Mary the Silent

A model for
Pure
Contemplative
Life
From the Visions of Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerick
By someone who loves Silence and Solitude
 Church Documents on Pure Contemplative Life
VERBI SPONSA
Instruction on the Contemplative Life
and on the Enclosure of Nuns

1. The Church as Bride of the Word shows forth in an exemplary way in those
dedicated to a wholly contemplative life the mystery of her exclusive union with
God. For this reason the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Vita
Consecrata presents the vocation and mission of cloistered nuns as “a sign of
the exclusive union of the Church as Bride with her Lord, whom she loves
above all things”, (1) showing how they are a unique grace and precious gift
within the mystery of the Church's holiness.

In their undivided attention to the Father's word: “This is my beloved Son, with
whom I am well pleased” (Mt 3:17), and in their loving acceptance of that word,
cloistered nuns are always “with Him on the holy mountain” (2 Pt 1:17-18).
Fixing their gaze upon Christ Jesus, shrouded in the cloud of God's presence,
they wholly cleave to the Lord. (2)

Cloistered nuns see themselves especially in the Virgin Mary, (3) Bride and
Mother, figure of the Church; (4) and sharing the blessedness of those who
believe (cf. Lk 1:45; 11:28), they echo her “Yes” and her loving adoration of the
Word of life, becoming with her the living “memory” of the Church's spousal
love (cf. Lk 2:19, 51). (5)

The esteem which the Christian community has always had for cloistered
contemplative women has deepened with the rediscovery of the contemplative
nature of the Church herself and of the call addressed to every Christian to enter
a grace-filled encounter with God in prayer. Nuns, in living the whole of their
life as “hidden with Christ in God” (Col 3:3), realize in a supreme way the
contemplative vocation of the entire Christian people, (6) and thus they become
a luminous sign of the Kingdom of God (cf. Rom 14:17), “glory of the Church
and wellspring of heavenly graces”. (7)

2. Since the Second Vatican Council, various documents of the Magisterium

have explored in depth the meaning and value of this way of life, promoting the
contemplative dimension of cloistered communities and their specific role in the
life of the Church. (8) In particular, the Council's Decree Perfectae
Caritatis (No. 7 and No. 16) and the Instruction Venite Seorsumwonderfully
illustrate the evangelical, theological, spiritual and ascetical roots of separation
from the world for the sake of a complete and exclusive dedication to God in
contemplation.

The Holy Father Pope John Paul II has often exhorted nuns to remain faithful to
the cloistered life in keeping with their particular charism; and in the Post-
Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata he decreed that to this end
specific norms be given for the practical regulation of enclosure, continuing the
path of renewal already undertaken, so that it may better suit the range of
contemplative Institutes and the various monastic traditions. Thus, reborn of the
Holy Spirit and faithful to their character and mission, cloistered nuns may
move into the future with genuine momentum and renewed vigour. (9)

3. In a specific and radical way, cloistered contemplatives conform to Christ

Jesus in prayer on the mountain and to his Paschal Mystery, which is death for
the sake of resurrection. (10)

The ancient spiritual tradition of the Church, taken up by the Second Vatican
Council, explicitly connects the contemplative life to the prayer of Jesus “on the
mountain”, (11) or solitary place not accessible to all but only to those whom he
calls to be with him, apart from the others (cf. Mt 17:1-9; Lk 6:12-13; Mk 6:30-
31; 2 Pt 1:16-18).

The Son is always united with the Father (cf. Jn 10:30; 17:11), but during his
life there are special moments of solitude and prayer, encounter and
communion, when he exults in his divine Sonship. In this way, he shows the
loving impulse and ceaseless movement of his being as Son towards the One
who begot him from all eternity.

This association of the contemplative life with the prayer of Jesus in a solitary
place suggests a unique way of sharing in Christ's relationship with the Father.
The Holy Spirit, who led Jesus into the desert (cf. Lk 4:1), invites the nun to
share the solitude of Christ Jesus, who “with the eternal Spirit” (Heb 9:14)
offered himself to the Father. The solitary cell, the closed cloister, are the place
where the nun, bride of the Incarnate Word, lives wholly concentrated with
Christ in God. The mystery of this communion is revealed to her to the extent
that, docile to the Holy Spirit and enlivened by his gifts, she listens to the Son
(cf. Mt 17:5), fixes her gaze upon his face (cf. 2 Cor 3:18), and allows herself to
be conformed to his life, to the point of the supreme self-offering to the Father
(cf. Phil 2:5 ff.), for the praise of his glory.

The enclosure therefore, even in its physical form, is a special way of being
with the Lord, of sharing in “Christ's emptying of himself by means of a radical
poverty, expressed in ... renunciation not only of things but also of "space", of
contacts, of so many benefits of creation”, (12) at one with the fruitful silence of
the Word on the Cross. It is clear then that “withdrawal from the world in order
to dedicate oneself in solitude to a more intense life of prayer is nothing other
than a special way of living and expressing the Paschal Mystery of Christ”. (13)
It is a true encounter with the Risen Lord, a journey in ceaseless ascent to the
Father's house.

In watchful waiting for the Lord's return, the cloister becomes a response to the
absolute love of God for his creature and the fulfilment of his eternal desire to
welcome the creature into the mystery of intimacy with the Word, who gave
himself as Bridegroom in the Eucharist (14) and remains in the tabernacle as the
heart of full communion with him, drawing to himself the entire life of the
cloistered nun in order to offer it constantly to the Father (cf. Heb 7:25). To the
gift of Christ the Bridegroom, who on the Cross offered his body unreservedly,
the nun responds in like terms with the gift of the “body”, offering herself with
Jesus Christ to the Father and cooperating with him in the work of redemption.
Separation from the world thus gives a Eucharistic quality to the whole of
cloistered life, since “besides its elements of sacrifice and expiation, [it
assumes] the aspect of thanksgiving to the Father, by sharing in the
thanksgiving of the beloved Son”. (15)

In the mystery of the Church in her exclusive union with Christ the
Bridegroom

4. The history of God's relationship to humanity is a history of spousal love,

prepared for in the Old Testament and celebrated in the fullness of time.

