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Pope
Benedict XVI - General Audiences |
General
Audience
On St. Robert Bellarmine
"The End of Our Life is the Lord"
H.H. Benedict XVI
February 23, 2011
www.zenit.org
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
St. Robert Bellarmine, about whom I would like to speak to you today,
carries our memories to the time of the painful division of Western
Christianity, when a serious political and religious crisis caused the
severance of whole nations from the Apostolic See.
Born Oct. 4, 1542, in Montepulciano, near Siena, he was the nephew, on
his mother's side, of Pope Marcellus II. He had an excellent formation
in the humanities before entering the Society of Jesus on Sept. 20,
1560. His studies in philosophy and theology, which he carried out
between the Roman College, Padua and Leuven, centered on St. Thomas and
the fathers of the Church, and were decisive for his theological
orientation. He was ordained a priest on March 25, 1570, and was for a
few years a professor of theology at Leuven.
Subsequently, called to Rome as professor at the Roman College, he was
entrusted with the chair of "Apologetics"; during the decade that he had
this office (1576-1586), he prepared a course of lessons that came
together later in the "Controversiae." This work became famous
immediately because of the clarity and richness of the contents and
because of a primarily historical style. The Council of Trent had
recently ended and for the Catholic Church it was necessary to
strengthen and confirm her identity in regard to the Protestant
Reformation. Bellarmine's activity comes within this context. From 1588
to 1594 he was first spiritual father of the Jesuit students of the
Roman College -- among whom he met and directed St. Aloysius Gonzaga --
and then religious superior. Pope Clement VIII appointed him papal
theologian, consultor of the Holy Office and rector of the College of
Penitentiaries of St. Peter's Basilica. In the two-year period of
1597-1598 his catechism was published, the brief "Christian Doctrine,"
which was his most popular work.
On March 3, 1599, he was created cardinal by Pope Clement VIII and, on
March 18, 1602, he was appointed archbishop of Capua. He received
episcopal ordination on April 21 of the same year. In the three years in
which he was a diocesan bishop, he was distinguished for his zeal as a
preacher in his cathedral, for the weekly visits he made to parishes,
for three diocesan synods and for a provincial council that he
motivated. After having participated in the conclaves that elected Popes
Leo XI and Paul V, he was recalled to Rome, where he was a member of the
Congregations of the Holy Office, of the Index, of Rites, of Bishops and
of the Propagation of the Faith. He also had diplomatic tasks in the
Republic of Venice and England, to defend the rights of the Apostolic
See. In his last years he composed several books on spirituality, in
which he condensed the fruit of his annual spiritual exercises. Reading
these, the Christian people draw again today great edification. He died
in Rome on Sept. 17, 1621. Pope Pius XI beatified him in 1923, canonized
him in 1930 and proclaimed him a doctor of the Church in 1931.
St. Robert Bellarmine played an important role in the Church of the last
decades of the 16th century and the early years of the next century. His
"Controversiae" was a point of reference -- that is still valid -- for
Catholic ecclesiology on questions regarding revelation, the nature of
the Church, the sacraments and theological anthropology. There, the
institutional aspect of the Church is highlighted because of the errors
that circulated then on such questions. However, Bellarmine also
clarified the invisible aspects of the Church as Mystical Body and he
illustrated this with the analogy of the body and the soul, in order to
describe the relationship between the interior riches of the Church and
the external aspects that render her perceptible. In this monumental
work, which attempts to synthesize the various theological controversies
of the time, he avoids every controversial and aggressive style in
confronting the ideas of the Reformation, and, using the arguments of
reason and Church Tradition, illustrates Catholic doctrine in a clear
and effective way.
However, his legacy is found in the way in which he conceived his work.
Onerous government posts did not impede him, in fact, from daily
striving for holiness with fidelity to the demands of his state as a
religious, priest and bishop. His commitment to preaching derived from
this fidelity. Being, as a priest and bishop, first of all a pastor of
souls, he felt the duty to preach assiduously. There are hundreds of his
sermons -- homilies given in the Fiandre, in Rome, in Naples and in
Capua on the occasion of liturgical celebrations. Not less abundant are
his expositions and explanations for parish priests, women religious and
students of the Roman College, which often centered on sacred Scripture,
especially the Letters of St. Paul. His preaching and his catecheses
have that characteristic of simplicity that he gleaned from his Ignatian
education, all directed at concentrating the strength of the soul on the
Lord Jesus, deeply known, loved and imitated.
In the writings of this man of government one sees very clearly, even in
the reserve with which he concealed his sentiments, the primacy that he
assigns to the teachings of Christ. St. Bellarmine thus offers a model
of prayer, the soul of every activity: a prayer that listens to the Word
of the Lord, is fulfilled in contemplating grandeur, does not withdraw
into itself, finds joy in abandonment to God.
