CRO R HERITAGE

T ee. SeptemLez1 198

The IITURGY

of the

CROSIERS

by Henri Van Rooijen, O.S.C.*

Contributed by Rev James Hentges, O.S.C.

Part I: Origin

The so-called "Dutch" or "Belgian" Crosiers (Kruisheren, Kruisbroeders, Fratres de Ordine Sanctae Crucis, Fratres Sanctae Crucis Ordinis Sancti Augustini, Fratres Crucesignati, Cruciferi, Crucigeri) had their origin in the first half of the thirteenth century as the last and most important of a series of foundations of regular canons in the diocese of Liege which came into being there since the beginning of the twelfth century. The monastery founded in 1248 just outside the walls of Huy on the Meuse river very soon took over the direction of the other houses. By then the Order already had a good piece of history behind itself. It had proceeded from the so-called eremitical movement. Clerics, who probably were former crusaders, retired from the world %o give themselves in solitude totally to the "cultus divinus", the divine worship, dairlieu (Oarus Locus), the original motherhouse, was to be

*tr [by Fr van Rooijen we think, but he isn't sure from Liturgisch Woordenboek [Liturgical Dictionary], Vol. II (J.J. Romen and Zonen, Roermond, The Netherlands, 1968), col 1397-1405. [Fr van Rooijen wanted to make some changes in Part I of the article, and when we receive those changes we will publish a follow up note.]

(Pretiosorum Ord. Ss. Crucis, Series XII, Num 24, b&w)

The Order was founded by clerics

who wanted to give themselves

in solitude to the divine worship.

found probably in Seilles on the Meuse (Seyl or Seyil), seven

miles from Huy. Derrick (Theodoricus) of Celles (Seilles?) is

mentioned as founder and first prior by seventeenth century

historical sources. Shortly after 1248 the monastery of Seilles must have disappeared. Huy usurped the name of

Clairlieu and did its best, probably, to make the memory of the

original motherhouse disappear. The bishop of Liege,

Robertus de Thorote, presumably insisted with the Crosiers (as

he did in Oignies) to accept written constitutions. They did

so in 1248 and chose the institutions of the Friars Preachers

(Dominicans), who at the time still preserved the character of

an order of canons and were represented by Jacques de Vitry as

the most ideal foundation of canons. The Crosiers only

adopted the liturgy and the monastic institutions, and not the

scientific organization. But in the monastical institution they

introduced some important modifications precisely in order to

preserve the most essential task of an order of canons. For

example, they preserved the sliding psalmody and, although

their monasteries were a characteristic example of the aim at

poverty of the so-called "pauperes Christi", only in the

liturgical domain did they create the possibility of a more magnificent splendor (garments, bells). They also introduced,

at the example of their canonical institutions, the so-called

"weekly mandatum", the maundy, but did not celebrate it on Saturday, but on Thursday night, as a remembrance of the

Lord's Supper, at which the "Evangelium de coena Domini" was

read. The pretiosa-rite (after Prime or before Terce) had special importance, as in most monasteries. The Crosiers

wore the dress of canons, white habit with large black cappa or

mantle. In choir they added the surplice and the almutium.

They distinguished themselves by the.red and white cross on an

originally gray scapular. Their liturgy was simply that of the Dominicans which they kept until the seventeenth century.

They chose the constitutions

of the Friars Preachers

who at the time were still canons.

Since the Dominican liturgy was stabilized only in 1254 and

approved in 1267, the Crosiers at least at that date depended

on the Dominican example, but harked back to it also at later occasions. In 1248 the Order had about seven settlements,

with its largest expansion in the fifteenth century due to the

influence of the modern devotion by which a reform had been

accomplished in 1410 when about 40 new houses were added to

the 30 then in existence.

Part II: Development

The Crosiers used the Dominican ordinary literally, and also

adopted the proper feasts of the Dominicans without important

modifications. In the course of years a development took

place that gave to the Crosier liturgy many special elements.

The acts of the general chapters, saved only since 1410, enable

us to follow that development. Crosiers did not like the

"breviter et succincte" ["briefly and succinctly"] that characterized the Dominicans, but rather the Crosier liturgy

was distinguished by solemn dignity. At least from 1410 they

sang every so-called vacant Thursday night and on Friday an

office of the Holy Cross like that of the Holy Virgin on

Saturdays (a missal, printed in the sixteenth century contains

thirteen different sequences of the Holy Cross for this office).

The offices of the Holy Spirit (on Wednesday) and of the Holy

Sacrament (on Thursday) were introduced in the same year but

were abolished two years later. In 1424 the small office of

the Holy Virgin was introduced as part of the choir office.

The feasts of the patron saints of the Order were slowly raised

in rank.

The feasts of the Holy Cross which probably were totum-

duplex from 1260 received an octave in 1411. [The technical

terms like totum-duplex refer to the rank of the ceremony,

much like the terms memorial, feast, and solemnity which are

in use today.] St Helena became totum-duplex in 1417. St Augustine, already totum-duplex, received two new feasts, the

Translation (14 21) and the Conversion (1620). The feast of St

Odilia, who gradually superceded St Helena as patronness of

the Order, became duplex in 1419, totum-duplex in 1532, to

which was added its own sequence. In 1483 the feast of St

Quiriacus was introduced on May 4 as duplex. He was the

legendary guide at the finding of the Cross who later, being a

bishop of Jerusalem, would have founded the Order. In 1590

his feast became totum-duplex. The tota-duplicia were the

highest rank feasts known in the Crosier liturgy. In 1260

there were only 21; this number rose to 35 in 1517, a sober

increase in comparison to the Dominicans who had 62 then. In

1434 a definition was made that on duplex feasts the prior had

to officiate "in missis, matutinis et vesperis"; since 1464 the

seniors on those days had to sing the lessons. In 1466 we find

that the priors had to officiate on the tota-duplieia only, the

subpriors on the "duplicia celebria". This division of prioral

feasts has been modified several times in later times.

Truly remarkable is the attempt to leave the old books

unchanged as much as possible: new definitions and new offices

had to be added to the existing ordinaries and breviaries in

special quires. The diffusions of new offices was realized by

the visitators who took them to the remote houses. Great

watchfulness was given continuously to the "uniformitas" and

The Crosier liturgy

was distinguished by solemn dignity.

"conformitas"; everything was perfectly ordered. Mistakes in

the existing texts were homonymously corrected even by means

of the general chapter (for example in the sequence of St

Helena in 1493), even mistakes in the notation (for example in

the Veni, Sancte Spiritus in 1497). In 1469 all the choirbooks

had to be corrected in a uniform way from the so-called

archetype, the original copy of the Friars Preachers in Paris.

A copy corrected that way was sent from house to house.

On the feasts of St Augustine the preface of the Holy Trinity

was introduced, "cum sanctus pater noster Augustinus pre

ceteris limpidius archana individuae Trinitatis eructaverit"

(1496) ["Our holy Father Augustine set forth the mysteries of

the indivisible Trinity more clearly than others"]. Gradually the liturgy of the common weekdays is superseded by the

proper of the feasts; feasts with three readings that would

otherwise be left out were moved ahead to vacant weekdays

(1498), although we also find examples of privileging the

seasonal liturgy. For example, some Sundays got the rank of

duplicia and there was a continuous striving not to occupy the

weekdays of lent by feasts of saints. Gradually devotions

received a more important position, especially the devotion to

the Blessed Sacrament. The exposition of the Blessed

Sacrament on Corpus Christi and during its octave in Mass and

vesDers is given a minute description in 1499. In 1578 the

Crosiers

especially liked processions.

weekly office of the Blessed Sacrament on vacant Thursdays

that had been rejected in 1413 was introduced again. Crosiers

especially liked processions, so they introduced a special

procession on the feast of Church Dedication (1495), and a

most remarkable procession for the trespassed on the vigil of

All Saints that was concluded with a general prostration (1508). These processions passed through the so-called ambitus [walkway], the cloister. In the songs they could

make allowance with the size of the cloister. Later a

repetition of the procession for the trespassed after the Mass

of All Souls Day was prescribed (1513). Anyone who had to apply for trespassed people but preferred the Mass of the day

was allowed to choose it, but they had to read the "missa de

requiem11 after his Mass (1514). The Sunday liturgy, however,

had to give way to the liturgy of All Souls Day, except in

monasteries "extra populum et in solitudine constitutis"

["established far from people and in solitude"]. They made allowance for the popular devotion. In 1520 the ringing of

bells at noon was introduced "ob memoriam vivifice crucis et

passionis dominice, cui ordo noster specialiter dedicatur" ["in

memory of the life-giving Cross and the Lord's Passion, to

which our Order is especially dedicated"]. In 1530 special

prayers were mandated if the brethren happened to sit down to

dinner at the time: the verse "Qui passus es pro nobis, miserere nobis, etc" ["You suffered for us, have mercy on us"], read by the lector and then the oration "Respice quaesumus" ["Look on

us we pray"] of the triduum sacrum, concluding with the "Rdelium animae" ["May the souls of the faithful"]. When the Angelus became the vogue, this ringing of the bells was

transferred to three o'clock (the moment of the "expiratio

Domini" ["expiring of the Lord"]) without it being ordered in chapter.