Divine Revelation uses the nuptial image to describe the intimate and
indissoluble link between God and his people (cf. Hos 1-2; Is 54:4-8; 62:4-
5; Jer 2:2; Ezek 16; 2 Cor 11:2; Rom11:29).

The Son of God presents himself as the Bridegroom-Messiah (cf. Mt 9:15;

25:1), come to seal the marriage of God with humanity, (16) in a wondrous
exchange of love, which begins in the Incarnation, comes to its summit of self-
offering in the Passion and is for ever given as gift in the Eucharist.

The Lord Jesus pours into human hearts his love and the love of the Father,
enabling them to respond fully, through the gift of the Holy Spirit who never
ceases to cry out with the Bride: “Come!” (Rev 22:17). This fullness of grace
and holiness is realized in “the Bride of the Lamb ... coming down out of
heaven, from God, shining with the glory of God” (Rev 21:9-10).
The nuptial dimension belongs to the whole Church, but consecrated life is a
vivid image of it, since it more clearly expresses the impulse towards the
Bridegroom.(17)

In a still more significant and radical way, the mystery of the exclusive union of
the Church as Bride with the Lord is expressed in the vocation of cloistered
nuns, precisely because their life is entirely dedicated to God, loved above all
else, in a ceaseless straining towards the heavenly Jerusalem and in anticipation
of the eschatological Church confirmed in the possession and contemplation of
God. (18) Their life is a reminder to all Christian people of the fundamental
vocation of everyone to come to God; (19) and it is a foreshadowing of the goal
towards which the entire community of the Church journeys, (20) in order to
live for ever as the Bride of the Lamb.

By means of the cloister, nuns embody the exodus from the world in order to
encounter God in the solitude of “cloistered desert”, a desert which includes
inner solitude, the trials of the spirit and the daily toil of life in community
(cf. Eph 4:15-16), as the Bride's sharing in the solitude of Jesus in Gethsemane
and in his redemptive suffering on the Cross (cf. Gal 6:14).

Nuns moreover, by their very nature as women, show forth more powerfully the
mystery of the Church as “the Spotless Bride of the Spotless Lamb”,
rediscovering themselves individually in the spousal dimension of the wholly
contemplative vocation. (21)

The monastic life of women has therefore a special capacity to embody the
nuptial relationship with Christ and be a living sign of it: was it not in a woman,
the Virgin Mary, that the heavenly mystery of the Church was accomplished?
(22)

In this light, nuns relive and perpetuate in the Church the presence and the work
of Mary. Welcoming the Word in faith and adoring silence, they put themselves
at the service of the mystery of the Incarnation, and united to Christ Jesus in his
offering of himself to the Father, they become co-workers in the mystery of
Redemption. Just as in the Upper Room, Mary in her heart, with her prayerful
presence, watched over the origins of the Church, so too now the Church's
journey is entrusted to the loving heart and praying hands of cloistered nuns.

The ascetical dimension of the cloister

5. As an ascetical means of immense value, (23) the cloister is especially well

suited to life wholly directed to contemplation. Its totality signals absolute
dedication to God, and it therefore becomes a sign of God's holy watchfulness
over his creatures and a unique mode of belonging to him alone. It is an
archetypal and effective way of living the nuptial relationship with God in the
exclusiveness of love and without undue interference from persons or material
things, so that the creature, intent on God and absorbed by him, may live solely
for the praise of his glory (cf. Eph 1:6, 10-12, 14).

The contemplative nun fulfils to the highest degree the First Commandment of
the Lord: “You will love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your
soul, with all your strength, with all your mind” (Lk 10:27), making it the full
meaning of her life and loving in God all the brothers and sisters. She moves
towards the perfection of charity, choosing God as “the one thing necessary”
(cf. Lk 10:42), loving him exclusively as All in all. Through her unconditional
love of him and in the spirit of renunciation proposed by the Gospel
(cf. Mt 13:45; Lk 9:23), (24) she accomplishes the sacrifice of all good
things,“consecrating” every good thing to God alone. (25) This is so that he
alone may dwell in the utter silence of the cloister, filling it with his word and
presence, and the Bride may truly dedicate herself to the Only One, “in constant
prayer and ardent penance” (26) in the mystery of a total and exclusive love.

This is the reason why the earliest spiritual tradition spontaneously associated
complete withdrawal from the world (27) and all works of the apostolate with
this kind of life, which thus becomes a silent emanation of love and
superabundant grace in the pulsing heart of the Church as Bride. Whether in a
place apart or in the heart of the city, the monastery, with its distinctive
architectural form, is intended to create a space of separation, solitude and
silence, where God can be sought more freely in a life not only for him and with
him but also in him alone.

Therefore it is necessary that the person, free from all attachment, disquiet or
distraction, interior and exterior, may gather her faculties and turn to God to
welcome his presence in the joy of adoration and praise.

Contemplation becomes the blessedness of the pure in heart (Mt 5:8). A pure
heart is a clear mirror of what lies within the person, purified and unified in
love, in whom God is reflected and abides; (28) it is like a polished crystal
infused with God's light, giving forth the splendour it has received. (29)

In the light of contemplation, as loving communion with God, purity of heart

finds its highest expression in virginity of spirit, because it requires the integrity
of a heart not only purified from sin but unified in the movement towards God
and which therefore loves completely and undividedly, reflecting the purest
love of the Blessed Trinity, called by the Fathers “the first Virgin”. (30)

The cloistered desert helps greatly in the pursuit of purity of heart understood in
this way, because it reduces to the bare minimum the opportunities for contact
with the outside world, lest it disrupt the monastery in different ways, disturbing
its atmosphere of peace and holy union with the one Lord and with the Sisters.
In this way the cloister eliminates in large part the dispersion which comes from
many unnecessary contacts, from the accumulation of images, which are often a
source of worldly thoughts and vain desires, of news and emotions which
distract from the one thing necessary and dissipate interior harmony. “In the
monastery everything is directed to the search for the face of God, everything is
reduced to the essential, because the only thing that matters is what leads to
him. Monastic recollection is attention to the presence of God: if it is dissipated
by many things, the journey slows down and the final destination disappears
from view”. (31)

