P. Gorazd Cetkovský, O.Carm.
“The lack of proper visitation leads to the ruin of the order.” This sentence has been repeated in the Carmelite constitutions1 for at least 300 years. I do not have our constitutions older than the constitutions of the Touraine reform, issued in 1645, and already there we find it.
At the end of September this year, visitation was conducted by the general superior in all three Carmelite communities in our country. (And our local church also experienced a papal visit, but that has a different character.) Let us reflect together on what (ideally) visitations looked like in the past. How they are detailed in the constitutions. Although they were only related to monks, we can consider what is instructive from them even today – not only for the monks but also for a broader circle of tertiaries and friends of Carmel.
In the aforementioned constitutions of the Touraine reform, it is assumed that the visitation is conducted by the provincial. He was to visit the monasteries belonging to the province he leads and to maintain a true religious and Carmelite life there. Visitations of individual monasteries directly by the general superior were exceptional in history. The superior of individual convents was the provincial, and he was responsible for exercising regular authority. Only extraordinary matters were addressed by higher superiors, namely the general. However, visitations by general superiors have historically been a great help in renewing or preserving the good spirit of the order. Thus, many monasteries were visited, for example, by the general superiors bl. John Soreth (who led the order from 1451 to 1471), Nicholas Audet (1524–1562), or Giovanni Battista Rossi (1564–1578), known from the biographies of St. Teresa of Avila.
For the history of the Kostelní Vydří monastery, two visitations are significant: the visitation of the local parish by Bishop Pavel Huyn in 1907, after which the bishop invited the Carmelites from Austria and entrusted them with the spiritual administration of the parish from July 1908, and the visitation of the Vydří monastery by P. Jan Brenninger (who represented the general of the order) in 1930, which, after discovering serious deficiencies in community life, resulted in a proposal to either close the monastery (the Carmelites would leave) or ensure its continued existence by the arrival of a new prior, P. Prokop Valeny, who is still active in Krakow. The decision was made for the latter option, thank God!
Let us then look into the constitutions of the Touraine reform and learn what was included in a proper visitation of a monastery.
Receiving the Visitor
“The lack of proper visitation leads to the ruin of the order.” The visitation must be conducted by the superior himself (if he allows himself to be represented, he must provide a reason for it, and the visitors appointed by him must carefully present their letters of appointment).2
Visitations should be regular (scheduled at certain intervals3), and in addition to that also extraordinary - “as many times as necessary” (when the brothers request it or when the superior deems it appropriate).
The local prior is responsible for preparing the community for the visitation (by reading this part of the constitutions, which we are now familiarizing ourselves with), “so that everyone knows how to behave towards the visitor and during the visitation.” The community should receive the visitor humbly and with respect. The visitor must not exceed his competence, otherwise, he will be punished. Let “this commendable custom” be observed: when the visitor arrives at the monastery, he first enters the church,4 where he is welcomed by the brothers, dressed in white habits, according to the Ceremoniale. (Since I do not have this book available, I searched in the Rituale carmelitarum5 for “The Rite of the Solemn Reception of the General Superior.”)
The ceremony took place approximately as follows:
The brothers, dressed in white habits, go to the doors of the monastery church, and when the general enters, they greet him with a bow. The prior in a dalmatic approaches the general, and he kneels and kisses the cross,6 which the prior hands to him, and recites the antiphon: “We adore you, Lord Jesus Christ, and we bless you, for you have redeemed the world by your cross.” He adds the oration on the dignity of the cross:
Let us pray: Be with us, Lord, our God, and grant those to whom you give joy in the dignity of the Holy Cross, that it may also be for them a constant protection and strength. For you live...
Then the general rises, puts incense in the censer, and sprinkles himself and others with holy water.7 Then the prior incenses him and begins the canticle Te Deum. Everyone leaves in procession to the altar. Before the altar, the general kneels on the prepared kneeler, the prior (facing him) pronounces the prayer for the general and for the order:
Let us pray: Almighty, eternal God, who alone performs great wonders, bestow upon your servant, the general superior, and all the gathered assemblies of both men and women which are entrusted to him, the spirit of your saving grace; and may they be pleasing to you in truth,8 pour out upon them continually the dew of your blessing. Through Christ, our Lord.
If the general comes for the purpose of visitation, the following prayer is added:
God, who visits the humble (humilis Visitator) and comforts them with a fatherly love, grant our community your grace, that we may perceive that through those in whom you dwell, you come to us yourself. Through Christ, our Lord.