The Crosiers set much value on choosing the music indicated

for special times. The Kyrie paschale especially (i.e., the whole mass of Eastertide) was subjected to several definitions (among others, 1459,1475,1525). In 1576 it was ordered that this Kyrie paschale should be sung on Laetare Sunday in

midlenU "propter efais diei mysterium, representat enim

sabbatum magnum et gaudium omnium electorum in coelesti

Hierusalem" ["because of the glory of the day which memorializes the great Sabbath and joy of all the chosen ones

in the heavenly Jerusalem"]. The use of the Easter preface and the celebration of the Easter octave were arranged in

detail. And in 1603 the Sunday celebration got a special accent, "quae gloriosam Salvatoris nostri resurrectionem

representat" [which memorializes the glorious resurrection of our Savior]. In 1600 the Regina coeli was introduced for the whole Easter season (at first it was sung only during the three

first days of the Easter octave, and since 1457 during the three following days too); they also determined that at Pentecost and during the octave resurrexit sieut dixit should be changed

into Jam emisit quod promisit ["he has risen as he said" changed into "he has now sent forth what he promised"]. In

the fifteenth century the Salve Regina [Hail Holy Queen]

occurs too—it was sung in a very solemn way; finally the Ave

Regina coelontm [Hail Queen of the heavens] and the Alma Redemptoris Hater [Sweet Mother of the Redeemer] were also adopted. Beginning in 1596, the antiphon Haec est

praeclarum vas [This is the shining vessel] was instituted on Saturday, and shortly thereafter became daily, a practice that has been maintained until the present. Crosiers considered singing the office always as their principal task; they were real canons. Until the eighteenth century the rule was (as was

impressed again and again in chapters and at visitations) that the whole office of night and day should be sung entirely if at least 20 canons were present. Where the priory was composed of five or six canons matins had to be held at midnight. At the revival of 1840, after the catastrophe of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic time that had ruined the Order almost

Crosiers considered singing the office

always as their principal task.

totally, this "singing" of the office did not come back—only psalmody is spoken of.

Augustine, Cyriacus, Helena, Barbara, from a cope at Crosier Monastery, Ehrenstein. Late Gothic embroidery and weaving. (Rev Bernard Leisenheimer. O.S.C.)

Part HI: The Proper Breviary

In 1578 the General Chapter charged the prior of Paris, dr

Kobertus Wyart, to investigate to what extent the breviary

used in the order might be reformed according to the

Breviarium Romanum prescribed by the Council of Trent. In

1538 it was decided to recommend the use of the breviary of

the Friars Preachers ("cui ordini nos semper fuimus et sumus

conformes in divinis" ["whose liturgical practice we have

always followed".!), as it had been reformed and had been

approved.by the pope. This, strictly speaking, was illegal,

because Pope Pius V had decided that monastic orders which

had used a proper breviary for 200 years were allowed to keep

their proper breviary or to adopt the one of Trent, or to adapt

their proper breviary to the one of Trent "with approbation of

the Holy See". Crosiers certainly were not conscious of the

illegal character of their procedure because for many

centuries they were accustomed to arranging their whole

worship themselves by general chapter. In 1620 uniformity in

the divine office and the ceremonies were stressed again and

referred to the breviary and the missal of the Friars Preachers

printed the same year. But finally in a surprising way the

A fascinating liturgy came into being

—all illegally.

members of the Order were exhorted to assume the ceremonies

of the Roman missal, i.e., to accept the Roman Rite of mass.

In 1624 the then "new breviary" of the Order was announced

"secundum quod omnes nostri conventus se in canonicarum

horarum persolutione accomodare debent" ["which all our

monasteries should follow when they celebrate the canonical

hours"]. As for mass the brothers should follow the old

ordinarium of the Order, although they were allowed to

observe the ceremonies of the Missale Romanum and

consequently the Roman rite. In 1625 the "Breviarium Patrum

Ordinis Sanctae Cnicis sub Regula Canonicorum regularium S.

Augustini militantium" ["Breviary of the Fathers of the Order

of the Holy Cross serving under the Rule of the Canons Regular

of Saint Augustine"] was published. On the order and

authority of the Master General Augustinus Neerius, it had

been composed by Paulus Reiniers, prior of the Crosier

monastery of Roermond and had been printed with Jean

Tournay in Liege. This breviary was not the old Dominican

one, but neither was it the new Roman one. It had been

attempted to adapt "as much as possible" the old Order

breviary to the new Roman one. The practical difficulty was

that most of the monasteries had precious parchment

choirbooks that they could not or would not replace easily.

Much of the old texts were saved and also the ceremonies were

largely maintained. Thus a very remarkable, fascinating

liturgy came into being showing a surprising striving for

renewal on some points. The old office of the Cross on

Fridays had been maintained, for example, but new readings

had been introduced which were borrowed from the writings of

the Fathers and even from the Imitation of Christ—this being

the only known case, perhaps, where a text of the Imitation

got a place in the liturgy (Book II, Chapter 11, "de paucis

amatoribus cnicis Christi"). For mass, since 1631 the Roman

rite was universally followed in the Order, the only difference

being the insertion of the name of St Augustine in the

Confiteor. All this happened without Rome and therefore

illegally. When Master General Neerius, who had the breviary

made and imposed by his own authority, had died in 1648, his

successor, Petrus Blavier, seemed to understand that the

arbitrarily modified breviary needed a Roman approbation.

But after the rather sudden death of this general (1654) one

never hears about it any more. A Roman approbation was

never asked for the edition of 1665 (elaborated by John Spijck,

prior of Marienfrere in the Rhineland, by order of the general

chapter under Master General Nicolaus de Haneffe, nor for the

edition of 1727 (elaborated by Arn. Laheay or de la Hey, prior

of Liege, by order of the general chapter under General

Wernerus de'Audace). These editions show an advancing

adaptation to the Roman breviary. In 1756 the so-called

officium canonicum was adopted with Roman approbation, i.e.,

an almost totally Roman calendar of 80 new feasts which had

been added to the general proper of the feasts of regular

The Roman breviary

was habitually celebrated

beginning in 1727.

canons in 1727. It appears from handwritten notes in old

Order breviaries that feasts of the Roman breviary were

habitually celebrated beginning in 1727.

Part IV: The Roman Breviary

After the revival of 1840 several members of the Order started

doubting the legality of what happened in 1625. The master

generalHenricus vande Wijmelenberg, elected in 1853, applied

to Rome. The reply was that the Order breviary was illegal.

Then the Order adoped the Roman Breviary, but was allowed to

keep some feasts of the Order (St Odilia, St Quiriacus) and the

other higher rank feasts including the officium canonicum, and

20 additional special feasts in 1848. Among these are the so-

called Passion Offices of the pre-Lent and Lenten season.

Many old Order practices which had been carefully preserved

even by the four old fathers who remained in 1840 were lost.

At the revision of the breviary executed by Pope Pius X (1914) the officium canonicum (with the exception of some feasts) was taken away and, of the 20 feasts conceded in 1848, only a

few were saved. In 1923, however, the Passion offices of the

pre-Lent and Lenten season were restored. In 1960 the

Friday office of the Holy Cross which had disappeared in 1856

was reintroduced in a renewed form. With the instruction of

the Congregation of Rites (February 14, 1961), the proper calendar and proper offices of the Order were revised again

and approved by the Congregation of Rite on April 12, 1962.

