900th Anniverary Ailred of Rievaulx

This year, AD 2010, we honor the 900th anniversary of Saint Aelred's birth.

Saint Aelred of Rievaulx
2nd Patron of Nunraw Abbey

Solemnity 12th January 2010.

St. Aelred - Born 1110, Hexham,Northumberland. Died 12 January 1167, Rievaulx,Yorkshire, England

Chapter Sermon by Fr. Nivard (Bamenda) When Aelred was in the court of King David of Scotland he was admired for his talent. He was loved even more for his friendly and gentle personality. In the presence of the king, another courtier insulted Aelred. He accused him of many misdeeds. Aelred listened patiently. Then, when his accuser had finished, he quietly thanked him for his charity in telling him his faults. The accuser was so surprised by Aelred’s humility that he at once asked him to forgive his unwarranted accusations. Even by that time he was pondering a vocation to the monastic life. He hesitated to enter a monastery because it would have meant giving up the companionship of his many friends. Gradually, however, he came to see, in his very hesitation, a cowardly attachment to human beings rather than to God. Aelred took to the Cistercian rigours like a fish to water. The strict rule was to mould him, and he in turn would help to mould the Cistercian spirit. Aelred's many gifts, natural and supernatural, attracted the attention of his brethren. They chose him as abbot first at Revesby and then at Rievaulx. He accepted both promotions with reluctance. He knew that this would involve giving up much of his beloved silence. But of course he proved ideal for the role, accepting its duties as a cluster of necessary crosses. As superior, nobody was stricter than Aelred, yet he ruled with winning gentleness. Aelred’s monks were deeply grieved to lose him to death. In his writing on Spiritual Friendship, Aelred wrote a passage that could be used to describe himself. “I would say that Br Simon was friendship's child. Simon’s whole occupation was to love and to be loved.” After Vatican II, many communities, especially in the English-speaking world, undertook programs of ‘building community’, conflict resolution and communication skills, and so on. In most communities there is a concern for cultivating affective maturity and for the quality of relationships among the members. The theme of schola caritatis adopted for the 1996 General Chapter indicates the widespread concern in the Order to make our houses affectively viable. According to Michael Casey, the greatest obstacle to this is individualism. Most Orders have the same problem. A Franciscan General has said that the main reason given for secularization in his Order was ‘loneliness’. However the desert experience or the dark night of the soul is part and parcel of the Christian life. True communion, kononia, as they had it in the early Church provides the key for true family life. In this spirit the ‘school of love’ of our Cistercian Fathers and Mothers, provides the best means of overcoming loneliness. The psalmist says that the just man falls seven times a day. He also says that a brother helped by a brother is like a strong city. However it is unlikely that we will ever be all down at one and the same time. May St Aelred, patron of this monastery, grant us the grace of true family life and so attract more courtiers to friendship with Jesus here in the Lammermuir Hills. Amen.

Saint Aelred of Rievaulx

By Paul Zalonski on January 12, 2009

The charity of God is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.
My soul, give thanks to the Lord, all my being, bless his holy name (Rom 5:5; Ps 102:1).

O God, who gave the blessed Abbot Aelred the grace of being all things to all men, grant that, following his example, we may so spend ourselves in the service of one another, as to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

The New Advent bio

Saint Aelred authored several influential books on spirituality, among them The Mirror of Charity and Spiritual Friendship. He also wrote seven works of history, addressing two of them to King Henry II of England advising him how to be a good king. The twentieth century has seen a greater interest in Saint Aelred as a spiritual writer than in former times when he was known to be a historian.

This year AD 2010 we honor the 900th anniversary of Saint Aelred's birth.

http://communio.stblogs.org/2009/01/saint-aelred-of-rievaulx.