To ask with Mary for the gifts of the Spirit
Letter of St. Francis Borgia
What a great remedy to all our ills, is the meditation of the Cross of Christ!
We are all in motion towards the Lord; by pronouncing our vows, we have donned the necessary equipment for this journey; our religious profession is thus vain if we do not walk cheerfully along this road and if we do not race in the way of perfection until we reach "the divine mountain of Horeb."
The first advice I have to give you, I find it stated as follows at the beginning of the tenth part of the Constitutions, where it is question of the means to maintain and enhance the Company: "The means by which an instrument is united to God, which dispose it to be handled regularly by his divine hand, are much more efficient than those which dispose it to serve men. These means are justice and generosity, charity especially, purity of intention in the divine service, the familiar union with God in the Spiritual Exercises, a very pure zeal for the salvation of souls, without further quest than the glory of who has created and redeemed them."
Words well worthy to be the object of our most serious attention, since our blessed Father wrote them with so much care and love for is children. Indeed, if we wish to think about this seriously, we recognize that neglect in using the means which unite the instrument to God gives rise to, and exacerbates, the dissension and the miseries dividing religious societies. For as the drought of a land withers the flowers and the fruit of trees, thus usual aridity in the meditations and other exercises of piety, devours in the religious soul, the spiritual flowers and fruits.
Thus the religious who does not exercise himself/herself at the meditation and imitation of Jesus crucified, this one will work without eagerness to the glory of the Divine Master, more even, he will bring to it only cowardice, and yet he will not let away with being satisfied with himself while despising the others.
What a great remedy for all our ills than to meditate the Cross of Christ!
(Letter 717 in the month of April 1569 addressed to the whole company. Text in Spanish MHSI S. Franciscus Borgia, vol. 5, Madrid, 1911, p. 78-79, tr. Fr.: Selected Letters of Generals, t . I, Lyon, 1878, p. 32-33).
Prayers to Saint Brunoprayer_saint_bruno_2014.PNG
Saint Bruno's Profession of Faith, which he pronounced in the presence of all his assembled brothers, when he felt the time was approaching for him to go the way of all flesh, because he had urgently requested us to be witnesses of his faith before God:
1. I firmly believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit: the Father unbegotten, the only begotten Son, the Holy Spirit proceeding from them both; and I believe that these three Persons are but one God.
2. I believe that the same Son of God was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary. I believe that the Virgin was chaste before she bore her child, that she remained a virgin while she bore her child, and continued a virgin ever after. I believe that the same Son of God was conceived among men, a true man with no sin. I believe the same Son of God was captured by the hatred of some of the Jews who did not believe, was bound unjustly, covered with spittle, and scourged. I believe that he died, was buried, and descended into hell to free those of his who were held there. He descended for our redemption, he rose again, he ascended into heaven, and from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
3. I believe also in the sacraments that the Church believes and holds in reverence, and especially that what has been consecrated on the altar is the true Flesh and the true Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which we receive for the forgiveness of our sins and in the hope of eternal salvation. I believe in the resurrection of the flesh and everlasting life.
4. I acknowledge and believe the holy and ineffable Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to be but only one God, of only one substance, of only one nature, of only one majesty and power. We profess that the Father was neither begotten nor created but that he has begotten. The Father takes his origin from no one; of him the Son is born and the Holy Spirit proceeds. He is the source and origin of all Divinity. And the Father, ineffable by his very nature, from his own substance has begotten the Son ineffably; but he has begotten nothing except what he is himself: God has begotten God, light has begotten light, and it is from him that all Fatherhood in heaven and on earth proceeds. Amen. 
The Creed
Every late of the night, in cell at the end of the Office of Lauds of Our Blessed Virgin Mary, about around 2:30 AM is always recited by Carthusians a choice between three catholic creeds: The Athanasian Creed
[QUICUNQUE VULT] | The Apostle's Creed | The Nicene Creed. This deep transforming contemplative prayer of our
revealed Creed, like a constant heartbeat, is defining of the heart of the Carthusian souls in Trinitarian life, and of Saint Bruno's followers vocation of devoted presence like the Seraphim before the revealed God, in the Church for the world.
Novena


Pour demander avec Marie les dons de l'Esprit
Lettre de saint François de Borgia
Quel grand remède pour tous nos maux que de méditer la Croix du Christ !
Nous sommes tous en marche vers le Seigneur ; en prononçant nos vœux, nous avons revêtu l'équipement nécessaire à ce voyage ; notre profession religieuse est donc vaine si nous ne marchons pas allégrement sur cette route et si nous ne courons pas dans la voie de la perfection jusqu'à ce que nous arrivions à « la divine montagne de l'Horeb ».
Le premier avis que j'ai à vous donner, je le trouve formulé comme il suit au commencement de la dixième partie des Constitutions, où il est question des moyens de conserver et d'accroître la Compagnie : « Les moyens qui unissent un instrument à Dieu, qui le disposent à être manié régulièrement par sa main divine, sont bien plus efficaces que ceux qui le disposent à servir les hommes. Ces moyens sont la justice et la générosité, la charité surtout, la pureté d'intention dans le service divin, l'union familière avec Dieu dans les exercices spirituels, un zèle très pur pour le salut des âmes, sans autre recherche que la gloire de celui qui les a créées et rachetées ».
Paroles bien dignes d'être l'objet de notre plus sérieuse attention, puisque notre bienheureux Père les a écrites avec tant de soin et d'amour pour ses enfants. En effet, si nous voulons y réfléchir sérieusement, nous reconnaîtrons que la négligence à employer les moyens qui unissent l'instrument à Dieu suscite et aggrave les dissensions et les misères qui déchirent les sociétés religieuses. Car comme la sécheresse d'un terrain fait dépérir les fleurs et les fruits des arbres, ainsi l'aridité habituelle dans les méditations et autres exercices de piété dévore dans l'âme religieuse les fleurs et les fruits spirituels.
Donc le religieux qui ne s'exerce pas à la méditation et à l'imitation de Jésus crucifié, celui-là travaillera sans ardeur à la gloire de ce divin Maître ; bien plus, il n'y apportera que lâcheté, et, cependant, il ne laissera pas d'être satisfait de lui-même et de mépriser les autres.
Quel grand remède pour tous nos maux que de méditer la Croix du Christ !
(Lettre 717 du mois d'avril 1569 adressée à toute la Compagnie. Texte espagnol dans MHSI : S. Franciscus Borgia, t. 5, Madrid, 1911, pp. 78-79 ; tr. fr. : Lettres choisies des Généraux, t. I, Lyon, 1878, pp. 32-33).