Then all stand and sing the Marian antiphon (Under your protection or Salve Regina or another).9 Then the general receives a white stole, puts it on, and approaches the altar.10 He prays the oration and solemnly blesses, which the brothers receive with a deep bow.
Then the general takes off the white stole and puts on a violet or black stole and sings the penitential psalm 51 with the antiphon, followed by the prayer Our Father. Then the general descends from the steps of the altar and performs the Asperges and incenses the brothers, followed by prayers for deceased brothers, sisters, relatives, and benefactors, for those buried “here and anywhere” (in the crypt beneath the monastery church, monks and many other faithful were buried), that their sins may be forgiven. The general concludes with the prayer: “Eternal rest...”
Then he goes to the sedes, sits down, and the prior and then the provincial deeply bow and kiss his hand. The other brothers do the same while kneeling. (This way, each brother greets the visitor individually.)
After the prayers are recited, both visitors (the visitor was accompanied by a so-called socius, who was the official witness during the conversations that the visitor held) are shown into the suitably prepared guest quarters (hospitium) and immediately visit the brothers who are sick and reside in the monastery infirmary (valetudinarium). However, they should not immediately carry out any of their duties upon their arrival, unless out of serious and evident necessity.
The Beginning of the Visitation
On the prescribed day of the visitation11, the visitor summons the brothers to the church early in the morning and celebrates the holy mass.12 After holy communion, the visitor together with his guide both “visit” the most holy Sacrament in the tabernacle. The brothers kneel in their places. The visitor carefully checks whether the Eucharist is kept with the proper reverence: that is, in a silver vessel inside a gilded one, clean and closed, whether there is a suitable curtain (made of cloth) in the tabernacle, whether the tabernacle is lockable, clean, and adorned, whether no “small creature” can enter it, whether the eternal light is always burning near the tabernacle. All of this out of reverence for this sacrament. Identified deficiencies should be pointed out (and then removed). During this, the community sings kneeling the hymn Pange lingua: as the visitor took the Eucharist from the tabernacle, he incenses it and while kneeling begins to sing. It concludes with the verse Bread from heaven and the prayer used for sacramental blessing. Then, turning to the brothers and the people, he blesses them with the ciborium with three signs of the cross. He places the Eucharist back in the tabernacle, incenses it, and concludes the holy mass. Then he visits the holy oils and the relics of the saints. Both are to be stored separately in a dignified place.
After that, everyone goes to the chapter room, where the visitor begins the hymn Veni Sancte Spiritus and all the brothers kneel and continue. Two prayers follow:
Let us pray: Protect, O God, your servants, with a sufficiency13 of peace; trusting in the intercession of blessed Mary, ever virgin, grant them safety from all enemies. God (in whom is the beginning of all) source of strength, to you belongs all that is best, put into our hearts a love for your name and grant that our devotion to you may grow: strengthen what is good, and preserve what you strengthen in perseverance in piety (further). Through Christ.14
Then the visitor has a short address for the brothers (about keeping the rules, about the ideal of our lives, or similar topics – as he deems fit). Then, by virtue of his office or his empowerment, he addresses the whole community with these words:
“I command you by the power of holy obedience, under the penalty of losing active and passive voice, that everyone about the prior,15 the sub-prior, the regens,16 the porters and the other brothers (the priests and laymen) and the domestics and servants of the house anything worthy of mention and of which his conscience tells him should be corrected, to the honor and benefit of the house and for the salvation of souls, must willingly announce simply and truthfully, without any spite, favoritism and (unreasonable) pity, and at the same time without any fear, guided only by the fear of God and the fear of the danger of the ruin of your souls.”
The brothers should realize that in this way the visitor binds them, meaning his word is binding like an oath. If they do not report anything that should be revealed, they are committing a breach of that oath.
The visitor should then continue with the visitation, and until the closing chapter of sins, no one – neither the prior nor anyone from the convent – is allowed (without special permission from the visitor) to leave the monastery or speak to outsiders inside the house. The porter and other brothers who are responsible for some workshop should hand over the keys of the convent and of all workshops every evening not to the cell of the prior, but to the visitor himself.
Skrutinium – hearing of the visited
Since the visitor is meant to represent not a judge but a father among us, let him explain the general teaching on fraternal correction,17 “so that perhaps through the ignorance of some, the commandment of love may suffer harm.” (Let the visitor also do this towards the individual brothers, before they reveal anything to him. They can tell him many things as a father, not as a judge, and he can hear them without the socius, so he can take care of his subordinates with as much love and wisdom as possible.)