Withdrawn from things external in the intimacy of her being, purifying her heart
and mind by an ardent journey of prayer, of renunciation, of fraternal life, of
listening to the word of God, and exercise of the theological virtues, the nun is
called to converse with the divine Bridegroom, meditating upon his law day and
night so as to receive as gift the Wisdom of the Word and to become one with
him, under the impulse of the Holy Spirit. (32)

This yearning for fulfilment in God, in an uninterrupted nostalgia of the heart

which with unceasing desire turns to the contemplation of the Bridegroom,
feeds the ascetical commitment of the cloistered nun. Wholly absorbed by his
beauty, she finds in the cloister her dwelling-place of grace and an anticipation
of the blessedness of the vision of the Lord. Refined by the purifying flame of
the divine Presence, she readies herself for the fullness of beatitude, intoning in
her heart the new song of the redeemed, on the Mountain of sacrifice and
oblation, of the temple and of contemplation of God.

In consequence, the regulation of the cloister, in its practical aspects, must be

such that it allows the realization of this sublime contemplative ideal, which
implies total dedication, undivided attention, emotional wholeness and
consistency of life.

The sharing of contemplative nuns in the communion and mission of the

Church

In the communion of the Church

6. Through their specific call to union with God in contemplation, cloistered

nuns are fully within the communion of the Church, becoming a unique sign of
the entire Christian community's intimate union with God. Through prayer,
especially the celebration of the liturgy, and their daily self-offering, they
intercede for the whole people of God and unite themselves to Jesus Christ's
thanksgiving to the Father (cf. 2 Cor 1:20; Eph 5:19-20).
Therefore the contemplative life is the nun's particular way of being the Church,
of building the communion of the Church, of fulfilling a mission for the good of
the whole Church. (33) Cloistered contemplatives therefore are not asked to be
involved in new forms of active presence, but to remain at the wellspring of
Trinitarian communion, dwelling at the very heart of the Church. (34)

The cloistered community is also an excellent school of fraternal life; it is an

expression of true communion and a force which draws towards communion.
(35)

Because of the mutual love involved, fraternal life is a God-filled space in

which the mystical presence of the Risen Lord is experienced: (36) in a spirit of
communion, nuns share the grace of the same vocation with the members of
their own community, helping one another to follow the same path, advancing
together towards the Lord, one in heart and soul.

With monasteries of the same Order, nuns have the common duty to grow in
faithfulness to their specific charism and spiritual heritage, cooperating if
necessary in ways provided for by the Constitutions.

By force of their vocation, which sets them at the heart of the Church, nuns
undertake in a special way to have “the mind of the Church (sentire cum
Ecclesia)”, with sincere adherence to the Magisterium and unreserved
obedience to the Pope.

In the mission of the Church

7. “The pilgrim Church is by her very nature missionary”; (37) therefore

mission is also essential to Institutes of contemplative life. (38) Cloistered nuns
fulfil that mission by dwelling at the missionary heart of the Church, by means
of constant prayer, the oblation of self and the offering of the sacrifice of praise.

Their life thus becomes a mysterious source of apostolic fruitfulness (39) and
blessing for the Christian community and for the whole world.

It is charity, poured into their hearts by the Holy Spirit (cf. Rom 5:5), which
makes nuns co-workers of the truth (cf. 3 Jn v. 8), participants in Christ's work
of Redemption (cf. Col 1:24), and through their vital union with the other
members of the Mystical Body makes their lives fruitful, wholly directed to the
pursuit of charity, for the good of all. (40)

Saint John of the Cross writes that “truly a crumb of pure love is more precious
in the Lord's sight and of greater benefit to the Church than all the other works
together”. (41) In the wonderment of her splendid intuition, Saint Thérèse of the
Child Jesus declares: “I understood that the Church had a Heart and that this
Heart was ablaze with love. I understood that Love alone enabled the Church's
members to act . . . Yes, I found my place in the Church . . . at the heart of the
Church, my Mother, I will be Love”. (42)

The insight of the Saint of Lisieux is the conviction of the Church, repeatedly
voiced by the Magisterium: “The Church is deeply aware and, without
hesitation she forcefully proclaims, that there is an intimate connection between
prayer and the spreading of the Kingdom of God, between prayer and the
conversion of hearts, between prayer and the fruitful reception of the saving and
uplifting Gospel message”. (43)

The specific contribution of nuns to evangelization, to ecumenism, to the

growth of the Kingdom of God in the different cultures, is eminently spiritual. It
is the soul and leaven of apostolic ventures, leaving the practical
implementation of them to those whose vocation it is. (44)

And since those who become the absolute property of God become God's gift to
all, the life of nuns “is truly a gift set at the heart of the mystery of ecclesial
communion, accompanying the apostolic mission of those who exert themselves
in proclaiming the Gospel”. (45)

As a reflection and radiation of their contemplative life, nuns offer to the

Christian community and to the world of today, more than ever in need of true
spiritual values, a silent proclamation of the mystery of God and a humble
witness to it, thus keeping prophecy alive in the nuptial heart of the Church.
(46)

Their life, given wholly and in full freedom to the service of God's praise
(cf. Jn 12:1-8), in itself proclaims and relays the primacy of God and the
transcendence of the human person, created in his image and likeness. It is
therefore a summons to everyone to “that space in the heart where every person
is called to union with the Lord”. (47)

Living in and by the Lord's presence, nuns are a particular foreshadowing of the
eschatological Church immutable in its possession and contemplation of God;
they “visibly represent the goal towards which the entire community of the
Church travels. Eager to act and yet devoted to contemplation", the Church
advances down the paths of time with her eyes fixed on the future restoration of
all things in Christ”. (48)
 MARY THE SILENT – A MODEL FOR PURE CONTEMPLATIVE
LIFE

We find the references about a Mary called Mary the Silent in the visions of Bl.
Anne Catherine Emmerick.

