and hard way?" (mt.
7. 14) He replied, 'The "narrow and hard way" is
this, to control your thoughts, and to strip
yourself of your own will, for the sake of God. This
is also the meaning of the sentence, "Lo, we have
left everything and followed you. " (Mt. 19. 27)
- Mary
- “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it
be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.
Lk 1:38
- Come
and See: The Monastic Way for Today, Brendan Freeman
- “A word used by Bruno and Guigo both describes this
mystery. The word is Quies, and the usual
translation of this word is "rest", but that does not
clearly convey the divine dimension and the richness of
Quies. The "quiet" of the Carthusian and faithfulness in
exterior practices go together. The word designates the
experience of the spiritual abundance of the Christian who
even now is founded upon God, "dwells in God", in the
words of Saint John, through the events and circumstances
of his life — for the Carthusian, through obedience and
monastic practices. A verse from Lamentations (3:28), on
which Guigo liked to comment, signifies by contrasting
words that the contemplative is related to the
circumstances of earth as well as the supernatural life: Sedebit
solitarius et tacebit, et levabit se supra se (The
solitary will sit and be silent, and he will rise above
himself). "Quiet" actually includes everything contained
in our word rest (sedebit), that is, calm, peace,
silence, orderly thinking, mastery of the heart's
passions, etc. But it contains infinitely much more,
because it is the hidden movement of the Holy Spirit in
the soul: it is a condition of the spirit together with a
gift of grace. The soul strives, prepares, and merits it,
but it is conferred by God alone. Quiet comes to the soul
only from love that totally, even exclusively, desires the
living God, the "Father, source and origin of all
Divinity, of whom the Son is born and the Holy Spirit
proceeds."(4) It comes from that love that is founded upon
radical faith in the word and in the salvation of Jesus
Christ. Guigo calls one who has this quiet a "quiet
Christ", meaning that something of the joy and peace of
the risen Christ dwells in him and radiates from him ("and
he will rise above himself"). With Christ he comes to that
"freedom of the children of God" of which Saint Paul
speaks. He comes to it already and yet never ceases to
approach it, because God's presence in him invites him to
solitude and silence ("he will sit and be silent"), and in
return the silence and solitude assist his progress toward
intimacy with God.” A.
Ravier
- The
Quies SBPCLC 5 steps commitment to the 11 guidelines
Metanoia
- It is not a question here of a common anthropological
conversion, but of supernatural life itself.
Journey
of purification up to full configuration with
Christ
- With Marguerite d'Oingt, of whom I would like to speak
to you today, we are introduced to Carthusian spirituality
which draws its inspiration from the evangelical synthesis
lived and proposed by St Bruno. ...Marguerite d'Oingt
conceived the entirety of life as a journey of
purification up to full configuration with Christ.
He is the book that is written, which is inscribed daily
in her own heart and life, in particular his saving Passion. In
the work “Speculum”, referring to herself in the third person
Marguerite stresses that by the Lord's grace “she had
engraved in her heart the holy life that Jesus Christ God led
on earth, his good example and his good doctrine. She had
placed the gentle Jesus Christ so well in her heart that it
even seemed to her that he was present and that he had a
closed book in his hand, to instruct her” (ibid.,
I, 2-3, p. 81). “In this book she found written the life that
Jesus Christ led on earth, from his birth to his ascension
into Heaven” (ibid., I, 12, p. 83). Every day,
beginning in the morning, Marguerite dedicated herself to the
study of this book. And, when she had looked at it well, she
began to read the book of her own conscience, which showed the
falsehoods and lies of her own life (cf. ibid., I, 6-7,
p. 82); she wrote about herself to help others and to fix more
deeply in her heart the grace of the presence of God, so as to
make every day of her life marked by comparison with the words
and actions of Jesus, with the Book of his life. And she did
this so that Christ's life would be imprinted in her soul in a
permanent and profound way, until she was able to see the Book
internally, that is, until contemplating the mystery of God
Trinity (cf. ibid., II, 14-22; III, 23-40, pp. 84-90). Benedict
XVI General audience November 3 2010
Balance
-
Through her writings, Marguerite d'Oingt gives
us some traces of her spirituality, enabling us to understand
some features of her personality and of her gifts of
governance. She was a very learned woman; she usually wrote in
Latin, the language of the erudite, but she also wrote in
Provençal, and this too is a rarity: thus her writings are the
first of those known to be written in that language. She lived
a life rich in mystical experiences described with simplicity,
allowing one to intuit the ineffable mystery of God, stressing
the limits of the mind to apprehend it and the inadequacy of
human language to express it. Marguerite had a linear
personality, simple, open, of gentle affectivity, great
balance and acute discernment, able to enter into the depths
of the human spirit, discerning its limits, its ambiguities,
but also its aspirations, the soul's élan toward God.