It only embraced the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross,

September 14, titular feast of the Order (first class), and St Odilia, July 18, patronness of the Order (first class). St Augustine was celebrated on August 28 (second class). Besides St Helena, August 18 (third class) and a November 5

Finally the members of the Order

adopted the Roman Missal.

feast of all regular canon saints (third class), the feast of church dedication was maintained September 6 (first class). A request to Rome for taking the office of dedication with the

mass of the former feast of the Finding of the Cross on May 3

was only partially conceded—Practically all of the churches of

the Order are dedicated to the Holy Cross: The third of May

the office of dedication is celebrated with the mass Terribilis,

but in non-consecrated churches a second class votive mass of

the Finding of the Cross may be celebrated (Rescript of the Congregation of Rites of March 10,1964). But after Vatican

II the Order proposed again its proper calendar to the

Congregatio Pro Cultu Divino and the congregation answered

on February 6, 1974 according to this list:

CALENDARIUM PROPRIUM

Canonicorum Regular him Ordinis Sanctae Orucis

3 maii In ecelesiis Ordinis consecratis:

Anniversarium Dedicationis ecdesiae propriae,

SoUemnitas.

In aliis ecelesiis:

Missa et officium votivum Sanctae Oucis,

4 maii Ss. Philippi et Iacobi, Apostolorum

Fes turn.

18 iulii S. Odiliae, Virginis et martyris,

Patronae Princ. Ordinis Sanctae Crucis,

SoUemnitas.

18 augusti S. Helenae, Festura.

28 augusti S. Patris Nostri Augustini,

episeopi et Ecdasiae doctoris, Festum.

14 septembris Exaltatio S. Oucis,

Tituli Ordinis S. Crucis,

SoUemnitas.

5 novembris Omnium Sanctorum Canonicorum

Regularium sancti Augustini, Festum.

Missa et Officium de Mysterio Sanctae Oucis fit tamquam Meraoria obligatoria qualibet feria VI, praeter ferias VI Adventus, Quadragesimae et temporis paschalis, et ferias VI in quibus occurrat SoUemnitas, festum vel meraoria obligatoria.

-Sacra Congregatio Pro Cultu Divino.

offices of the Order. The monastery of Uden possesses two of

those breviaries of the sixteenth century, printed in 1512 and

1513 by Jehan Petit in Paris. St Agatha possesses a printed

missale ad consuetudinum fratnim predicatorum [according to

the custom of the brothers preachers], 1516-1517, by Jehan

Petit. At the end, with a proper numbering is found,

"Notandum est quod omnia que in festis sanctorum in suis locis

non inveniuntur hie reperiunter secundum ordinarium fratrum

sancte crucis." ["Note that everything not found for feasts of

saints in the propers according to the ordinary of the brethren

of the Holy Cross is found here"]

Editions of the proper Order breviary:

1. Breviarium Patrum Ordinis Sanctae Crucis sub Regula

Canonicorum regularium S. Augustini militantium. Iussu et

authoritate Reverendissimi Patris F. Augustini Neerii eiusdem

Ordinis Generalis restitutum ac opera et studio Reverendi

Patris F. Pauli Reineri Conventus Ruremundis Prior is

concinnatum. Leodii. In officina Joannis Tournay apud Sanctum

Dionysium. MDCXXV.;

2. Breviarium Sacri ac Canonici Ordinis Sanctae Crucis. Ex

decreto Capituli Generalis Breviario ac Missali Romano

accomodatum ac editum. Coloniae. Sumptibus Ordinis.

MDCLXV.;

3. Breviarium Canonicorum Regularium Sacri et exempti

Ordinis Sanctae Crucis, authoritate Reverendissimi Domini, D.

Werneri d'Audace dicti Ordinis Magistri Generalis, Eiusdemque

Generalis Capituli ordination e ac decreto emendatius

Great watchfulness

was continuously given

to the uniformity and conformity

of the Liturgy.

After Vatican II

the Order follows the Roman Rite

but keeps some feasts of the Order.

Part V: Liturgical Boot<s

Manuscripts: Ordinaria in Cologne (Hist. Arch, d St. Koln, 2 copies), Paris (Bibl. de 1'Arsenal), London (British Museum) and Antwerp (Plantijn-museum). One in Utrecht was burnt during" war, but is saved in a copy (Hees).

Breviaries: Cologne (idem), Liege (Bibl. univers.), Paris (Bibl. Mazarine), Kaapstad (universiteitsbibl.) and Ehrenstein (Kreuzherrenkloster Liebfrauenthal).

The Crosier monastery of St Agatha, Cuyk on the Meuse, possesses four graduals, one missale, one antiphonarium, one capitulocoUectarium and two processionalia. A Martyrologia in St Agatha, Uden, Dusseldorf, the Hague, and LOle (Arch. Dep. du Nord).

Printed editions: The printed Order breviary mentioned in the General Chapter of 1498 is lost. They used breviaries of the Friars Preachers, with written additions, containing the proper

Finding of the Cross: St Helena and St Cyriacus Cope of the Crosier Monastery of Uden, embroidery (Pretiosorum Ord. Ss. Crucis, Series VII. Num 5 b&w)

reimpressum. Trajecti ad Mosam, Ex Officina Typographica

Lamberti Bertus. MDCCXXV11.;

4. Officia propria Sanctorum ex speciali concessione Ss.D.N.

Pii Papae V, a Canonicis Regularibus S. Augustini celebranda

cum insertis Officiis Sanctorum novis post impressioned

Breviarii Ordinis S.Crucis, Breviario Romano superadditis.

Trajecti ad Mosan, typis Jacobi Lekens, Bibliopolae.

MDCCLVIL;

5. Officia propria Sanctorum Ordinis, ex speciali concessione

Ss.D.N. Pii Papae V, a canonicis regularibus Ordinis Sanctae

Crucis celebranda. Sylvae-Ducis, CJi. Teulings, 1856.;

6. Officia propria Sanctorum A Canonicus Reg. S. Augustini

Congreg. Ss. Salvatoris Lateranensibus Necnon Ord. S. Crucis

Recitanda. Gestel Sti Michaelis. Ex Typographia Diocesis

Buscoducensis in Instituto Surdo-Mutorum. 1863.;

7. Officia Propria Sanctorum a Canonicis Regularibus Ordinis

S. Crucis recitanda. Mechliniae. H. Dessain...MCMIV.; latere

uitgaven werden als "officia propria" aan de uitgaven van het

BR (zoals aan die van het MR) toegevoegd.

Literature:

Henricus Russelius, Chronicon Cruciferorum, Keulen, 1635;

C. R. Hermans, Annales Canonicorum regularium S. Augustini

Ordinis S. Crucis, 3 vol., 's-Hertogenbosch 1858;

G. A. Meijer, Een ordinarium der K. [het verloren gegane

handschrift van UtreehtJ(sic), Archief v.d. Gesch...Utrecht 41

(1915) 97-194;

L. Emond, De Mariacultus in de orde van het H. Kruis, OGE I

(1927) 49-55;

A. van de Pasch, De tekst van de constituties der K. van 1248,

Brussel 1952;

idem, Definities de Generate Kappitels der Orde van het H.

Kruis 1410-1779 (in handschrift);

A. van Asseldonk, Het brevier van de K., Diest-Roermond 1945

(ook verschenen in: Qairlieu 2 [1944]);

H. van Rooijen, Theodorus van Celles, Cuyk 1936;

idem, Sinte Odilia, legende of historie, Diest 1945;

idem, De oorsprong van de Orde der Kruisbroders of K. De

geschiedbronnen, Diest 1961 (ook in dairlieu 19 [1961];

idem, Les origines des Croisiers, Bulletin de la Societe d'art et

d'histoire du diocese de Liege 42 (1961) 87-113.0

Note o o o

Death of Theodore de Celles

by Rev Michael Cotone, O.S.C.

Heritage members should mark 1986 on their calendars. While

finishing work on the translation of Fr Van Rooijen's new

manuscript on the origins of the Crosiers, I have become aware

that 1986 will mark the Diamond Centennial (750th

anniversary) of the date given in Crosier tradition for the

death of the Order's founder, Theodore de Celles (August 16,

1236). Surely the Crosier Heritage Association will want to

do something special to mark the occasion, and I cannot

imagine that the Crosiers, with their marvelous history of

celebrating almost anything, will not be planning some sort of

major commemoration!o

The Crosier Monastery of Lilienthal

by Rev Bernard Leisenheimer, O.S.Cr.

