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Chapter 19OdoC.3.19

Caput XVIII

The Collapse of Religious Profession

Odo laments those who have entered the religious life only to let it collapse in their hands, invoking Jeremiah's indictment of Israel's apostasy as a mirror for their exchange of divine glory for rebellion.

What will those people say on the day of judgment, or what sort will they turn out to be — people the religious life reaches right down to, yet in whose hands it has collapsed? Let them look to their own hidden sins, if only among themselves — things it's shameful even to speak of. But this much is certain: the reason outward garments are changed is that inward hearts have already been changed. God had said through Jeremiah: 'See if anything like this has ever happened — whether a nation has changed its gods, when they are certainly not gods at all.'✦ But my people has exchanged its glory✦ (Jeremiah 2:11). And in the following passage: 'You have broken my yoke, and you have said: I will not serve.'✦ (Jeremiah 2:20).

Monks as Deserters from Their Vow

Odo argues that monks who abandon the instruments of good works laid down by Saint Benedict are worse than lay tradesmen who honor their craft, and he warns that even the hardened heart can still repent, invoking Gregory's pastoral urgency and the fate of Ananias.

Surely this applies to them too, doesn't it? After all, it's arranged that everyone who practices any skill for the use of this life carries it out just as they learned from their teachers, and they use the tools suited to the work they're devoted to — sailors, for instance, or shoemakers or craftsmen.1 But we monks alone reject the instruments of good works that Saint Benedict laid down for attaining the heavenly life, and as deserters from our own profession we cross the boundaries God shows us through our teachers — now to the right, now to the left — and we don't deign to use the instruments of good works just as they were handed down by the teachers.2 Although the harshness of the heart has grown callous in such people — which is far more stubborn and harder to correct than that of laypeople — nevertheless they too must be warned, since as long as they live they can change for the better. As blessed Gregory once urged Venantius, a former monk turned patrician: 'Whether you want it or not, I'm going to speak to you, because either I want you to be saved, or I want to be snatched away from your death.'3 So then, while you're still well, be shaken by your own fault and by the severity of the Judge to come, so that you don't experience it bitterly later, when no tears can escape it for you.4 Consider what God is about to do regarding a corrupt work, if in his judgment he condemns some people over idle talk.5 You know by what death Ananias was punished, who partly withheld the money he had vowed to God.✦

Mercy, Judgment, and the Call to Return

Odo presses the lapsed monk with the severity of divine judgment tempered by God's patient mercy, recounts Gregory's tearful pastoral care for the dying Venantius, and closes with Job's warning that the wicked will only understand their ruin when God's fury is already upon them.

If, then, the one who stole coins was worthy of death, consider what punishments are deserved by the one who has withdrawn himself from God through forgetfulness of his own profession.✦ See, I speak grieving, led by sorrow at what you've done, and I confess — I marvel at the mercy of heaven, because God sees you in your pride and yet tolerates it; he watches you flee from the life you vowed, and still he holds you back for life. But when that same Venantius had fallen into a very severe illness, Gregory, on hearing of it, wrote back to Bishop John, saying: I have received the writings of your brotherhood, which spoke to me about the illness of my sweetest son, my lord Venantius; and when I heard of it, tears burst from me in groans. Therefore, let your holiness apply great care to him — by exhorting, by pleading, by setting before him the terrible judgment of God, by holding out his ineffable mercy — so that even at the last moment he may return to his proper vow, and so that no such great charge may stand against him in judgment. And it should be noted that blessed Gregory calls this man 'my lord' as a term of endearment. But if they now neglect to stand in awe of God's words, what blessed Job says about the wicked man will come true for them: When God has paid him back, then he will know — his eyes will see his own destruction, and he will drink from the fury of the Almighty (Job 21:19).✦ The wicked man pretends not to reconsider the evils he has done, but he will know what he has done when he begins to drink from the fury of the Almighty. Then the eyes of understanding will open — the eyes that pride now keeps shut.✦

Read the original Latin

Quid isti in die judicii dicent, vel quales apparebunt, usque ad quos religio decurrit, et in quorum manibus collapsa est? De occultis suis ipsi viderint, de quibus dicere pudet. Hoc tamen unum constat, quoniam ob id exterius mutantur indumenta, quia interius mutata sunt corda. Dixerat Deus per Jeremiam: Videte si factum est hujuscemodi, si mutavit gens deos suos, et certe non sunt dii. Populus vero meus mutavit gloriam suam (Jer. II, 11). Et in sequentibus: Confregisti jugum meum, et dixisti: Non serviam (Jer. II, 20).

Nonne et istis hoc convenit? Nam ut ita comparatum sit, omnes qui ad usum hujus vitae quaslibet artes exercent, sic eas utique gerunt, sicut a magistris didicerunt, et illis utensilibus utuntur, quae illi actui, cui intensi sunt, conveniunt, ut nautae, sutores, vel fabri. At nos soli monachi instrumenta bonorum operum, quae sanctus Benedictus ad percipiendam coelestem vitam construxit, abjicimus, solique nostrae professionis desertores, lineas, quas Deus per magistros nobis ostendit, nunc ad dextram, nunc ad sinistram transgredimur, nec bonorum operum instrumentis, sicut a magistris tradita sunt, uti dignamur. Quamvis autem crudelitas cordis in talibus occalluit, quae multo obstinatior atque ad corrigendum difficilior sit quam laicorum: tamen admonendi sunt et ipsi, quoniam quoad vixerint mutari in melius possunt. Sicut beatus Gregorius Venantium ex monacho patricium commonebat, dicens: Velis nolis, locuturus sum tibi, quia aut te cupio salvari, aut de tua morte me eripi. Culpam ergo tuam, et districtionem futuri Judicis dum vales exhorresce, ne illam tunc amaram sentias, cum nullis eam fletibus jam evadas. Pensa quid facturus est Deus de perverso opere, si quosdam in jubicio suo reprobat de otioso sermone. Scis qua morte Ananias multatus est, qui pecunias quas Deo voverat partim subtraxit.

