Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 12.djvu/837

 RELIGIOUS

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RELIGIOUS

Jehovah; and so certain ascetic practices, even if they had a pagan origin, were nevertheless, as em- ployed by our monks and religious. Catholic and Christian in meaning and inspiration. Moreover, not everj' doctrine or practice of a false religion is neces- sarily erroneous or reprehensible; there maj' be great nobility of character among Buddhist monks or Mussulman derWshes, as there may be faults sullj-ing the monastic or rehgious habits worn in the true Church.

We need not here present a comparative analysis of the Christian religious life and the religious life of non-Christians, nor even compare our religious with the servants of God in the Old Testament (see An'chorites; Asceticism; Buddhism; Essenes; Mox.\sticism). But how are we to recognize the reli- gious life of the true and Divine religion? Xot by bod- ily mortifications, which may be surpassed in severitj- by those of the fakirs; not by mystical ecstasies and raptures, which were experienced by those initiated into the Greek and Oriental mysteries, and are still met with among Buddhist monks and dervishes: not even by the faultless lines of all the plans of Cathohe religious Ufe, for God, who desires progress even in His Church, has permitted rough beginnings, experiments, and individual mistakes; but even the persons making these mistakes possess in the true rehgion the principles which ensure correction and gradual improvement. Besides, in its entirety, the religious life of the true religion must appear to us to be in conformity ^ath the moral and social laws of our present existence, as well as with our destiny; its intentions must appear sincerely directed towards personal sanctification, towards God, and the Divine order. The tree must ever\'where be known by its fruits. Now, Catholic religious life infinitely sur- passes all other ascetic systems by the truth and beauty of the doctrine laid down in so many rules and treatises, and by the eminent sanctity of its followers such as Saints Anthony, Fachomius, Basil, Augustine, Colombanus, Gregorj-, and others, and finally, especially in the West, by the marvellous fruitfulness of its work for the benefit of mankind. After the.se preUminary obser^-ations, we may con- fidently look for the true religious life in the Go.spel.

B. Ev.^NGELic.YL Idea. — We cannot regard as essential everj-thing that we find in the full develop- ment of religious hfe, without ignoring historical facts or refusing them the attention they deserve; and we must correct the definitions of Scholastic writers, and lessen some of their requirements, if we wish to put ourselves in harmony with historj-, and not be compelled to assign to religious a later origin, which would separate them by too long a period from the first preaching of the Gospel which they profess to, practise in the most perfect manner. The .Scrip- tures tell us that perfection consists in the love of God and our neighbour, or to speak more accurately, in a charity which extends from God to our neighbour, finding its motive in God, and the opportunity for its exercise in our neighbour. We say "it has its motive in God", and for that reason Christ tells us that the second commandment is like to the first (Matt., xxii, 39); "and the opportunitj' for its ex- ercise in our neighbour", as St. John says: "If any man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother, whom he seeth, how can he love God, whom he seeth not?" (I John, iv, 20). The Xew Testament warns us of the obstacles to this charity arising from an attach- ment to and desire of created things, and from the cares caused by their possession, and, therefore, be- sides this precept of charity, our observance of which is the measure of our perfection, the Xew Testament gives us a general counsel to be disengaged from every- thing contrary to charitj'. This coun.sel contains certain definite directions, among the most important

of which are the renunciation of riches, of carnal pleasure, and of all ambition and self-seeking, in order to acquire a spirit of voluntarj' submission and generous devotion to the service of God and our neighbour.

All Christians are bound to obey these precepts, and to follow the spirit of these counsels; and a fer- vour like that of the first Christians will enable them to free themselves from attachment to earthly things in order to set their affections on God and the things of heaven; while the remembrance of the shortness of this life facilitates the sacrifice of wealth and nat- ural pleasures. The first converts of Jerusalem acted on this principle, and sold their possessions and goods, laying the proceeds at the feet of the apostles. But ex-perience, by which Christ wished His faithful to be taught, soon corrected their errors on the sub- ject of the future of the world, and showed the prac- tical impossibility of a complete renunciation by all members of the Church. Christian society can no more continue without resources and without chil- dren than the soul can exist without the body; it has need of men engaged in lucrative professions, as well as of Christian marriages and Christian families. In short, according to the designs of God who bestows a diversity of gifts, there must also be a diversity of operations (I Cor., xii, 4, 6). Everj- kind of career should be represented in the Church, and one of these should include those who make pro- fession of the practice of the Evangehcal counsels. Such persons are not necessarily more perfect than others, but they adopt the best means of attaining perfection; their final object and supreme destiny are the same as those of others, but they are charged with the duty of reminding others of that destiny and of the means of fulfilhng it ; and they pa3' for this favoured position by the sacrifices which it entails, and the benefit which others derive from their teach- ing and example. This life, which, in ^■iew of the great precept, follows the Evangehcal counsels, is called the religious life; and those who embrace it are called religious.

At first sight, it would seem that this life ought to unite in itself all the counsels scattered through the Gospels: that would indeed be the religion of counsels; and certainly, the more fully it inspires the desire and furnishes the means of following the Evangelical coun- sels, the more fully is it a religious life; but a perfect realization of those counsels is impossible to man; the opportunity of practising them all does not pre- sent itself in every man's life, and one would quickly be worn out if he attempted to keep them all con- tinually in view. We soon learn to distinguish those that are more essential and characteristic, and more calculated to ensure that freedom from whatever hinders the love of God and of our neighbour, which should be the distingiiishing mark of the perfect life. From this point of view, two counsels are put prom- inently forward in the X'ew Testament as necessary for perfection, namely the counsel of poverty: "If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give to the poor" (Matt., xix, 21), and the counsel of perfect chastitv practised for the sake of the kingdom of heaven (cf."Matt., xix, 12, and I Cor., vii, 37-40, and the commentarj' of Comely on the latter).

These two counsels teach us what we have to avoid; but it remains for a man to fill his life with acts of per- fection, to follow Christ in His life of charity towards God and men, or, since this would be perfection itself, to devote his life to an occupation which will make it- tend towards union with God or the service of his neighbour. Religious life then is made perfect by a definite profession either of retirement and contem- plation or of pious activity. The profession, negative as well as positive, is placed under the control and direction of ecclesiastical authority, which is entrusted with the duty of leading men in the ways of salvation