Charles Dumont: Monk-Poet
In the School of Charity
with Bernard and Aelred 115
Other
activities were also occupying
Fr. Charles. For one thing, he had to get to work
seriously on material on Saint Bernard and the Blessed
Virgin Mary to be presented at the Faculté des
Religions et des Humanismes laiques
of the Inter-University Center
for Formation, in Charleroi." These talks, scheduled for the middle of January,
required careful preparation
because he was to speak to Christians and non-Christians, agnostics and
atheists. He chose as title: Saint
Bernard, monk,
poet and mystic of
Our Lady. In his first lecture, he entered into his subject with soft steps:
I thank
you for inviting me to speak to you about Saint Bernard and what he thought, meditated and wrote on the Virgin
Mary. I must first tell you that I come as a monk, without any university qualification. So I will speak
about doctrinal theology only to the extent that it helps us to situate Saint Bernard and understand what he sang, prayed and contemplated .... It is that Bernard whom I am going to present to you, hoping that you will love him. . .
Before plunging into the
subject, let me quote Solzhenitsyn. The
scene is a woman history professor in Moscow explaining her course to the Marxist
girls in her class: “To reject the Middle Ages means to break up western history,
and then nothing comprehensible remains in the contemporary fragment. . . So
what was more important? Oh, if you want to know what was most important during
the Middle Ages, it is the spiritual life, a spiritual life of such intensity
that it outweighs material existence, so that humanity has never known anything
like it either before or after.”
....................... Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Novelist
Page 118
Charles Dumont: Monk-Poet
.. (5.16.92).
\'\Then he was quite well again he and Br. Pierre-Andre set out for Caldey. On their peregrinations they had long discussions which included, of course, the subject of contemplative identity:
As regards the challenge of modern mentality, this is a very confusing term–not because of the translation but because of the very ideal! Why should we compete with worldly values that's out of date! We have been intimidated during the last twenty years by worldly values. . . This is not the language of the first two chapters of the First Letter to the Corinthians. The two wisdoms are not on the
same wave length. (4.3.92)
Visiting
Caldey always brought back memories. The sea, especially, enchanted him.
Enjoying some solitude on the island he wrote a poem, one of the few he wrote
in English:
Waves, Holy Waves
O the waves by night
So calmly kissing
The sand of my life.
Majestic drum of time
Bordering silence eternal.
O gentle silver edge
Slowly gliding on my past,
Compassionate waves
Take away the sins of the
world.
Ocean of love
Sea of boundless heart
By the fingers of your
tender waves
Touch my restless mind,
Grant us peace.
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