A distinctive sign of Bellarmine's spirituality is the lively and
personal perception of the immense goodness of God, by which our saint
felt that he was truly a beloved son of God and which was a source of
great joy in recollecting himself, with serenity and simplicity, in
prayer, in contemplation of God. In his book "De Ascensione Mentis in
Deum" (The Mind's Ascent to God), composed following the structure of
St. Bonaventure's "Itinerarium," he exclaims: "O soul, your exemplar is
God, infinite beauty, light without shadow, splendor that surpasses that
of the moon and the sun. Raise your eyes to God in whom are found the
archetypes of all things, and of whom, as from a source of infinite
fecundity, derives this almost infinite variety of things. Hence you
must conclude: Whoever finds God finds everything, whoever loses God
loses everything."
In this text one hears the echo of the famous "contemplatio ad amorem
obtineundum" -- contemplation to obtain love -- from the spiritual
exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Bellarmine, who lived in the
ostentatious and often unhealthy society of the end of the 1500s and the
beginning of the 1600s, drew practical applications from this
contemplation and projected forward the situation of the Church of his
time with lively pastoral inspiration. In the book "De Arte Bene
Moriendi" (The Art of Dying Well), for example, he indicates as a sure
norm of good living and also of good dying, the frequent and serious
meditation on the fact that one will have to render an account to God
for one's actions and way of living, and to seek not to accumulate
riches on this earth, but to live simply and with charity in order to
accumulate goods in Heaven. In the book "De Gemitu Columbae," (The
Mournful Cry of the Dove) -- where the dove represents the Church -- he
calls the clergy and all the faithful to a personal and concrete reform
of their life following what Scripture and the saints teach, among whom
he mentions in particular St. Gregory of Nazianzen, St. John Chrysostom,
St. Jerome and St. Augustine, in addition to the great founders of
religious orders such as St. Benedict, St. Dominic and St. Francis.
Bellarmine teaches with great clarity and with the example of his own
life that there cannot be a true reform of the Church if there is not
first our personal reform and the conversion of our hearts.
From the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius, Bellarmine drew counsels
to communicate in a profound way, even to the most simple, the beauty of
the mysteries of the faith. He wrote: "If you have wisdom, understand
that you were created for the glory of God and for your eternal
salvation. This is your end, this is the center of your soul, this is
the treasure of your heart. Because of this, esteem as truly good for
yourself that which leads you to your end, and as truly evil what makes
you lack it. Prosperous or adverse events, riches and poverty, health
and sickness, honors and insults, life and death -- the wise man must
never seek or flee from them for himself. But they are good and
desirable only if they contribute to the glory of God and to your
eternal happiness, they are bad and to be fled from if they impede it"
("De Ascensione Mentis in Deum").
These, obviously, are not words that have gone out of style, but words
for us to meditate upon today at length in order to orient our journey
on this earth. They remind us that the end of our life is the Lord, the
God that revealed himself in Jesus Christ, in whom he continues to call
us and to promise us communion with him. They remind us of the
importance of trusting in the Lord, of spending oneself in a life
faithful to the Gospel, of accepting and enlightening every circumstance
and every activity of life with faith and with prayer, always tending to
union with him. Thank you.
[Translation by ZENIT]
[The Holy Father then greeted pilgrims in several languages. In English,
he said:]
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Our catechesis today deals with Saint Robert Bellarmine, the great
Jesuit theologian and Doctor of the Church. In the period following the
Council of Trent, Saint Robert taught theology, first at Louvain and
then in the Roman College. His most famous work, the Controversiae,
sought to address the issues raised by Protestant theology from a serene
historical and theological perspective, while his most popular work
remained his brief catechism of Christian doctrine. He also served as
spiritual father to the Jesuit students of the Roman College, including
Saint Aloysius Gonzaga. Saint Robert was created Cardinal by Pope
Clement VIII, and made Archbishop of Capua, where he spent three years
in preaching and pastoral activity before being recalled to Rome and the
service of the Holy See. In his later years, he composed a number of
works of spirituality which reflect his deep Ignatian formation, with
its stress on meditation on the mysteries of Christ and the loving
imitation of the Lord. May the example of Saint Robert Bellarmine
inspire us to integrate our work and our pursuit of Christian holiness,
to grow in closeness to God through prayer, and to contribute to the
Church's renewal through our own inner conversion to the Lord and the
truth of his word.
A new and powerful earthquake, even more devastating than the one last
September, has struck the city of Christchurch, in New Zealand, causing
considerable loss of life and the disappearance of many people, to say
nothing of the damage to buildings. At this time, my thoughts turn
especially to the people there who are being severely tested by this
tragedy. Let us ask God to relieve their suffering and to support all
who are involved in the rescue operations. I also ask you to join me in
praying for all who have lost their lives.
Finally, I would like to greet the English-speaking visitors and
pilgrims present at today's Audience, especially those from England,
Ireland, Sweden, Japan and the United States. I also thank the choirs
for their praise of God in song. Upon you and your families I cordially
invoke God's abundant blessings.
Copyright 2011 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
[He concluded in Italian:]
Finally, I address an affectionate thought to young people, the sick and
newlyweds. Today we celebrate the liturgical memorial of St. Polycarp.
May his example of fidelity to Christ inspire in you, dear young people,
resolutions of a courageous evangelical witness. May it help you, dear
sick, to offer your daily sufferings so that the civilization of love
will spread in the world. May it sustain you, dear newlyweds, in your
commitment to place as the foundation of your family intimate union with
God.
[Translation by ZENIT]
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