French School of Spirituality

French School of Spirituality: A Catholic Reform Spirituality Implementing Reform Initiatives of the Council of Trent

Catholic Reform Spirituality - Tridentine Spirituality

French school of spirituality

A major infuence in Catholic spirituality were the Spanish medieval writers and spiritual masters like Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, and Ignatius of Loyola. But in the seventeenth century onward, it was the French school of spirituality that also became influential. The foundation and seedbed for this school of spirituality was not the monasteries or universities, but discussion groups. In these groups we find the Carmelite Mary of the Incarnation, Benedict of Canfield, and Pierre de Bérulle. They met in simple living rooms. Canfield's Exercise of the Will of God stressed holiness as accessible to all. Its central theme is the experience of God where the person participates in the self-emptying of Jesus in His passion. Bérulle likewise teaches this same participation in the mysteries of Christ. In his Grandeurs de Jesus, he writes that the goal of Christian life is to reproduce on earth the adoration and servitude of Christ in heaven.

Francis de Sales

The seventeenth century was also the era of Francis de Sales. His classic work, "Introduction to the Devout Life", is an important treatment of the lay faithful's pursuit of holiness in everyday life. His friend, Jane Frances de Chantal, foundress of the Visitation Order, was instrumental in making Francis de Sales' theory and practice of spiritual direction one with lasting influence.

The Council of Trent

The Church Council that influenced the French school of spirituality (and all schools of spirituality at the time) was the Council of Trent. The reforms implemented in the Council of Trent (1545-1563 A.D.) followed a decree on justification that stressed the importance of good works. Therefore, Tridentine Catholics would now conceive spiritual perfection as involving a high degree of personal activity - combining an active striving for self-control, the acquisition of virtue, and a zeal for works of mercy and charity. All these activities spring from a form of meditative prayer (which began in the fifteenth century). Foremost among the spiritual masters who followed this Tridentine spirituality or Catholic reform spirituality, in the context of the French school were Francis de Sales(1567-1622 A.D.), Vincent de Paul (1581-1660 A.D.), and Pierre de Bérulle (d. 1629 A.D.). These men were instrumental in developing the science of meditation that reformed both the clergy and the lay faithful.

Eucharistic piety

To balance the high degree of personal activity in the reformed spirituality of Trent, there was also an equal insistence on the truth that God is the One who really does it all. God's grace and the channels of this grace became important. Emphasis was thus placed on the sacraments. A Eucharistic piety developed and became the distinguishing feature of modern Catholicism: many priests and bishops now began the daily celebration of the Mass. This Eucharistic piety also extended to other nonliturgical practices like the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in benediction services. It is this Tridentine spirituality that began to place all prayer and activity in the context of the Eucharist.

Leading exponents of the French school

The new spirituality of Trent found its finest expression in a considerable number of men whose impact was strong enough to create distinct schools. In the French school of spirituality, an outstanding exponent of this spirituality is French author, cardinal, and leading statesman, Pierre Cardinal de Bérulle. P. de Bérulle founded the French Oratory for the sanctification of priests in 1611 A.D. Others who followed suit were Jean-Jacques Olier, who founded the Sulpicians for the formation of priests in 1657 A.D.; Jean Eudes, who founded the Eudists for the formation of priests for the popular missions in 1643 A.D.; Vincent de Paul, who founded the Lazarists for the mission in the countrysidein 1651 A.D.; Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, who founded the Christian Brothers for the education of the youth in 1680 A.D.; Claude Poullart des Places, who founded the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit for the missions abroad, in 1703 A.D.; and Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, who founded the Missionaries of the Company of Mary.

Pastoral reforms of Trent

Pastoral reforms initiated by the Council of Trent and applied by the French school.

• preaching and giving the Word of God its rightful place
• bishops being domiciled in their own dioceses
• control on the clergy
• examination of knowledge in the faith
• the need to have something to live on
• a cassock or formal priestly attire
• a reformed liturgy
• seminaries for the formation of clerics

Historical role of the French school in Catholic America

The attention given to the priesthood proved beneficial to France to a high degree. The ascendance of France in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries rested to a large degree on this Catholic reform spirituality. The new French clerics became ardent pastors and ministered zealously to the people in all their spiritual and human needs. Until the beginning of the twentieth century, the seminary of St. Sulpice in Paris was one of the most important schools of theology in France. It was also effective in England and America. Four French Sulpicians arrived in America in 1791 A.D. and opened the first seminary, St. Mary's, in Baltimore. The Sulpicians were among the first male religious orders which played an important role in laying the foundations of Catholic institutional life in the United States.

Edited from the following sources:

• The New Dictionary of Theology, by editors Komonchak, Collins and Lane
• A Concise History of the Catholic Church, by Thomas Bokenkotter
• A History of the Church, by Franzen and Dolan
• History of the Missionaries of the Company of Mary, by Bibeau and Courchesne