The former Crosier monastery of Lilienthal (Valley of the

Lilies) in Falkenhagen near Hoxter in Westfalia was first a

monastery of Cistercian Sisters, founded in the middle of the

13th century, before the Crosiers took possession of the church

and monastery in 1432. It had a relatively shortlived history

in comparison to other German monasteries of the Order in the

Middle Ages. The Reformation managed here to completely

take over the ecclesiastical leadership of the area, and the

Crosiers were forced eventually to leave in 1596. It was an

exceptionally large community by Crosier standards: In 1518

there were 89 conventuals: 27 priests, 44 professed brothers

and 18 unprof essed brothers. The accompanying photos are of

the new church in the gothic style built by the Crosiers (after

the church built by the sisters had been destroyed by fire) with

a detail of the Crosier cross over the main portal of the church.

The present pastor, Rev Reinhold Siebe (Reformed Church) had

a new pulpit made a couple of years ago: On the front of it is

a red and white Crosier cross, "as a remembrance of those who

built this church and worshiped here before us"!

The former Crosier Monastery Church of

Lilienthal in Falkenhagen, Westfalia.

(Rev Bernard Leisenheimer, O.S.CJ

Crosier Cross above the portal of the former Crosier Church in Falkenhagen.

(Rev Bernard Leisenheimer, O.S.CJO

A Through-Composed Canticle of Mary

by Rev. Myron Effing, O.S.C.

Following the publication of the Canticle of Zechariah in

Oosier Heritage #7, Father John Hawkins wrote (Crosier

Heritage #8, page 8) that the Lutheran Book of Worship of 1978

contained through-composed gospel canticles. Here is presented a Canticle of Mary from that source. The purpose

of the through-composed setting should be to complement the literary structure and function of the Gospel canticle, and to capture its emotions (See liturgical Music Today, Bishops' Committee on the Liturgy, National Conference of Catholic

Bishops, Washington DC, 1982, page 17.)

The Canticle of Mary

-0 4

My soul pro-claims the great-ness of the Lord; my spir - it re- joic-es in God my Sav-ior,

tions for he has looked with fa - vor on his low - ly ser - - vant. From this day all gen - er - a

-•#■— 0-

will call me bless - ed. The Al - might -y has done great things for me, and ho - ly is his name.

He has mer-cy on those who fear him in ev - 'ry gen - er - a - tion. He has shown the strength

-0 0- -0 0-

-f—r

of his arm; he has scat-tered the proud in their con-ceit. He has cast down the might -y from their thrones.

-0 0-

and has lift - ed up the low - ly. He has filled the hun-gry with good things, and the rich

-• 0-

he has sent a - way emp - ty. He has come to the help of his ser - vant Is - ra - el.

for he has re-mem-bered his prom-ise of mer-cy. the prom-ise he made to our fa-thers, to A-bra-ham

~0—V

and his chil-dren for-ev - er. Glo-ry to the Fa-ther, and to the Son, and to the Ho- ly Spir-it: as it

I >K ' }-—r--\) I —"?WH- I IJ K I

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was in the be-gin-ning, is now, and will be for-ev-er. A • men

Composer: Richard W. Hillert.

Copyright 1972 CONTEMPORARY WORSHIP 5: SERVICES OF THE WORD. Used by

permission of Augsburg Publishing House. Box 1209, Minneapolis MN 55440. o

8

Homily on the Feast

of the

Exaltation of the Holy Gross

September 14, 1983

by Rev James Moeglein, O.S.C.*

"What is the difference between the Crosiers and

other Orders in the Church?", someone asked me recently.

What I said to him was that every religious order is founded

with an idea or ideal. The Benedictine community witnesses

to the transitory nature of the world and the transcendence of

God. Its members have left the world and live in their

monasteries as monks, most of whom were not ordained priests.

The Franciscans, following the example of Francis, were called

upon to rebuild the Church which was falling apart. They

wanted to live lives of poverty—to live as really poor people

who begged for everything they needed because they believed

God had made people and all creation more precious than riches

could make them. And the Crosiers too had an idea or dream

that brought them together as religious. Their idea came out

of the Crusades, was confirmed as a valid way of life by the

Church in 1208, and finally confirmed by Pope Innocent in

1248, as the windows in this chapel testify.

The idea that struck the original five founders of our

Order was that someone should give witness to the paschal

mystery of Jesus, his death and resurrection. In Jerusalem

there used to be two churches on the site of Calvary, both of

which were built by the Emperor Constantine through the

pleading of his mother St Helena. One of these churches

testified to the death of Jesus. It was a church built over the

Holy Sepulchre, the empty tomb of Jesus. It was dedicated on

September 13. The second church was a church dedicated to

the Passion of Jesus—to the Holy Cross—and it was called the

Martyrion—the "witness". That church was dedicated on

September 14. Later both of them were destroyed.

During the crusades, many Christians went to the Holy

Land—a % to their death—hoping to recapture territory that

they felt as sacred to them because of the historical events

that took place there in Jesus.

It was the dream of the founders of the Crosiers to

rebuild the church that Constantine had built, a church

dedicated to the Holy Cross or the Passion of Jesus—a church

to be rebuilt some day in Jerusalem. They had the dream that

they would be the ones who would tell the world that the death

of Jesus and his burial without the witness of the resurrection

was not Christianity—just as resurrection without the pain and

struggle and weaknesses of the Cross wasn't Christianity

either.

The dream of these first Crosiers was lived out at

first as hermits. They dedicated their first little church at

Huy, Belgium, to a venerable hermit, St Theobald. Later, they

began a more monastic life following the Rule of St Augustine

which was imposed on them by Rome in 1208. Living as canons

regular, they built a church at Huy in 1322—a church not in

Jerusalem, but in Belgium, but representing and dedicated to

the same witness as the one built by St Helena.

Later churches built by the Crosiers in many places in

the world and dedicated to the Holy Cross were meant to

represent that Church of the Passion, of the Holy Cross, of the

Martyrion that used to exist in Jerusalem.

And so as we come to celebrate today, we think of the

beginnings of the Crosiers in this country and we remember:

Yes, the first mission at Butler in 1910 was dedicated to the

(Photo by D wight Ettel, Crosier Seminary, Onamia MN)

Holy Cross; yes, the first mission in Onamia in 1910 was

dedicated to the Holy Cross; yes, it was the Church of the Holy

Cross in Duluth that we started to staff in 1922. We think of

the people who have come to this seminary called "Crosier"

which is a witness to the fact that out of a very small place

great things have happened to so many people, and we think of

our alumni and benefactors. We think, too, of the Crosiers

who have gone before us—all the way back to 1208—because

they had a dream.

Every religious order, every young person, every

religious, has a dream or an idea. And the idea of the Crosiers

is to call witness to a particular truth of our faith, a truth

about Jesus and his Cross. The truth we try to proclaim is

that the Cross of Jesus, an instrument of torture, has really

become a sign of triumph and victory. We try to proclaim that

the Cross of Jesus, a sign of defeat to some, is really a shout of

victory that God does win: Jesus is the Lord because God

wanted it that way. The truth we try to proclaim is that

living through the limitations we have in life, as long as we do

God's will, will lead us to salvation because God conquered

through a Cross. Thus the Cross of Jesus that we proclaim is

not just an instrument of immense torture, but a cross of gold,

of jewels, of life, a cross of red and white that we wear. With

St Paul the Crosiers of the past and of today proclaim a

message to all the world: That ours is to glory in the Cross of

our Lord Jesus Christ because through that Cross God made

something wonderful out of something ugly.

This feast is called the Feast of the Exaltation of the

Holy Cross because it is a commemoration that it is now

possible to use the Cross as a symbol of Christianity, for it was

illegal to use the Cross prior to Constantine's Edict of Milan in

313, an edict which said that Christianity would be tolerated

and people could proclaim in public that Jesus is Lord, that

through the Cross of Jesus life did come to us. Amen.o

[*This homily was preached by Prior James Moeglein, O.S.C., at

the Priory of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Onamia,

Minnesota and follows his reading of a book on early Crosier

history by Father Henri Van Rooijen O.S.C., Ecclesia Sanctae

Crucis de Claro Loco, 1980, which has been translated from the

French by Father Michael Cotone, O.S.C., and is still in

manuscript form.] 9

The Stavelot Triptych and the Oosiers

by Rev. Michael Cotone, O.S.C.

Recently I had the opportunity to read The Stavelot Triptych*,

a work noted in the "Bibliography" section of the November,

1982, CROSIER HERITAGE [#6j. Some of the information

about this small piece of art from the iMeuse valley region

seems to have possible overtones for the origins of the Crosier

Order.