Who was Silent Mary?

Lazarus had three sisters: the eldest Martha, the youngest Mary Magdalen, and
one between them also called Mary. This last lived altogether secluded, her
silence causing her to be looked upon as a simpleton. She went by no other
name than Silent Mary. Jesus, speaking to Eliud of this family, said, "Martha is
good and pious. She will, with her brother, follow Me." Of Mary the Silent, He
said, "She is possessed of great mind and understanding; but, for the good of her
soul, they have been withdrawn from her. She is not for this world, therefore is
she now altogether secluded from it. But she has never committed sin. If I
should speak to her, she would perfectly comprehend the greatest mysteries.
She will not live much longer. After her death, Lazarus and his sister Martha
will follow me and devote all that they possess to the use of the Community.
The youngest sister Mary has strayed from the right path, but she will return and
rise to higher sanctity than Martha."

General features of Her life:

Silent Mary, the simple sister of Lazarus, did not make her appearance. Before
others she never uttered a word; but when alone in her room or the garden, she
talked aloud to herself and to all the objects around her, as if they had life. It
was only before others that she was perfectly mute and still; her eyes cast down,
she looked like a statue. On being saluted, however, she inclined and was very
polite in all her bearing. When alone, she busied herself in various occupations,
attending to her own wardrobe, and keeping all things in order. She was very
pious, though she never appeared in the school. She prayed in her own chamber.
I think she had visions and conversed with apparitions. Her love for her brother
and sisters was unspeakable, especially for Magdalen. From her earliest years
she had been what she now was. She had a female attendant, but she was
perfectly neat in her person and surroundings with no trace of insanity to be
found about her.
Jesus' Interview with Silent Mary.

Accompanied by Lazarus, Jesus went also to the abode of the women, and
Martha took Him to her silent sister Mary, with whom He wished to speak. A
wall separated the large courtyard from a smaller one, which latter, however,
was still quite spacious. In it was an enclosed garden adjoining Mary's dwelling.
They passed through a gate, and Jesus remained in the little garden while
Martha went to call her silent sister. The garden was highly ornamental. In the
center stood a large date tree and all around were aromatic herbs and shrubs. On
one side was a fountain or rather a kind of tiny lake with a stone seat in the
center. From the opposite edge to the seat was laid a plank, upon which silent
Mary could cross and there sit under an awning and surrounded by the water.
Martha went to her and bade her come down into the garden, for there someone
was waiting to speak to her. Silent Mary was very obedient. Without a word,
she threw her veil around her and followed her sister into the garden. Then
Martha retired. Mary was tall and very beautiful. She was about thirty years old.
She generally kept her eyes fixed on Heaven. If occasionally she glanced to one
side where Jesus was, it was only a side glance and vaguely, as if she were
gazing into the distance. Even when speaking of herself, she never used the
pronoun, but always as if she saw herself as a second person and spoke
accordingly. She did not address Jesus nor cast herself at His feet. Jesus was the
first to salute, and they walked together around the garden. Properly speaking,
they did not converse together. Silent Mary kept her gaze fixed on high and
recounted heavenly things, as if passing before her eyes. Jesus spoke in the
same manner of His Father and to His Father. Mary never looked at Jesus,
though while speaking she sometimes half turned to the side upon which He
was walking. There was more a prayer, a song of praise, a contemplation, a
revealing of mysteries than a conversation. Mary appeared as if ignorant of her
own existence. Her soul was in another world while her body lived on earth. Of
their speech during that interview, I can remember that, glancing intuitively
upon the Incarnation of Christ, they spoke as if gazing upon the Most Holy
Trinity acting in that mystery. Their simple, and yet profoundly significant
words I cannot recall. Mary gazing upon it, said, "The Father commissioned the
Son to go down to mankind, among whom a Virgin should conceive Him."
Then she described the rejoicings of the angels, and how Gabriel was sent to the
Virgin. And so she ran through the nine angelic choirs, who all came down with
the bearer of the glad tid-ings, just as a child would joyously describe a
procession moving before its eyes, praising the devotion and zeal of all that
composed it. Then she seemed to glance into the chamber of the Virgin, to
whom she spoke words expressive of her hope that she might receive the
Angel's message. She saw the Angel arrive and announce the coming of the
Saviour. She saw all and repeated all, as if uttering her thoughts aloud, gazing
the while into the distance. Suddenly she paused, her eyes fixed on the Virgin
who appeared to be recollecting herself before replying to the Angel, and said
very simply, "Then, thou hast made a vow of virginity? Ah, if thou hadst
refused to be the Lord's Mother, what would have happened? Would there have
been found another virgin?" Then addressing her nation, she exclaimed: "Had
the Virgin refused, long wouldst thou, O orphaned Israel, still have groaned!"
And now, filled with joy by the Virgin's consent, she burst forth into words of
praise and thanksgiving, rehearsed the wonders of Jesus' birth and, addressing
the Divine Child, said, "Butter and honey shalt Thou eat." She again repeated
the Prophecies, recalled those of Simeon and Anna, etc., spoke with the
different personages connected with them, and all this as if gazing upon those
scenes, contemporary with them. At last, descending to the present, she said,
speaking as if alone: "Now goest Thou on the painful, bitter way," etc. Although
she knew that the Lord was at her side, yet she acted and spoke as if He were no
nearer to her than all the other visions just recounted. Jesus interrupted her from
time to time with prayer and thanksgiving, praising His Father and interceding
for mankind. The whole interview was inexpressibly touching and wonderful.
Jesus left her. Relapsing into her usual silence and exterior apathy, she returned
to the house. When Jesus went back to Lazarus and Martha, He said to them
something like the following: "She is not without understanding, but her soul is
not of this world. She sees not this world, and this world comprehends her not.
She is happy. She knows no sin."