Then he asks the prior of the house if there are any urgent matters that should be “treated” immediately, and whether there are any matters that should be particularly focused on during conversations with the brothers.
Then he asks the individual brothers in succession, and the constitutions expressly remind that he should inquire kindly. The first questions concern prayer in the choir and meditation. Surely not by accident, the Touraine reform placed fundamental emphasis on this. Specifically: whether the office is celebrated respectfully and piously, whether all the brothers properly participate in the night and daytime hours (choir prayers); whether there is suspicion that some brothers do not recite certain hours, that they do not confess often enough, that they celebrate mass irreverently. Whether they engage in internal prayer as prescribed by the constitutions, whether they properly observe other rituals and whether everyone strives to perform them. Further questions relate to the observance of vows, asceticism, and participation in communal meetings of the community (chapters, teaching, communal meals).18
Of particular attention, I believe – because we can reflect on this very well in our relationship with our neighbors – are the questions concerning good brotherly coexistence in the monastery: whether there is harmony between the prior and the brothers, whether everyone lives together in peace. If the visitor finds that there is no peace in the house, let him diligently investigate and reveal the cause; and let the originator of discord be strictly punished. Let him examine whether the monks speak respectfully, or whether they disrespect one another, whether they are gentle both in the choir and elsewhere, especially before outsiders, and whether they honorably precede one another.19 Whether there are no grumblers in the community or those who belittle everything, who significantly offend the reputation of others. Whether (“may it not come upon us”) some do not play forbidden games, either with worldly people or in their presence, whether they do not remove their habits during the game, whether they are not accustomed to saying some words as if swearing, whether they do not sin against moderation in eating or drinking, whether they do not commit any scandal. Whether towards ecclesiastical prelates or concerning politics – privately or publicly in preaching – they do not say anything imprudent, whether they show the proper respect to church persons or to monks of other orders.
Then the visitor asks the prior and the brothers who hold some office in the community (whether they are conscientious and exemplary), “for just as the care of the superiors builds the order, so does their negligence destroy it.” (The whole visitation is based on the assumption that the superiors are aware of their responsibility and honestly strive for the benefit of the order.) Then he inquires about the sub-prior (who is responsible for the choir, determines services in it, introduces younger brothers into choir customs), about the sacristan, the procurator (i.e. the economist of the monastery), about other brothers assigned some permanent task in the convent, whether they perform their tasks well, about preachers, confessors, servants, and about donates or oblates (i.e. people who have not made religious vows but for some reason live in the monastery and have committed themselves to God in some form of commitment).
Separate areas of inquiry were philosophical and theological studies in the convents designated for that, in the preparatory seminaries it was additionally important to assess who is suitable to be selected for studies; in monasteries where there is a novitiate, it is the visitor's duty to carefully examine the novices, the superiors, and the education they receive. In hospices and “smaller convents”20 let visitation examine how religious life is lived there.
Further Course of the Visitation
After the scrutiny is completed, the visitor returns to the church at an appropriate time and examines it: the altars (whether they are equipped with the proper number of cloths), confessionals (whether they are in a visible place and of the prescribed form), whether there are inappropriate images in the church. Similarly, he examines the sacristy and its equipment: church linens (whether they are not torn; if so, he must indeed tear them up and burn them, so they are no longer used), liturgical clothing, reliquaries and relics, books, inventories.
Next, he visits the library, dormitory, and cells of the individual brothers (to see if they do not have anything improper and whether they are not lacking anything). Then the workshops, storerooms, etc. The visitor also inspects the archives, the financial management of the convent, and whether the convent has a carcer (monastic prison). He assesses the condition of the monastic buildings, whether they are maintained or need repair. A careful examination will involve the property relations of the monastery, whether there are disputes about property, debts, loans (to whom and why). Deficiencies should be removed. The visitor moves through the entire house, speaks amicably with the individual brothers even outside the official scrutiny, visits the infirmary and quarters for guests to see that love is manifested here. He checks how the conclusions of the previous visitation were realized.