The Stavelot triptych is a 19 inch by 26 inch work [48 cm/66

cm] in precious metals and enamel which was probably commissioned by Abbot Wibald of the Benedictine Abbey of

Stavelot about 1156-1158 A.D. The central panel of the

triptych serves as a frame to enclose two smaller triptychs of

Byzantine origin. Of these, the central panel of the larger portrays the Holy Cross, flanked by St Helen and Constantine

and Sts Michael and Gabriel. The wings of this larger

Byzantine triptych, when open, portray fo'ir Byzantine military

saints, George, Theodore, Procopius, and Demetrius; when closed, they portray the four Evangelists. The central panel

of the smaller triptych portrays a crucifixion scene (Christ, the Virgin, and St John); when closed, its wings portray the

Annunciation. Examination of the two Byzantine triptychs by

the conservation staff of the Pierpont Morgan Library in 1973

revealed that both are reliquaries of the Holy Cross. The

smaller triptych, in particular, had some surprising revelations.

When its central panel was removed, a cavity was found

beneath it. In this cavity was a small pouch containing

(according to a small piece of parchment written in mid-twelfth century script and placed inside the pouch) relics of

the Cross, the Holy Sepulchre, and the garment of the Virgin.

Below the feet of the crucified Christ in the triptych there was

a pin and nail combination which was considered, in all probability, a relic of one of the Holy Nails.

The wings of the Stavelot triptych contain a set of three

medallions. The set on the left wing, when read from bottom

to top, tell the story of Constantine's vision, his victory over

Maxentius, and his baptism by Pope Silvester. The series on

the right wing tells the story of St Helen's discovery of the

True Cross: her questioning of the Jews of Jerusalem (among

whom is "Judas"), the discovery of three crosses at Calvary (Judas digs for them under Helen's directions), and the proving of the True Cross by the resurrection of a young man.

The implications of all of this are somewhat startling when

considered in relationship to the origins of the Crosier Order.

First, this triptych was made about six to eight years before

the traditional birthdate of the Order's founder, Theodore de

Celles, in 1166 A.I). Second, the Abbey of Stavelot is almost

literally "next door" to the places associated with the Order's

foundation, Liege and Huy. According to the maps I have

available, Stavelot is located in the valley of the Ourthe, the

"next river over" east of the Meuse, and about twenty to thirty

miles [30 to 50 Km] from Liege and Huy in a straight line.

Third, the triptych is a representative of several works of art

from the Meuse region of this period which indicate that the

cult of the Holy Cross was enjoying some prominence in the

mid-twelfth century. Fourth, the two Byzantine triptychs

framed in the central panel of the Stavelot triptych were

probably brought to Stavelot by Abbot Wibald, who was twice

ambassador to the court of Manuel I Commenus (1155-56 and

1157-58) for Frederick Barbarossa. In this way we find a link

between the Meuse valley and Constantinople, a link in which

the story of the True Cross plays a role of some significance.

Finally, the St Helen series of medalions on the right wing of

the triptych indicated that the legends of the finding of the

Cross and the figure of Judas/Quiriacus were known in the

Meuse valley in the twelfth century. Unfortunately the

triptych gives us no clue as to whether the story of the

foundation of a group of cruciferi by St Helen with Judas/-

Quiriacus as their leader was also known at the time.

I am hesitant to draw any conclusions about the origins of the

Order on the basis of the above. Perhaps those who have more

experience with the history and art of the Meuse valley are

already aware of this triptych and of its possible implications

for the Order's history have some thoughts to offer.

Nevertheless, I would venture that, in light of what we have

here, the appearance of an Order of the Holy Cross in the Liege

area within the fifty or so years following the creation of this

triptych, an Order which linked its foundations to St Helen and

Quiriacus and which, according to some, shows connections to

Byzantine traditions about the Holy Cross, should not strike us

as all that surprising, o

*The Stavelot Triptych: Mosan Art and the Legend of the

True Cross, The Pierpont Morgan Library, 29 E 36th Street,

New York NY 10016, 1980.

10

CROSIER HERITAGE is the official publication

of the Crosier Heritage Association. The chairman

of the CHA is the Rev. Richard Leliaert. O.S.C.

Nazareth College. Nazareth. Ml 49074 Phone:

6l(v34l)-7783. The Editor is the Rev. Myron

Effing,"O.S.C.. Crosier Heritage Association.

I\O. Box 400. Onamia. MN 56351) Phone:

61 2/532-3 103. Contrib.utinns to features and

departments are \v rlcome. Membership in the

Association is open to all. and the membership

fee is $10.

The members of the Board of the Crosier

Heritage Association are:

Rev. Richard Leliaert. O.S.C. Chairman

Rev. Myron 1 fling. O.S.C. Editor

Rev. James Cashman. O.S.C

Brother Ralph Dahl. O.S.C

V. Rev. John Hawkins. O.S.C

V. Rev. Jerome Rausch. O.S.C

o o

Caroline Walker Bynum, Ph.D.

Professor of History, University of Washington, Seattle.

Doctor Bynum's article in Medievalia et Humanistica (njs. 4,1973) entitled, "The

Spirituality of Regular Canons in the Twelfth Century: A New Approach", opened

questions which she dealt with more thoroughly in her doctoral dissertation, Docere

Verbo Et Examplo: An Aspect of Twelfth Century Spirituality (Harvard Theological Studies XXXI). Her latest book, Jesus as Mother: Studies in the Spirituality of the High Middle Ages (University of California Press, 1982) studies the maternal imagery associated with Jesus by Medieval spiritual writers.

Effing: Dr. Bynum, how did you get interested in canons

regular?

Bynum: I was interested in Hugh of St. Victor, and got

interested in some of Hugh's smaller, more practical works. I

thought there might be something about the context of the

canons that might help one figure out what was Hugh and what

was general canonical spirituality. I wanted to try to

authenticate particular works of Hugh's. I was interested in

Hugh's more practical and pedagogical side, in how he came

across as a teacher. I am a teacher myself, and it was a

natural choice.

Effing: Judging from your book, Docere Verbo et Exemplo: An

Aspect of Twelfth Century Spirituality, it seems you have

found very little that you could say was general canonical

ambiance which shaped Hugh's thinking. Would you say that

the monks and canons had so much in common that you were not

able to find anything that was truly canonical?

Bynum: I do think there is a sharper sense of evangelism, a

sharper and less ambiguous commitment to what one is as a

pedagog in canons, and that is sort of natural for what is

essentially a new group in the twelfth century. It was a

general concern of the twelfth century, but the monks had the

baggage of a much longer tradition, and so they were not so

centrally concerned about themselves as examples for others.

There were many kinds of canons and many kinds of monks and

it would be unreasonable to suppose that they didn't end up

with a lot in common.

Effing: So in a certain sense, the canonical tradition was new

in the twelfth century, and yet it was based in and borrowed

from something very ancient.

Bynum: Yes, the tradition of Augustine was old, and also the

tradition of Gregory the Great was old, and the canons

themselves really go back to the Carolingian period, so in some

sense they were old. But there is no question that in the early

twelfth century there were some really radical groups of

canons, who were stricter and more ascetic than the majority

of those around at the time. In that sense it was a new

movement. The Gregorian reformers of the late eleventh

century wanted to enforce that kind of strict discipline on all

the clergy. Augustine's conversion to Christianity was almost

just a conversion to a monastic life, so he sort of assumed that

all the clergy would be living quite a strict life. I doubt if he

really envisioned the isolation in which some modern clergy

live.

Effing:

life.

I have always envisioned the canonical life as urban

Bynum: But there were canonical foundations in the twelfth

century that were almost eremitical, they were so tiny and so

far removed. But the Victor ines and the later

Premonstratensians were really urban. Some groups described

themselves as "canons and hermits" which sounds like a

contradiction in terms. You had ruined foundations and

places that had lapsed entirely, and sometimes when men went

back to those ruins they would adopt the Rule of Augustine and

speak of themselves as canons. Part of it was because the

versions of the Rule often had that very strict preface

attached to it which people were drawn to, but part of it was

that to many people the Benedictine life had come to seem lax,

and they were looking for alternatives.

Effing: They were looking for something stricter than monks,

you mean.

Bynum: In the beginning of the Twelfth century Stephen of

Grandmont claimed that he would have no rule but the Gospel—

essentially the same approach that Francis took later. There

was the feeling that one had to break the old Benedictine

framework, so some followed the Augustine rule and other

sought to write their own rule. Some wanted to have no rule

at all, but this later became problematic for the Church

because no rule can become license. In the late Eleventh and

early Twelfth Century there was much religious ferment, and

people were trying all sorts of things that had their roots in the

early tradition of the Church. As the century wore on, some

of this had to be regularized.