Lifestyle of Mary the Silent:

Silent Mary, in her altogether spiritual state of contemplation, was really and
truly oblivious to all that happened to her or around her. She was always thus
abstracted. She had never before spoken in the presence of others as she had just
done in that of Jesus. Before all others she kept silence, though not from pride
or reserve. No; it was because she saw not those people interiorly, saw not what
they saw, but gazed upon Redemption and the things of Heaven alone. When at
times accosted by a learned and pious friend of the family, she would indeed
utter some words audibly, though without understanding a single word of what
had been said to her. Not having reference to or connection with the vision upon
which she was interiorly gazing at the time, she heard without hearing;
consequently her reply, bearing upon what was then engrossing her own
attention, mys-tified her hearers. It was for this reason that she was regarded by
the family as a simpleton. Her state necessitated her dwelling alone, for her soul
lived not in time. She cultivated her little garden and embroidered for the
Temple. Martha brought her her work. She was skillful with her needle, which
she plied in uninterrupted musing and meditation. She prayed most piously and
devoutly, and endured a kind of expiatory suffering for the sins of others, for
her soul was often oppressed as if the weight of the whole world was upon her.
Her dwelling was comfortably fitted up with sofas and different kinds of
furniture. She ate little and always alone. She died of grief at the immensity of
Jesus' Passion, which in spirit she foresaw.

At the end of 40 days Fasting of Jesus:

The angels that ministered unto Jesus appeared under different forms and
seemed to belong to different hierarchies. Those that, at the close of the
banquet, bore away the cups of wine and morsels of bread, were clothed in
priestly raiment. I saw at the instant of their disappearance, all kinds of
supernatural consolation descending upon the friends of Jesus, those of His own
time and those of after ages. I saw Jesus appearing in vision to the Blessed
Virgin then at Cana, to comfort and strengthen her. I saw Lazarus and Martha
wonderfully touched, while their hearts grew warm with the love of Jesus. I saw
Mary the Silent actually fed with the gifts from the table of the Lord. The angel
stood by her while she, like a child, received the food. She had been a witness
of all the temptation and sufferings of Jesus. Her whole life was one of visions
and suffering through compassion, therefore such supernatural favors caused
her no astonishment. Magdalen, too, was wonderfully agitated. She was at the
time busied with finery for some amusement. Suddenly, anxiety about her life
seized upon her, and a longing rose in her soul to be freed from the chains that
bound her. She cast the finery from her hands, but was laughed at by those
around her. I saw many of the future Apostles consoled, their hearts filled with
heavenly desires. . . . Peter, Andrew, and all the others were, as I saw,
strengthened and consoled. This was a most wonderful vision.

Jesus’s Second Interview with Mary the Silent:

In obedience to Jesus' direction, Lazarus brought his silent sister Mary and left
her alone with the Lord, the other women retiring in the meantime to the
antechamber. Silent Mary's bearing toward Jesus was somewhat different from
that of the last interview, for she cast herself down before Him and kissed His
feet. Jesus made no attempt to prevent her, and raised her up by the hand. With
her eyes turned heavenward, she, as once before, uttered the most sublime and
wonderful things, though in the most simple and natural manner. She spoke of
God, of His Son, and of His Kingdom just as a peasant girl might talk of the
father of the village lord and his inheritance. Her words were a prophecy, and
the things of which she spoke she saw before her. She recounted the grave faults
and bad management of the wicked servants of the household. The Father had
sent His Son to arrange affairs and payoff all debts, but they would receive Him
badly. He would have to die in great suffering, redeem His Kingdom with His
own Blood, and efface the crimes of the servants, that they might again become
the children of His Father. She carried out the allegory in most beautiful
language, and yet in as natural a manner as if she were recounting a scene
enacted in her presence. At times she was gay, at others sorrowful, calling
herself a useless servant and grieving over the painful labors of the Son of the
merciful Lord and Father. Another cause of sorrow to her was that the servants
would not rightly understand the parable, although so simple and so true. She
spoke of the Resurrection. The Son, she said, would go to the servants in the
subterranean prisons also. He would console them and set them free, because
He had purchased their Redemption. He would return with them to His Father.
But at His second advent, when He would come again to judge, all those that
had abused the satisfaction He had made and who would not turn from their evil
ways, should be cast into the fire. She then spoke of Lazarus' death and
resurrection: "He goes forth from this world," she said, "and gazes upon the
things of the other life. His friends weep around him as if he were never to
return. But the Son calls him back to earth, and he labors in the vineyard." Of
Magdalen too she spoke: "The maiden is in the frightful desert where once were
the children of Israel. She wanders in accursed places where all is dark, where
never human foot has trod. But she will come forth, and in another desert make
amends for the past."
Mary the Silent spoke of herself as of a captive, for her body appeared to her a
prison, and she longed to go home. She was so straitened on all sides; not one
around her understood her and they were, as it seemed to her, all blind. But, she
said, she was willing to wait, she would bear her captivity submissively, for she
deserved nothing better. Jesus spoke to her lovingly, consoling her and saying:
"After the Pasch, when I again come here, thou shalt indeed go home." Then as
she knelt before Him, He raised His hands over her and blessed her. It seemed
to me that at the same time He poured over her something from a flask, but I
cannot say whether it was oil or water. Mary the Silent was a very holy person,
but none knew or understood her. Her whole life was one uninterrupted vision
of the work of Redemption, of which she spoke like an innocent child. No one
guessed her interior life, and she was regarded as a simpleton. When Jesus
signified to her the time of her death, viz., that she should, freed from captivity,
at last go home, He anointed her for death.
From this we may conclude that anointing is more necessary for the body than
some people generally think. Jesus pitied Silent Mary who, as a reputed
simpleton, would have received no embalming. Her holiness was hidden. Jesus
dismissed her, and she returned to her abode.