Examination of Offenses, Final Confession of Sins, and Granting Forgiveness
Even if not directly asked, any brother is bound by conscience to report to the visitor the offenses of the prior or another brother of which he is aware and which should be corrected. He must inform him only secretly, “as to a father,” if he does not want the matter to be investigated. In the opposite case, he can tell him openly, “as to a judge.”21
The visitor must carefully investigate what the brothers tell him as a father, without revealing the accuser or the accused. This means that he only asks the other brothers generally whether they know of someone offending in such and such a way. This way the visitor will know whether the offense is hidden or known to a larger part of the community and whether he should investigate and condemn it as a judge. What the brothers tell the visitor as a judge will be publicly investigated in the community. Therefore, the investigation and admonishment of the brothers are to be executed either publicly before the community or only before a few brothers. Care is taken that the offenses of individual brothers, of which the whole community does not know, are not dealt with in front of everyone. If the offense is known only to a few brothers, let the offender be admonished only in the presence of a few discreet brothers. If the fact is known to all, let it be proven and punished in front of everyone. If the guilt of the accused is proven and he denied it, let him be punished more severely, yet according to the gravity of the fault. The one who denied the truth to the visitor may not be absolved of this guilt by anyone other than the general or the provincial (and the Holy See or its delegate). When he is proven guilty or confesses, let him be punished with penance of ten days of bread and water.
Since the visitation aims to obtain information for the superiors in general, the visitor records what has been told to him by the brothers as judges on a list, and each brother signs his testimony, so that he does not see the testimonies of the other brothers at that time. Thus, if a dispute arises between brothers about something, the visitor will have a source to arrive at the truth. On another list, the visitor will record what has been said to him as a father.
Visitors and socii should ensure that what has been told to them secretly is not disclosed elsewhere outside of the chapter and that no one is scandalized. Moreover, let them command everyone not to dare to publicly reveal in the chapter anything that would harm the good reputation of anyone. Let the brothers reveal only those things that the visitor commanded them, or which are explicitly required by evident reasonable grounds, when these are faults that may be investigated as they are apparent.
Let the visitors take care that they do not immediately believe every spirit22 and condemn someone based on the testimony of a single brother or mere suspicion. They should admonish the brothers that if someone wishes to share something with the visitor about a brother as a judge (to be an accuser towards the brother), the same penalty of retribution applies to himself.23 Therefore, the brothers should prefer to report the shortcomings of others to the visitor as to a father, as it seems appropriate to him in a given matter. However, if the prior requires the visitor to investigate a particular matter as a judge and to come to a decision about it, the visitor is obliged to do so.
The investigation of offenses may last three, at most six days. The entire visitation concludes with the convent chapter of sins.24 The brothers confess their sins one by one (from the youngest to the oldest) before the visitor and socius,25 accept the penance imposed, and exit the chapter room. The prior confesses his offenses only before the brothers who held any office in the convent (gremiales), who “out of respect for the prior” stand. (During the confession of the other brothers, the rest of the community sits.)
At the end, the brothers gather again, kneeling recite Confiteor and receive the general absolution and blessing from the visitor.
The visitor should take care to leave peace in the community. After the conclusion of the visitation, he may stay in the convent as long as he wishes and should strive to be a comfort to the brothers, and help them privately in their spiritual growth.
A Brief Look into Scripture
I find it interesting to briefly (and amateurishly) glimpse into Holy Scripture in this context. The expression “to visit” has significant meaning in certain places. Certainly, this word often just means a visit of one person to another in the Bible, for example, visiting the sick or the imprisoned (Matt 25:36.43), or visiting God’s temple (Ps 27:4). However, already at the level of interpersonal relationships, the expression “to visit” sometimes signifies not just a casual meeting, but taking responsibility – for example, for orphans and widows (James 1:27). And Scripture also speaks of God visiting man (or His people). It is then that the word particularly gains strength in meaning. This is evident from the context (from other phrases that the author expresses how that visitation will have an impact) and is sometimes directly expressed in the Czech translation (so that the original word “to visit” is no longer apparent behind the Czech wording). “To visit” in Scripture means:
* taking responsibility (for the one who is visited), bringing him goodness, rescue, salvation; for example:
Ps 8:5: What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him (literally: “you visit him”)?
Ezek 34:11: Thus says the Lord, God? Behold, I myself will search for my flock and take care of it!
Ps 65:10: In grace you visited the earth and watered it, you greatly enriched it.
Ps 80:15: Lord, (...) look down from heaven and take care of this vine!
Ps 106:4: Lord, (...) take care of me and help me (literally: “visit us in your salvation!”)!
Luke 1:68: Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people!
Luke 1:78: ... he visited us, who comes from on high...