Effing: Do you think that the extant orders of canons can

provide any insight into the essential identity of canons? Or

are we so far from the origins that we can't be. helpful?

Bynum: I really don't know enough about the modern orders

to be sure. I have felt that if the orders of canons had done

as much on their heritage as some of the monastic groups have

done on theirs we would know a lot more about the order. It

seems to me that the modern orders should contain a group of

workers who could do some of the research. There is almost

too much work being done on the Cistertians and not enough on

other orders whose flowering was in the Twelfth century. I

suspect that there isn't as much difference between modern

canonical houses and medieval ones as there would be between

modern Cistertians and medieval ones. The Premonstra

tensians are about the only ones who do extensive work on the

history. 11

Effing: The problem for Americans is that we aren't capable

at languages. There may be much available, but we can't read

it. You are a rare gem, with your knowledge and interest in

this history. Let's talk about the Ottoboni compilation that

you mention in your book—Shouldn't it be translated into

English?

Bynum: Really, it's not even completely edited. I think it

would be natural thing for someone to pick up on. It is a

compilation of materials on the canonical life that someone did

for devotional and instructional purposes. It is a couple of

hundred folio pages—big chunks of Augustine, Gregory,

Isidore. Some of it is original, and so it really should be

subjected to detailed study. It would make a marvelous

doctoral dissertation. If anyone in the Order is looking for

something to work on this would be a good opportunity. You

could go to the Canon Law Institute at Berkeley and work with

Stephen Kuttner to edit it, since he has a marvelous knowledge

of the sources. He has worked on dozens of compilations like

this. He may have a graduate student who would be

interested. The Institute de Recherche de Textes of the

Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris can easily supply a microfilm of

it. The manuscript number is in my book. If I still have it

you can borrow it from me. I'll look.

Effing: Have you come across our Order in your historical

studies?

Bynum: No, I haven't. Of course, I haven't worked on canons

much later than the 1180's, so I wouldn't have. Lately I've

been working on Beguines and Nuns. You know, no mendicant

form of life was every worked out for women—at least one was

not institutionalized, even though there were some women who

lived by begging. I am working on a theory that some of the

intense interest in fasting by religious women at that time

came about because the renunciation of property was so

difficult for women. Renunciation of food becomes a

substitute for economic poverty. The economic realities of

the time were such that a dowry was almost forced on women,

regardless of what religious lifestyle they chose, but they were

able to take control of their dietary and sleep patterns. Sleep

deprivation and food deprivation become much more central to

feminine religious life, especially as the Beguines begin to see that they are not going to be able to develop a fully mendicant lifestyle. When were you founded?

Effing: In 1210 in Belgium. One of problems is that we were

sort of refounded in the 1840's during the age of the apostolic

congregations, so we have looked mostly like a congregation

since then, with many of the same mentalities. Now we have to rediscover our essence, partly because Vatican II says that

our heritage is a richness that we bring to the Church. The

diversity of kinds of orders is important. We need to

understand our canonical background. Even if you know the

historical, you still have to ask,."What does it mean today?" I

think I would have to say that canons are essentially urban, related to the cathedral and to the central ministries of the bishop. You can't simply classify us as pastors or teachers.

You have to look at the bishop's total job description to see

where the canons fit. For example, in the United States there

are no secular canons. There is no cathedral where the full

life of the church is carried out. It would be natural for

canons regular to enter into that full cathedral ministry,

including daily prayers, hospitality, and a regular presence to

make a living church out of this dead building.

Bynum: Even Protestant churches are emphasizing team

ministry in a urban setting. Have your people read Libellus de

Diversis Ordinibus? Perhaps you should treat it in your

magazine. It is a later Twelfth Century treatise on the

different forms of religious life in the Church. It was written

by a regular canon and was translated into English in the

Oxford Medieval Text series—Giles Constable and Bernard

Smith edited it. There has been a lot of debate about who

wrote it, though it was clearly written by a canon. He really is an early sociologist, because he says that he is going to

describe Twelfth Century religious life as he sees it, not by

orders, but according to how. people live. He makes a big

division between urban and rural, canons who live in cities and

canons who live far away from them. He is interested in how

people fit into their setting. He likes canons, and he wants to

trace them back to Elijah! He has a keen sense of how

institutions work, and a sense for the pressures that give rise

to Twelfth Century diversity. He pushes the variety of

vocations, not only between orders but within orders, taking as

his theme, "Within my Father's house are many mansions." It

breaks off abruptly, so he didn't get to finish it. He did get

through the canons, and so you really have good view. It is no

accident that the first person to write that kind of work was a

canon, given their stress on learning and the breadth of the

tradition. Other religious were more single-minded.

Effing: It amazes me that so few people have gotten

interested in the traditions of the canons. There is so much

that is so rich and pregnant for the future. If you can't be

proud of what you have to offer you aren't going to offer much.

Bynum: It seems to me that what canons are fits right into

Vatican II, like the stress on the collegiate nature of the

clergy which has roots in the early church, but does represent

what the canons were all about. Also the stress on the Bible

and modern exegesis is canonical in spirit. The Victorine

canons stressed the historical setting of scripture and placed

emphasis on the need to study the biblical languages and do

critical study of the text. The liturgical stress is also

canonical. Andrew and Hugh of St Victor and Norbert of

Xanten would fit right into Vatican II. Also the canons of the

Twelfth Century were involved in the study and writing of history. So many of the early historians like Otto of Freising and Gerhoh of Reichersburg, people who were trying to classify their tradition and find their roots, were canons. So canons today who want to follow their own heritage should be interested, not only in the history of their own order, but others as well, because canons have always been interested in the historical. Vatican II itself is really a return to the roots and getting rid of accretions.

Effing: Dr. Bynum, your recent book—Why is the title in Latin, and why did you treat spirituality?

Bynum: It might have been better to have the title in English. The subtitle is to locate it in time and place. I treat this notion of spirituality in my new book—what I think the word

has come to mean in recent historical work, and I find this

meaning attractive. Spirituality has come to mean, not merely ascetical or mystical theology, but the basic assumptions that a group of people hold about their collective

life. I like having a word that means that, and it's a relatively recent word. My interest in the history of Christianity is this: groups have basic assumptions about what gives meaning, religious meaning, that lies not only behind

12

articulated belief, but also practice, whether worship or

behavior. So I was interested in wondering whether there was

something in the kind of things the canons did and what they

wrote that characterizes the kind of life they were trying to

live. I tried to show that the notion of "teaching by word and

example" is generally an aspect of twelfth century religious

concern, and in particular of twelfth century canons—not the

only aspect, but an important enough one to warrant further

study.

Effing: Since you talk about it in your book, I find myself

listening for it. So far the notion of "teaching by word and

example" always comes out in our sermons and talks. I don't

hear monks often enough to know whether they would speak in

the same way.

Bynum: It seems to me that it is even a modern secular

concern. Parents and teachers spend a great deal of time

worrying about the messages they give by their examples.

Effing: Wouldn't we tend to use the word "model"? We

would teach by modeling?

Bynum: We probably would, and in secular use we tend to

assume that word and example are opposed or in conflict—

parents particularly. We worry lest we contradict what we

say by what we do. It's a modern conception of a dysfunction,

but in the twelfth century they tended to unite them, and they

felt that doctrine—or teaching—wasn't so much a creed that

you might give lip service to, but was a lived thing, so naturally

it spilled over into action. I find that twelfth century sense

of word and deed as more integral to be much more attractive

than the modern assumption that we must be hypocrites, that

we must be ambivalent and in internal conflict. I tried to

treat that in the third essay of my new collection, Jesus as

Mother, on the discovery of the individual. Perhaps it is a

error of the Reformation to try to divide word and example.

Effing: It seems to me that today we assume that the preacher does not know what he is talking about and cannot

possibly live up to what he says. Of course, the people still

say that when they go to church on Sunday they want to hear a

good sermon.

Bynum: So it seems that the modern notion of the dichotomy

between word and example is more serious for the clergy than for the laity.

Effing: Perhaps we don't have very many good models of preachers.

Bynum: In the Twelfth and Thirteenth Century clergy were

much less hesitant about using models, just as they were less

hesitant about giving other people's sermons. Perhaps the

burden of having to generate and preach one's own sermon is counterproductive. If there were more of a sense that it is

o.k. to use other people's words, preaching might improve.