Death of Mary the Silent:

The Mother of Jesus and the other women became greatly troubled at hearing
this, and in tears hurried to Martha in Bethania. Mary, weeping, entered the
room wherein Martha was with her sick sister, Mary the Silent. The latter was
again quite rapt in ecstasy. All that she had hitherto seen in spirit, she now
beheld about to be fulfilled. She could no longer endure the pain it caused her,
and she died in the presence of Mary, Mary Cleophas, Martha, and the other
women.

Mary Magdalen occupies the dwelling of Mary the Silent:

From Bethoron, which was six hours distant from Jerusalem, Jesus went straight
on to Bethania, stopping at no place on the way, excepting Athanot. Lazarus had
already returned to Bethania from Magdalum, where he had put everything in
order and engaged a steward for the castle and other property. To the man who
had lived with Magdalen, he had assigned a dwelling situated on the heights
near Ginnim and sufficient means for his support. The gift was gladly accepted.
As soon as she arrived in Bethania, Magdalen went straight to the dwelling of
her deceased sister, Mary the Silent, by whom she had been very much beloved,
and spent the whole night in tears. When Martha went to her in the morning, she
found her weeping on the grave of her sister, her hair unbound and flowing
around her. The women of Jerusalem also had returned to their homes, all
making the journey on foot. Magdalen, though exhausted by her malady and the
shocks she had received, and wholly unaccustomed to such travelling, insisted
upon walking like the others. Her feet bled more than once. The holy women,
who, since her conversion, showed her unspeakable affection, were often
obliged to come to her assistance. She was pale and exhausted from weeping.
She could not resist her desire to express her gratitude to Jesus, so she went over
an hour's journey to meet Him, threw herself at His feet, and bedewed them
with repentant and grateful tears. Jesus extended His hand to her, raised her, and
addressed to her words of kindness. He spoke of her deceased sister, Mary the
Silent. He said that she should tread in her footsteps and do penance as she had
done, although she had never sinned. Magdalen then returned home with her
maid by another way. Magdalen occupied the little apartments of Mary the
Silent's dwelling. She often sat in a very narrow little room that appeared to be
formed in a tower. It was a retired corner intended for penitential exercises. She
still wept freely. True, she was no longer actually sick, but from contrition and
penance, she had become quite pale and reduced. She looked like one crushed
by sorrow.
 Apostolic Constitution Vultum Dei quaerere on women's contemplative
life, 22.07.2016

1. Seeking the face of God has always been a part of our human history. From the beginning,
men and women have been called to a dialogue of love with the Creator. Indeed, mankind is
distinguished by an irrepressible religious dimension that leads human hearts to feel the need
– albeit not always consciously – to seek God, the Absolute. This quest unites all men and
women of good will. Even many who claim to be non-believers acknowledge this heartfelt
longing, present in every man and woman who, drawn by a passionate desire for happiness
and fulfilment, never remains fully satisfied.

St. Augustine eloquently expressed this yearning in the Confessions: “You made us for
yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You”. This restlessness of
heart is born of the profound intuition that it is God Himself Who takes the initiative; He
seeks out men and women and mysteriously draws them to Himself.

In seeking God, we quickly realise that no one is self-sufficient. Rather, we are called, in the
light of faith, to move beyond self-centredness, drawn by God’s Holy Face and by the
“sacred ground of the other”, to an ever more profound experience of communion.

Through Baptism, every Christian and every consecrated person is called to undertake this
pilgrimage of seeking the true God. By the working of the Holy Spirit, it becomes a sequela
pressius Christi – a path of ever greater configuration to Christ the Lord. This path finds
notable expression in religious consecration, and, in a particular way, by the monastic life,
which, from its origins, was seen as a specific way of living out one’s baptism.

2. Consecrated persons, by virtue of their consecration, “follow the Lord in a special way, in
a prophetic way”. They are called to recognise the signs of God’s presence in daily life and
wisely to discern the questions posed to us by God and the men and women of our time. The
great challenge faced by consecrated persons to persevere in seeking God “with the eyes of
faith in a world which ignores His presence”, and to continue to offer that world Christ’s life
of chastity, poverty and obedience life as a credible and trustworthy sign, thus becoming “a
living ‘exegesis’ of God’s word”.

From the origins of the life of special consecration in the Church, men and women called by
God and in love with Him have devoted their lives exclusively to seeking His face, longing to
find and contemplate God in the heart of the world. The presence of communities set like
cities on a hill or lamps on a stand, despite their simplicity of life, visibly represent the goal
towards which the entire ecclesial community journeys. For the Church “advances down the
paths of time with her eyes fixed on the future restoration of all things in Christ”, thus
announcing in advance the glory of heaven.

3. Peter’s words, “Lord, it is good for us to be here!”, have a special meaning for all
consecrated persons. This is particularly the case for contemplatives. In profound communion
with every other vocation of the Christian life – all of which are “like so many rays of the one
light of Christ, Whose radiance brightens the countenance of the Church” – contemplatives
“devote a great part of their day imitating the Mother of God, who diligently pondered the
words and deeds of her Son, and Mary of Bethany, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened
attentively to His words”. Their lives, “hidden with Christ in God”, become an image of the
unconditional love of the Lord, Himself the first contemplative. They are so centred on Christ
that they can say with the Apostle. “For to me, to live is Christ!”. In this way, they express
the all-encompassing character at the heart of a vocation to the contemplative life.

Contemplatives, as men and women immersed in human history and drawn to the splendour
of Christ, “the fairest of the sons of men”, are set in the heart of the Church and the world. In
their unending search for God, they discover the principal sign and criterion of the
authenticity of their consecrated life. St. Benedict, the father of Western monasticism,
emphasised that a monk is one whose entire life is devoted to seeking God. He insisted that it
be determined of one aspiring to the monastic life “si revera Deum quaerit”, whether he truly
seeks God.

In a particular way, down the centuries countless consecrated women have devoted, and
continue to devote “the whole of their lives and all their activities to the contemplation of
God”, as a sign and prophecy of the Church, virgin, spouse and mother. Their lives are a
living sign and witness of the fidelity with which God, amid the events of history, continues
to sustain his people.