Si igitur morte dignus fuit, qui nummos abstulit, pensa quibus dignus sit, qui seipsum per professionis suae oblivionem Deo substraxit. Ecce facti tui tristitia adductus moerens loquor, et fateor, supernam misericordiam admiror, eo quod te superbientem videt, et tolerat: effugere vitam conspicit, et tamen adhuc ad vitam reservat. Cum vero isdem Venantius in gravissimam aegritudinem incideret, Gregorius audiens Joanni episcopo rescripsit, dicens: Fraternitatis vestrae scripta suscepi, quae mihi de dulcissimi filii mei domni Venantii aegritudine loquebantur, qua audita lacrymae mihi per gemitus erumpebant. Vestra igitur sanctitas magnam ei curam adhibeat, exhortando videlicet, rogando, terribile Dei judicium proponendo, ineffabilem ejus misericordiam promittendo, ut vel in extremo ad debitum propositum redeat, ne ei tantus in judicio reatus obsistat. Et considerandum quod hunc beatus Gregorius domnum pro blandimento vocat. Quod si nunc verba Dei vereri neglexerint, fiet eis illud beati Job quod de iniquo dicit: Cum reddiderit ei Deus vicem, tunc sciet: videbunt oculi ejus interfectionem suam, et de furore Omnipotentis bibet (Job XXI, 19). Dissimulat impius rectractare mala quae fecit, sed tunc sciet quid fecit, cum de furore Omnipotentis bibere coeperit: tunc oculos intelligentiae reserabunt, quos nunc superbia claudit.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Jer.2.10-Jer.2.11 — Cross over to the coasts of Kittim and see, and send to Kedar and consider carefully, and see if such a thing has happened. Jer.2.11 — Has a nation changed its gods—though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.
  2. ↩Jer.2.11 — Has a nation changed its gods—though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.
  3. ↩Jer.2.20 — For from ancient times I have broken your yoke and torn off your bonds, and you said, 'I will not serve.' For on every high hill and under every green tree you recline as a prostitute.
  4. ↩Acts.5.1-Acts.5.11 — But a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property. Acts.5.2 — And he kept back some of the proceeds, with his wife also knowing it. And he brought a portion and laid it at the apostles' feet. Acts.5.3 — But Peter said, 'Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land?' Acts.5.4 — While it remained unsold, wasn't it yours? And after it was sold, wasn't it under your own control? Why did you set this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God. Acts.5.5 — But when Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard these things. Acts.5.6 — Then the younger men rose, wrapped his body, carried him out, and buried him. Acts.5.7 — Now about three hours later, his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Acts.5.8 — But Peter said to her, 'Tell me whether you sold the land for this amount.' And she said, 'Yes, for that amount.' Acts.5.9 — But Peter said to her, "Why has it been agreed among you to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out." Acts.5.10 — And immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in, they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Acts.5.11 — And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard these things.
  5. ↩Acts.5.1-Acts.5.11 — But a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property. Acts.5.2 — And he kept back some of the proceeds, with his wife also knowing it. And he brought a portion and laid it at the apostles' feet. Acts.5.3 — But Peter said, 'Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land?' Acts.5.4 — While it remained unsold, wasn't it yours? And after it was sold, wasn't it under your own control? Why did you set this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God. Acts.5.5 — But when Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard these things. Acts.5.6 — Then the younger men rose, wrapped his body, carried him out, and buried him. Acts.5.7 — Now about three hours later, his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Acts.5.8 — But Peter said to her, 'Tell me whether you sold the land for this amount.' And she said, 'Yes, for that amount.' Acts.5.9 — But Peter said to her, "Why has it been agreed among you to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out." Acts.5.10 — And immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in, they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Acts.5.11 — And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard these things.
  6. ↩Job.21.19 — You say, 'God stores up his iniquity for his children.' Let him repay it to him, so that he may know it." This makes the likely quoted/rebutted theology clearer in context.
  7. ↩Job.21.19 — You say, 'God stores up his iniquity for his children.' Let him repay it to him, so that he may know it." This makes the likely quoted/rebutted theology clearer in context.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩The clause introduced by 'ut' after 'comparatum sit' is taken as an indirect question ('how it is arranged that...'); 'ut' later introduces examples ('sailors, shoemakers...').
  2. 2 ↩'instrumenta bonorum operum' rendered 'instruments of good works' to preserve the concrete metaphor of tools/equipment for the spiritual life.
  3. 3 ↩'Velis nolis' rendered as 'Whether you want it or not' to capture the idiom. The 'aut...aut' pair is disjunctive: either your salvation or my rescue from the grief of your death.
  4. 4 ↩'exhorresce' rendered 'be shaken' rather than 'tremble' to avoid archaic tone while keeping the force of the imperative. 'districtio futuri Judicis' = the severity of the coming Judge.
  5. 5 ↩'jubicio' is a manuscript variant for 'judicio' (ablative of judicium); translated as intended sense 'judgment'.

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