Effing: It seems to me that there is an increasing interest in the Medieval period, and even in canons in particular.

Bynum: Yes, there is. At the time I went to graduate school

in 1962, the twelfth century was on the rise as the favorite period in the middle ages, and for about fifteen years it was

the period everyone wanted to study, partly because it was a

century of beginnings, when things really began to flower. In

the last few years among young people the interest is shifting

to the Fourteenth Century, which is not too surprising, given

what is happening in our culture: a period of decadence, crisis,

famine, plague, foreign invasion, catastrophe, corruption in

the Church. It's popular now to be pessimistic and worried,

and to look at endings as well as beginnings. In general,

though, interest in the middle ages is on the increase, and the

middle ages and the History of Christianity in Religious Studies Schools at the universities are some of the few areas that have

continued to grow and attract students.

Effing: You are working on another book. Can you tell me something about it?

Bynum: This one is about Thirteenth Century women mystics.

Effing: Have you done a lot of fasting to get yourself ready for this?

Bynum: No, I'm just holding my own. Seriously, it will deal

with mystics, especially Cistercians, and with saints. I have an article coming out next year in Women's Studies, which is

doing a special study on the middle ages. It will be on women and eucharistic devotion in the thirteenth century. I've been

working on it for about the last year—things like devotion to the Sacred Heart, and other aspects of the relationship women

had to the humanity of Christ. It gets into some of these

extreme forms of aceticism—A lot of Dominican influence and

Dominican discipline, a lot of blood shed and hairshirts worn, lice, vermin, and such extremes. I have been trying to find

out why the kinds of spirituality you find later with men like

Francis was really quite common with mystical women earlier,

and far more so than with men. Usually you read the sort of William James opinion that this was all pathological, and that

these were crazy hysterical women with psychological abnormalities who persecuted themselves. I don't think that that is what was going on. We are about to dock—I hope you

enjoyed being out here on Puget Sound on a ferry. Let me

mention one more thing I have been working on the last six

months. I was asked to write an article for a collection that

two religionists at the University of Chicago are bringing out called Anthropology and the Study of Religions. My article is on Victor Turner and explores some of his ideas about

pilgrimage and how the crises apply to late medieval saints. I

will send you the reference. I don't use many examples from

the canonical tradition, but it is an interesting topic. Turner

is a Catholic convert and a very influential anthropologist, now

at the University of Virginia. He has tried to work out a

general theory of crisis and stages of development of religious

orders and of individuals.

Effing: It's going to take time to absorb all of this conversation.

Bynum: It seems to me that your magazine is coming along

nicely. I hope you continue to grow in your subscriptions. And I hope we can meet again soon.O

13

tter o o o

Dear Editor, April 13, 1983 Dear Editor, September 26, 1983

Let me thank you for all that you have been doing through the

Crosier Heritage Association. I really look forward to your

newsletter and I stand in envy at what you have accomplished

through that simple tool.

Our prior, Rev Theodore Antry, completed his doctoral studies

at Notre Dame's Institute for Medieval Studies. We both share

a deep interest in the canonical tradition and so we are very

interested in the meeting of the American Community of

Canons Regular in conjunction with the Medieval Institute at

Kalamazoo. We will try to plan to be there. We have

recently made contact with a person at Catholic University

who may be translating for us the Vitae of St Norbert.

Perhaps she will have a paper by May.

In any event, keep us on your mailing list and keep us abreast

of developments.

Gratefully,

Today I received CROSIER HERITAGE number nine. I thank

you very much for giving so much effort to promote the

tradition of the Order. I congratulate you and yours upon this

special issue on St Odilia—it is very nice and enriching. I am

very happy to see that the work done by our confrere J.

Steinmetz is appreciated very well in the States, the Province

of St Odilia. Fr Steinmetz was suffering a lot of a sickness of

the eyes, and his veneration to St Odilia was therefore very

existential.

Looking forward to meeting all of you in the Fall, I send you my

best greetings in the Cross, Sincerely yours,

.' ' i i '■■■' /V L* Gratis PIG o.3.c.

Via del Velabro 19 00186 Roma

»

Andrew D. Ciferni, O. Praem.

Daylesford Abbey

220 South Valley Road

Paoli PA 19301

o o o

Ordinarium Chori a l'usage de la Confederation des Chanoines

Reguliers de Saint Augustin, Edition typique en langue fruncaise, Service de Documentation Pastorale (C.R.I.C.), 312 Est, rue Sherbrooke, Montreal, P.Q. H2X 1E6, Canada, 1983. 50

pp. [Ordinary for the Choir for the Confederation of the Canons

Regular of Saint Augustine. French Typical Edition. Pastoral

Documentation Service of the Canons Regular of the

Immaculate Conception, 312 E Sherbrooke St, Montreal, Que,

H2X 1E6, Canada, 1983. There is the note (in Latin): The

Primatial Council in its 19th session on September 9,1982, has

given definitive approval to this Ordinary for the Choir, orders

its publication, and recommends this French edition by Rev

Gastone Fontaine, eric. It is signed by Abbot Primate Angelin

Lovey on March 5, 1983 in Martigny (Switzerland).]

14

Letter of His Holiness John Paul II to the Bishops of the United

States and Essential Elements in the Church's Teaching on

Relgious Life as Applied to Institutes Dedicated to Works of

the Apostolate, Sacred Congregation for Religious and for Secular Institutes, May 31, 1983. Published in English by

Institute on Religious Life, 4200 North Austin Avenue, Chicago

IL 60634. 55 pp.

David F. O'Connor, S.T., "Constitutions and the Revised Code

of Canon Law", Review for Religious (vol 42, num 4),

July/August, 1983, p. 506. Gives unofficial translations of

new canons relevant to constitutional changes that will have

to be made by religious orders.

Boniface Ramsey, O.P., "The Center of Religious Poverty",

Review for Relgious (vol 42, num 4), July /August, 1983, p. 534.

Distinguishes the Christocentric from non-Christocentric

motives for poverty.o

A Series of Articles from the jubilary album of the Canonical Order

published at the Sixteen Hundredth Anniversary of the birth of St. Augustine at Stift Vorau, Austria, in 1954

and edited by Pius Fank, C.R.

Canons Regular

by Dr. Karl Egger, C.R.L.

[Continued from CROSIER HERITAGE Number Eight]

With regard to spirituality, the Canons Regular had two

schools in particular whose importance and influence extended

far beyond their own order.

1. The School of St Victor. Among the principal

representatives of this school, which was influenced by St

Augustine and the Pseudo-Denis, are Hugh, Richard, Adam,

Accard, Thomas Gallus. The created universe, the events of

history and particularly Sacred Scriptures, contain a "divine

nucleus". This "nucleus" is perceived by intuitive meditation

from which one arises to affective contemplation which is the

unique consideration of Truth when one is free from the "fire

of passions".

2. The School of Windesheim. (Devotio Moderna). This

school shows a new way towards union with God—a simple

way—far from the philosophy of the scholastics; it teaches

how one can find Christ in the intimate recesses of the soul; for

this spiritual experience the soul must prepare itself by

meditation on the humanity of our Lord. In its day, this was

considered as something novel whence arose the term "modern

devotion" which was given to this method of practical

asceticism. Small penances, examinations of conscience, a

new method of meditation based on the imagination, will and

intellect, are the ascetical means used by those who follow its

teaching. This "modern devotion" also spread to the new-

latin countries and came to be known in Spain through St

Ignatius of Loyola. It was Thomas Hemerken of Kempen

(Thomas a Kempis), a Canon Regular of Windesheim, who

brought out the principal work of this new spirituality—the

famous "Imitation of Christ" which from that time, became the

heritage of the whole of Christianity.

From the earliest times the Canons Regular wene

dedicated to the apostolate, ordinary and extraordinary.

Often the foundation of a monastery coincided with the

assignment of parishes. For this reason the communities of

Canons Regular have always been found in close contact with

their respective dioceses and with the faithful.

They also deserve mention in the field of the

extraordinary apostolate. It was a Canon Regular, St Vicelin,

who preached the gospel to the Vagriers, a pagan tribe of the

Vends. Meinhard carried the good tidings to the Latvians.

The first missionaries in the Congo belonged to the Portuguese

Congregation of St John the Evangelist, who also sent apostles

to Ethiopia (Abyssinia) and to India.