4. The monastic life, as an element of unity with the other christian confessions, takes on a
specific form that is prophecy and sign, one that “can and ought to attract all the members of
the church to an effective and prompt fulfilment of the duties of their christian vocation”.
Communities of prayer, especially contemplative communities, which “by virtue of their
separation from the world are all the more closely united to Christ, the heart of the world”, do
not propose a more perfect fulfilment of the Gospel. Rather, by living out the demands of
Baptism, they constitute an instance of discernment and a summons to the service of the
whole Church. Indeed, they are a signpost pointing to a journey and quest, a reminder to the
entire People of God of the primary and ultimate meaning of the Christian life.

Esteem, praise and thanksgiving for consecrated life and cloistered contemplative life

5. From the earliest centuries the Church has shown great esteem and sincere love for those
men and women who, in docility to the Father’s call and the promptings of the Spirit, have
chosen to follow Christ “more closely”, dedicating themselves to Him with an undivided
heart. Moved by unconditional love for Christ and all humanity, particularly the poor and the
suffering, they are called to reproduce in a variety of forms – as consecrated virgins, widows,
hermits, monks and religious – the earthly life of Jesus in chastity, poverty and obedience.

The contemplative monastic life, made up mainly of women, is rooted in the silence of the
cloister; it produces a rich harvest of grace and mercy. Women’s contemplative life has
always represented in the Church, and for the Church, her praying heart, a storehouse of
grace and apostolic fruitfulness, and a visible witness to the mystery and rich variety of
holiness.Originating in the individual experience of virgins consecrated to Christ, the natural
fruit of a need to respond with love to the love of Christ the Bridegroom, this life soon took
form as a definite state and an order recognised by the Church, which began to receive public
professions of virginity. With the passage of time, most consecrated virgins united in forms
of common life that the Church was concerned to protect and preserve with a suitable
discipline. The cloister was meant to preserve the spirit and the strictly contemplative aim of
these houses. The gradual interplay between the working of the Spirit, present in the heart of
believers and inspiring new forms of discipleship, and the maternal solicitude of the Church,
gave rise to the forms of contemplative and wholly contemplative life that we know today. In
the West, the contemplative spirit found expression in a multiplicity of charisms, whereas in
the East it maintained great unity, but always as a testimony to the richness and beauty of a
life devoted completely to God.

Over the centuries, the experience of these sisters, centred on the Lord as their first and only
love, has brought forth abundant fruits of holiness and mission. How much has the apostolate
been enriched by the prayers and sacrifices radiating from monasteries! And how great is the
joy and prophecy proclaimed to the world by the silence of the cloister!

For the fruits of holiness and grace that the Lord has always bestowed through women’s
monastic life, let us sing to “the Most High, the Almighty and good Lord” the hymn of
thanksgiving “Laudato si’!”

6. Dear contemplative sisters, without you what would the Church be like, or those living on
the fringes of humanity and ministering in the outposts of evangelisation? The Church greatly
esteems your life of complete self-giving. The Church counts on your prayers and on your
self-sacrifice to bring today’s men and women to the good news of the Gospel. The Church
needs you!It is not easy for the world, or at least that large part of it dominated by the mindset
of power, wealth and consumerism, to understand your particular vocation and your hidden
mission; and yet it needs them immensely. The world needs you every bit as much as a sailor
on the high seas needs a beacon to guide him to a safe haven. Be beacons to those near to you
and, above all, to those far away. Be torches to guide men and women along their journey
through the dark night of time. Be sentinels of the morning, heralding the dawn. By your
transfigured life, and with simple words pondered in silence, shows us the One Who is the
way, and the truth and the life, the Lord Who alone brings us fulfilment and bestows life in
abundance. Cry out to us, as Andrew did to Simon: “We have found the Lord”. Like Mary
Magdalene on Easter morning, announce to us: “I have seen the Lord!” (Jn 20:18). Cherish
the prophetic value of your lives of self-sacrifice. Do not be afraid to live fully the joy of
evangelical life, in accordance with your charism.

The church’s accompaniment and guidance

7. The Magisterium of the Councils and the Popes has always shown a particular concern for
all forms of consecrated life through the promulgation of important documents. Among these,
special attention needs to be given to two great documents of Vatican Council II: the
Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium and the Decree on the Renewal of
Religious Life Perfectae Caritatis.

The first of these sets the consecrated life within the ecclesiology of the People of God by
virtue of the common call to holiness rooted in the consecration of Baptism. The second
summons all consecrated persons to a fitting renewal in accordance with the changed
conditions of the times. To guide such a renewal, the document proposes the following
indispensable criteria: fidelity to Christ, to the Gospel, to one’s own charism, to the Church,
and to the men and women of our time.

Nor can we pass over the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata of my
predecessor, St. John Paul II. This document, which reaped the rich harvest of the Synod of
Bishops on Consecrated Life, contains elements that remain important for the continued
renewal of consecrated life and its clear witness to the Gospel in our day.

We can also add the following documents as evidence of the constant and helpful guidance
provided to the contemplative life:

- The Directives of the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of
Apostolic Life (CICLSAL) Potissimum Institutioni (2 February 1990), focused extensively
upon the specifically contemplative form of consecrated life (Chapter IV, 78-85);

- The Inter-Dicasterial Document Sviluppi (6 January 1992) dealt with the issue of
diminishing vocations to the consecrated life in general and, to a lesser extent, the
contemplative life (No. 81);

-The Catechism of the Catholic Church, promulgated by the Apostolic Constitution Fidei
Depositum (11 October 1992), is very helpful for enabling the faithful to understand your
form of life; this is particularly the case with Nos. 915-933, which treats all its forms. No.
1672 deals with your non-sacramental consecration and with the blessing of Abbots and
Abbesses. Nos. 1974 and 2102 link the Ten Commandments to the profession of the
evangelical counsels. No. 2518 presents the close bond between the purity of heart spoken of
in the Beatitudes as promising the vision of God, and love of the truths of the faith. Nos. 1691
and 268 praise the persevering intercession made to God by contemplative monasteries –
unique places where personal prayer and prayer in community are harmoniously joined,
while No. 2715 notes that the prerogative of contemplatives is to keep their gaze fixed on
Jesus and the mysteries of his life and ministry;