Luke 7:16: ... they glorified God and said: (...) “God has visited his people!”
* to test (what is genuine):
Job 7:18: What is man? (...) Every morning you test him, every moment you examine him.
Ps 17:3: If you test my heart, you examine me at night...
* and if someone does not prove to be genuine, then “visitation” also means punishment, as the Czech liturgical translation states directly in these places:
Ex 32:34: But when the day of my punishment comes, I will punish them for their sin!
Ps 59:6: Lord, (...) wake up, punish all nations...
Ps 89:33: ... I will punish with the rod their wickedness...
Am 3:2: ... therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.
* in the prophetic books (but not only in them) we encounter the expression "time of visitation" or "day of visitation"; this gives us to understand that "visitation" is not something that offers itself sufficiently and at any time; therefore, we must not approach it indifferently or sluggishly; even in the lament of the Lord Jesus over the impending destruction of the city of Jerusalem, the words stand:
Luke 19:44: ... they will not leave a stone upon a stone in you, because you did not recognize the time that God offered you his favor (literally: “the time of his visitation”).
Upon closer examination, behind these biblical references, we would find the original Hebrew expression that means “to exercise oversight,” which can have the meaning of “to assist,” “to look upon someone,” but also “to punish.”
Lessons from all this for us today
To visit someone means to become present for them, to bring oneself close to them. And to be present means (more or less) to have influence. In this way, the one who visits another can, for example, bring respect (the one who is visited may find renewed strength in valuing themselves), remind ideals, convey a sense of responsibility, share joy, but also point out faults and mainly lies “to one's own pocket” (i.e., by which the given one deceives themselves).
To visit means to have an influence that would not be there from a distance. Personal encounters or direct presence near another is a great value. We should not underestimate this when deciding whether to invite someone we cherish for a visit or whether to participate in an organized meeting where we can expose ourselves to their presence. (We have just recently experienced this during the recent papal visit.) Let us also sensitively perceive the value of our own presence towards others, when we are invited to visit someone, or when we consider it out of our own initiative. (Specifically, we encountered this in a recent article about the parents of St. Teresa of Lisieux: Zélie Martin, as her illness worsened, decided to visit her also severely ill sister in a distant convent – they experienced a beautiful meeting together and it was their last on this earth.)26 In this time of so many means of communication (mobile phones, Skype, etc.) personal meetings and physical presence have invaluable worth.
Without sufficient visiting, we are lurking for – especially in today’s age of increasingly powerful and often unintentional individualism – the danger of isolation and with that also atrophy and self-sufficiency. Personal sharing with others, involving planned and unplanned topics, exchange of opinions and experiences (sometimes even sharper) purifies us from our whims, uncovers the scales from our eyes. Frequent communication can achieve that in time, before we settle into our whims. Mutual openness and discreet criticism are not expressions of disrespect or intrusion. There is no need to fear the truth. And conversely: goodness is not naiveté. It aims to be truthful and, therefore, demanding (of ourselves just as of others, exactly the same).
We have already seen: visitations assume that the superior genuinely cares for the real well-being of the community and the individual brothers. It should indeed be the case that entrusted responsibility leads to authenticity. In the history of the church, there are several prominent examples of how someone elevated to the office of superior with dishonest intent (that this candidate will later be a docile puppet) after taking the ecclesiastical office resolutely refused to be compliant in any way and faithfully fulfilled his vocation even at the cost of sacrifices (the Archbishop of Canterbury St. Thomas Becket, the Bishop of Wrocław Philipp Gothard Schaffgotsch in the 18th century). Today, it is not easy to be a superior, it is not obvious to raise future good superiors within the community. All this is a challenge for earnest prayer for the superiors and to carefully build our relationship with superiors as true and responsible.
For the community itself, a good visitation certainly represents a time of purification, deepening mutual acquaintance and relationships among community members, merciful forgiveness. Both in monasteries and families, we experience that this closeness and forgiveness can be evoked not only by visitation – an external visit, but also by a “domestic storm” or other impetus. But whenever we ultimately reach it, we realize how very important...
Before there were (which today we cannot even think of) books on the spirituality of the order, visitations were an important form of mediating and preserving spirituality. While in ordinary life, the community was surrounded and influenced by the assembly of believers (both clergy and laity) of the local diocese and in addition to that also by the communities of other orders, through the visitor, it was consolidated in what constitutes Carmelite identity and in experiencing Carmel as a broad family, including communities in other monasteries and countries.
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