Their corporal works of mercy extended to an even wider

field. Nearly all their monasteries had an "hospitium"

(hospice) or guesthouse, where the poor, sick and pilgrims

could be looked after. There arose likewise, for a work, by no

means less important, the Canons Hospitallers. To this group

belong, among others, the Canons Regular of the Great St

Bernard, of St Anthony and of the Holy Spirit. Finally and not

without importance were contributions made by the Order

towards science and the fine arts, many abbeys existing for

long periods as great centers of culture. The religious of the

violently oppressed monasteries could have been able very

often to refer to similar cultural worth as the Canons of

Beyharting who could say to the commissioner of repeal in

1803: "What we got as a desert we give back as a garden."

Out of the list of distinguised Canons Regular except

those already mentioned learned men of the School of St Victor

special attention must be called to the following ones: the

Italians Mark H. Vida (+1566), neo-Latin epic poet and theorist

of poetics, of far reaching influence; the Abbot GeneralJohn

Chrysostomus Trombelli (+1784), theologian and historian, and

the still living Lateran Abbot Joseph Ricciotti; the Spaniards

Cardinal Aegidius Albornoz (+1367), Canon of Saragossa, "the

greatest political genious whom the Spanish Nation had born"

(Pelayo), the second Founder of the Vatican State, and Benito

Arias Montanus (+1598), "a giant of strength and learning",

editor of the Antwerp Polyglot Bible; the Bask Martin de

Azpilcueta Navarrus (+1586), Canonist and Moralist, spiritual

adviser of three Popes; the Portuguese Miguel Carlos da Cunha

(+1799), Prior General and Bishop of Coimbra who had to

languish for eight years in prison because of his immovable

defence of the rights of the Church against the encroachments

of the almighty Minister Pombal; the Frenchman James of Vitry

(+1240), preacher of the crusade and author, John Bapt Santeul

(+1697), one of the best poets of Latin hymns, Bertholomew

Aemilia (+1673), Canon of Pamiers, popular preacher of

repentance who was called "the Grignion de Montfort of

Languedoc", and not at last Alan of Solminihac (+1659),

founder of the Congregation of Chancelade, renovator of the

religious life among the clergy and the people—the canonical

inquest for the beatification is now in progress—and also

successor of St Vincent de Paul in fighting Jansenism; the

Englishmen William of Newbury (+about 1198),historian, and

the energetic and ethical Nicholas Breakspeare, from 1154 till

1159 Pope as Hadrian IV, the only of the English nation; the

Netherlands Arnold of Tongern (+1546), writer, Gerlach Petersz (+1411), Canon of Windesheim, mystic, called "the

second Thomas of Kempen", Provost John Busch (+1479), famous reformer of the order of far reaching influence, John

Mauburnus (+1501), leading prepresentative of the Devotio

Moderna, and finally the great humanist Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam (+1536), who took up his new duties in the cloister

Stein near Gouda in 1487, from 1493 he lived outside the

cloister but remained a man of the order up to his death; the

15

Germans Mangold of Lautenbach l+after 11U3), celebrated by

his contemporaries as "teacher of the modern touchers",

provost of Marbach in Alsace where about 1150 the Canon

Sintram wrote the famous Code of Rules (now in the seminary

in Strasbourg), Gerhoh of Reichersberg (+1169), a great

theologian, a brave defender of the rights of the Church and

untiring pre-fighter for the reform of the discipline of the

Church, Andrew of St Mang in Hegensburg (+1438), "the

Bavarian Livius", Michael Kuen (+1765), provost of Wengen,

important historian, Eusebius Amort (+1775), Canons of Polling,

one of the many sided learned men of his time, fellow-founder

of the equiprobabilism in moral theology, John Ignatius

Felbiger (+1787), provost of Sagan, renewer of the Catholic

school, and finally Francis Toepsl (+1796), provost of Polling,

celebrated by his contemporaries as "gemma Praelatorum",

admired as "Universalgenie" and by prince-abbot Marih

Gerbert called a "living library", who wrote 60 folios (now as

manuscript in the National Library in Munich) about the

"Scriptores Can. Reg. S. Augustini".

The saints of the Order are: Israel (+1014), Canon of

Doratum and his disciples Theobald (+1070) and Walter

(+1070), Abbot of Lesterp; Gaucherius (+1060), Prior of St Jean

d'Aureil; Peter (+1080), Provost of Pebrac; Bernard of Menthon

(+1081), founder of the Hospital of the Great St Bernard,

patron of Alpinists; Yvo (+1117), Bishop of Chartres, one of the

greatest Canonists in the Middle Ages; Rayimind (+1126),

Bishop of Roda-Barbastro in Splain; Guiraudus (+1123), Bishop

of Beziers; Olger (+1137), Archbishop of Tarragona, reformer

of the Spanish Clergy; Kield (+1150), Provost of Virbog in

Denmark; Vicelinus (+1154), Apostle of the Wandes, founder of

three monasteries of Canons, Bishop of Oldenburg and his

blessed disciples Volker of Segeberg (+martyr 1132) andDitmar

of Neumunster (+1152); Guerinus (+1158), Cardinal-Bishop of

Palestrina; Ubald (+1160), Bishop of Gubbio, reformer of the

clergy; Theotonius (+1166), first prior of the "Holy Cross" at

Coimbre; Laurent (+1180), Archbishop of Dublin; Gilbert of

Sempringham (+1198), great ascetic saint, founder of the

double monasteries of the Gilbertines which were very popular

in England; Thorlak Thorhallson (+1193), Abbot of the Canons

Regular, later, Bishop of Skalholt, first Saint of Iceland;

Menard (+1196), Canon of Segeberg, Apostle and Bishop of

Livonia; William Tempier (+1197), Bishop of Poitiers; William

(+1203), Abbot of Ebbelholt in Denmark, who used to feed 100

poor every day; Albert (+1214), Canon of Mortara, Bishop of

Vercelli, Patriarch of Jerusalem, organizer of the Carmelites;

Fulcus (+1224), Bishop of Pavia, a sacred orator; John (+1379),

Prior of Bridlington; Peter Arbiies (Martyr +1485), Canon of

Saragossa, a calumniated member of the Spanish Inquisition;

Laurent Justinian (+1456), first Patriarch of Venice; John of

Osterwijk (+1572), one of the martyrs of Gorkum, in Holland;

Peter Fourier, Rector of Mattaincourt in Lorraine, whose social

action was remarkable; he also founded the Canonesses of Our

Lady and the Congregation of Our Savior.

Honored as "Blessed": Heldemar (+1097), founder of the

monastery of Arrouaise (France); Lambert (+1123), first

Provost of Neuwerk, near Halle; John (+1130), Bishop of

Therouanne; Erkenbert (+1132), founder and first provost of

Frankenthal, near Speyer; Rudhard (+1150), first Provost of Au

in Bavaria; Jean de la Grille (+1163), Bishop of St Malo;

Hartmann (+1164), Provost of Klosterneuburg, Bishop of Brixen,

founder of Neustift; Pontius of Sixt (+1178), Abbot; Martin of

Leon (+1229), Canon of St Isidorus at Leon, an interpreter of

the Holy Scriptures; Bonifacius (+1243) and Emmerich (+1313),

Bishops of Aosta; John Ruysbroek (+1381), the "doctor

extaticus", first Prior of Groenendaal, a man of high mysticity;

Stanislaus Soltys (+1489), Canon of Cracow; Archangel

Canetoli (+1513), Canon at Gubbio, an apostle of charity;

Charles-Mary Bernard, John-Francis Bonnel de Pradal and

Claudius Ponse, Canons at Paris (+1792), victims of the French

Revolution.

Apart from the normal consumption of energy which is

proper to every human institution, the Order of Canons Regular

underwent the gravest of losses as a result of the so-called

Protestant "Reformation", the French Revolution and the

Secularization of the last century, losses which can never be

replaced. However, we are convinced that the Order has a

vital mission to accomplish in our own times [emphasis is Fr

Egger's]. With such a great and glorious past, it could never

be content to rest on its laurels. With a new energy and

power it must encounter the problems of the world today, and

effectively cooperate in the re-Christianization of modern

society. This then, in our opinion is the profound menaing of

this jubilee celebration in honor of St Augustine.o

First Meeting of the

CROSIER HERITAGE ASSOCIATION

and the

AMERICAN COMMUNITY OF CANONS REGULAR

MAT 10-13, 1984

Kalamazoo

16