She showed an outstanding aptitude for governance, combining
her profound mystical spiritual life with service to her
sisters and to the community. Significant in this connection
is a passage of a letter to her father. She wrote: “My dear
father, I wish to inform you that I am very busy because of
the needs of our house, so that I am unable to apply my mind
to good thoughts; in fact, I have so much to do that I do
not know which way to turn. We did not harvest the wheat in
the seventh month of the year and our vineyards were
destroyed by the storm. Moreover, our church is in such a
sorry state that we are obliged to reconstruct it in part”
(ibid., Lettere, III, 14, p. 127). Benedict
XVI General audience November 3 2010
Acquisition of the Holy
Spirit
- "Prayer, fasting, vigil and all other Christian activities,
however good they may be in themselves, do not constitute the
aim of our Christian life, although they serve as the
indispensable means of reaching this end. The true aim of our
Christian life consists in the acquisition of the Holy Spirit of
God. As for fasts, and vigils, and prayer, and alms-giving, and
every good deed done for Christ's sake, they are only means of
acquiring the Holy Spirit of God. But mark, my son, only the
good deed done for Christ's sake brings us the fruits of the
Holy Spirit. All that is not done for Christ's sake, even though
it be good, brings neither reward in the future life nor the
grace of God in this. That is why our Lord Jesus Christ said: He
who gathers not with Me scatters (Luke 11:23). Not that
a good deed can be called anything but gathering, since even
though it is not done for Christ's sake, yet it is good.
Scripture says: In every nation he who fears God and works
righteousness is acceptable to Him (Acts 10:35).
..."This, your Godliness," said Father Seraphim, "is that peace
of which the Lord said to His disciples: My peace I give
unto you; not as the world gives, give I unto you (Jn.
14:21). If you were of the world, the world would love its
own; but because I have chosen you out of the world, therefore
the world hates you (Jn. 15:19). But be of good
cheer; I have overcome the world (Jn. 16:33). And to
those people whom this world hates but who are chosen by the
Lord, the Lord gives that peace which you now feel within you,
the peace which, in the words of the Apostle, passes all
understanding (Phil. 4:7). The Apostle describes it in
this way, because it is impossible to express in words the
spiritual well-being which it produces in those into whose
hearts the Lord God has infused it. Christ the Saviour calls it
a peace which comes from His own generosity and is not of this
world, for no temporary earthly prosperity can give it to the
human heart; it is granted from on high by the Lord God Himself,
and that is why it is called the peace of God." Saint
Seraphim of Sarov
Mary
- "When the Holy Spirit finds [Mary] his Spouse in a soul, he
flies to that soul, to communicate himself to it, to fill it
with his presence, in proportion as he discovers there the
presence and the fullness of his Spouse. One of the major
reasons why the Holy Spirit does not now work blinding wonders
of grace in our souls is that he does not find in us a
sufficiently strong union with Mary his indissoluble Spouse."
True
Devotion to Mary Part 1, chapter 1, article 2
Redemption
The goal : Contemplation
« ...Discover the immensity (breadth) of love. »
Statutes
35.1
The only goal of the Carthusian way is CONTEMPLATION, by
the power of the Spirit, living as unceasingly as possible in
the light of the love of God for us, made manifest in Christ.