- The CICLSAL Instruction Congregavit Nos (2 February1994) at Nos. 10 and 34 linked

silence and solitude with the profound demands of a community of fraternal life, and stressed
that separation from the world is consistent with a daily atmosphere of prayer;

- The CICLSAL Instruction Verbi Sponsa, Ecclesia (13 May 1999) in Articles 1-8 offered an
impressive historical-systematic synthesis of previous teachings of the magisterium on the
eschatological and missionary significance of the cloistered life of contemplative nuns;

- Finally, the CICLSAL Instruction Starting Afresh from Christ (19 May 2002) urged all
consecrated persons to contemplate unceasingly the face of Christ. It presents cloistered
monks and nuns as the summit of Church’s choral praise and silent prayer, and at the same
time praises them for having always kept the Liturgy of the Hours and the Eucharistic
celebration at the centre of their daily life

8. Fifty years after Vatican Council II, after due consultation and careful discernment, I have
considered it necessary to offer the Church, with special reference to monasteries of the Latin
rite, the present Apostolic Constitution. It takes into account both the intense and fruitful
journey taken by the Church in recent decades in the light of the teachings of the Second
Vatican Ecumenical Council and a changed social and cultural situation. In these past
decades, we have seen rapid historical changes that call for dialogue. At the same time, the
foundational values of contemplative life need to be maintained. Through these values –
silence, attentive listening, the call to an interior life, stability – contemplative life can and
must challenge the contemporary mindset.
With this document I wish to reaffirm my personal esteem, together with the gratitude of the
entire Church, for the unique form of sequela Christi practised by nuns of contemplative life;
for many, it is an entirely contemplative life, a priceless and indispensable gift which the
Holy Spirit continues to raise up in the Church.

Wherever necessary or fitting, the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and
Societies of Apostolic Life will deal with particular questions and reach agreements with the
Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and the Congregation for the Oriental
Churches.

Essential elements of the contemplative life

9. From the first centuries, contemplative life has always been present in the Church,
alternating periods of great vigour and others of decline. This has been due to the constant
presence of the Lord, together with the Church’s own capacity to renew and adapt herself to
changes in society. The contemplative life has always continued to seek the face of God and
to preserve unconditional love for Christ as its hallmark.

The consecrated life is a history of passionate love for the Lord and for humanity. In the
contemplative life, this history unfolds day after day in a passionate quest to see the face of
God in intimate relationship with him. As contemplative women, you respond to Christ the
Lord, “Who first loved us” and “gave Himself up for us”, by offering your entire life, living
in Him and for Him, “for the praise of His glory”. Through this life of contemplation, you are
the voice of the Church as she ceaselessly praises, thanks, implores and intercedes for all
mankind. Through your prayer, you are co-workers of God, helping the fallen members of
His glorious body to rise again.

In your personal and communitarian prayer, you discover the Lord as the treasure of your
life, your good, “utter goodness, the supreme good”, your “wealth and sufficiency”. You
come to see, with steadfast faith, that “God alone suffices”, and that you have chosen the
better part. You have surrendered your life and fixed your gaze upon the Lord, retreating into
the cell of your heart in the inhabited solitude of the cloister and fraternal life in community.
In this way, you have become an image of Christ who seeks to encounter the Father on the
heights.

10. Over the centuries, the Church has always looked to Mary as the summa contemplatrix.
From the annunciation to the resurrection, through the pilgrimage of faith that reached its
climax at the foot of the cross, Mary persevered in contemplation of the mystery dwelling
within her. In Mary, we glimpse the mystical journey of the consecrated person, grounded in
a humble wisdom that savours the mystery of the ultimate fulfilment.

Following Mary’s example, the contemplative is a person centred in God and for whom God
is the unum necessarium, in comparison with which all else is seen from a different
perspective, because seen through new eyes. Contemplatives appreciate the value of material
things, yet these do not steal their heart or cloud their mind; on the contrary, they serve as a
ladder to ascend to God. For the contemplative, everything “speaks” of the Most High! Those
who immerse themselves in the mystery of contemplation see things with spiritual eyes. This
enables them to see the world and other persons as God does, whereas others “have eyes but
do not see”, for they see with carnal eyes.
11. Contemplation thus involves having, in Christ Jesus whose face is constantly turned to the
Father, a gaze transfigured by the working of the Holy Spirit, a gaze full of awe at God and
His wonders. Contemplation involves having a pure mind, in which the echoes of the Word
and the voice of the Spirit are felt as a soft wind. It is not by chance that contemplation is
born of faith; indeed, faith is both the door and the fruit of contemplation. It is only by saying
with utter trust, “Here I am!”, that one can enter into the mystery.

This silent and recollected peace of mind and heart can meet with subtle temptations. Your
contemplation can become a spiritual combat to be fought courageously in the name of, and
for the good of, the entire Church, which looks to you as faithful sentinels, strong and
unyielding in battle. Among the most perilous temptations faced by contemplatives is that
which the Desert Fathers called “the midday devil”; it is the temptation to listlessness, mere
routine, lack of enthusiasm and paralysing lethargy. As I noted in the Apostolic
Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, little by little this leads to “a tomb psychology… [that]
develops and slowly transforms Christians into mummies in a museum. Disillusioned with
reality, with the Church and with themselves, they experience a constant temptation to cling
to a faint melancholy, lacking in hope, which seizes the heart like ‘the most precious of the
devil’s potions’.”
 References
1. From the book The Visions of Ven Anne Catherine Emmerick
Vol. 1, pp. 334-335

Vol. 1, pp. 400, 401, 404

Vol. 2, pp. 18-19

Vol. 3, pp. 160, 188

2. http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccscrlife/documents/rc
_con_ccscrlife_doc_13051999_verbi-sponsa_en.html
3. https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2016/0
7/22/160722a.html