This implies a purity of heart, or charity : «
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. » (Mt
5:8)
Monastic tradition also calls this goal pure and continuous
prayer.
The fruits of contemplation are : liberty, peace, and
joy. O Bonitas ! O Goodness, was the cry which issued
from the heart of St. Bruno. But the unification of the heart
and the entrance into the contemplative rest (Quies)
assume a long journey, which our Statutes describe as such :
« Whoever perseveres without defiance in the cell and lets
himself be taught by it tends to make his entire existence a
single and continual prayer. But he may not enter into this
rest without going through the test of a difficult battle. It
is the austerities to which he applies himself as someone
close to the Cross, or the visits of God, coming to test him
like gold in the fire. Thus purified by patience, fed and
strengthened by studied meditation of Scripture, introduced by
the grace of the Holy Spirit in the recesses of his heart, he
will thus be able to, not only serve God, but adhere to him.»
Statutes
3.2
All monastic life thus consists of this journey towards the
heart and all the meaning of our life is oriented towards
this end. It helps the monk unite his life to charity,
introducing it to the depths of his heart.
Truthfully, it is not this end which distinguishes us from other
contemplative monks (Trappist, Benedictines, etc.), but the
borrowed path, of which the essential characteristics are :
- the solitude
- a positive mixture of solitary
and community
life
- the carthusian liturgy
The
carthusian way
What is Quies ?
The Quies SBPCLC
5 steps commitment to the 11 guidelines
Horarium
- Translations of Quies
- rest
requies, quies, reliquum, caetera, cubitus, cubitum
- ease
otium, facilitas, quies, requies, libertas, licentia
- quiet
silentium, quies, tacitum,
tranquillum, tranquillitas, pax
- tranquillity
tranquillitas, quies, tranquillus animus
- repose
quies, requies, otium,
spiramentum, silentium, remissio
- peace
pax, quies, otium, tranquillitas
animi
- peacefulness tranquietas,
quies
- calm
tranquillitas, tranquillum, quies, malacia
- calmness
tranquillitas, serenitas, quies, aequitas, pax, clementia
- lull
quies, otium, pax, recessus
- immobility immobilitas,
inmobilitas, incommobilitas, rigor, quies
- period of quiet quies
- quiescence rigor,
laxamentum, quies
- quiescency rigor,
laxamentum, quies
- comfort
solatium, consolatio, solacium,
solamen, commodum, quies
- stillness silentium,
quies, tranquillum, tranquillitas, rigor, umbra
- silence
silentium, taciturnitas, quies,
umbra
- relief
remedium, solamen, auxilium,
levamen, solacium, quies
- dream
somnium, insomnium, quies,
imaginatio
- resting-place quies
- Quies
(wiktionary)
- Etymology
- From Proto-Indo-European
*kʷieh₁-ti-.
- Cognates include
- Avestan (šāiti-,
“happiness”),
- Old Persian (šiyāti-, “luck”),
- Old Armenian հանգչիմ (hangčʿim).
- Noun
- quiēs f
(genitive quiētis);
third declension
- Have no fear of showing your joy in all simplicity. The
Lord loves a cheerful giver. To sow joy in the hearts of
your companions is a refinement of fraternal love. The divine
life is eternal joy. 'This joy, no one shall take from you'
(Jn 12:22). Learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart,
and you will find rest for your soul. (Mt 11.29) Tranquillity,
quietude, repose: these words recur frequently in the Statutes
just as they do in the monastic tradition -in the East as
heyschia and in the West as quies, otium sanctum, etc. By it,
we do not mean something negative or the absence of action.
Traditionally, it most frequently sums up the whole eremitical
life. It can be considered as a means par excellence for
it implies in its meaning silence, solitude, detachment from a
worldly life, so that one can tend towards God in
prayer. Quies may be called the basic attitude or state
of a contemplative who has left all things to devote himself
entirely to God, like Mary at Bethany." First
Initiation Into Carthusian Life Page 77
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