To his sons at the charterhouse

A Letter which our Venerable Father Bruno wrote in the Tower hermitage in Calabria, and which he sent from there to his Sons at the Charterhouse.

1. To his dearly beloved brethren in an exceptional manner in Christ, your brother Bruno sends his greetings in the Lord.

I have been informed of the inflexible rigour of your discipline which is reasonable and truly worthy of praise, thanks to the detailed and consoling report of our most holy brother Landuino, in the same manner as I have otherwise heard about your holy love and unceasing zeal for all relating to integrity and honesty; for which reason, my spirit exults in the Lord. Truly I exult and feel carried towards praising and thanking the Lord, and moreover gasp sadly. I do exult, indeed, as it should be, for the growth of the fruit of your virtues, yet I am in sorrow and blush when I consider myself so helpless and negligent in the despicability of my sins.

2. Rejoice therefore, my most dear brethren, for the happiness you have received in fortune and the abundance of God’s grace towards you. Rejoice, since you have fled the many dangers and shipwrecks of this world beaten about by perilous waves. Rejoice, because you have gained a peaceful and safe refuge of a well sheltered harbour, at which many wish to arrive and towards which many strive with considerable effort, and moreover still do not reach. Besides many, having reached it, are excluded, since to none of them has it been given from high.

Therefore, my brethren, consider it to be quite certain and proven that, whosoever has enjoyed such a desirable wealth, should he in any way lose it, will be sorry about it up to his death, were he to have taken due concern and care about the salvation of his soul.

3. About you, my most beloved lay brothers, I would say: My soul magnifies the Lord, when I think about the magnificence of his mercy upon you, according to what has been told to me by your prior and most beloved father who is very proud and happy about you. I am also happy because, although you are not versed in writing, God, who is all powerful, writes down with his own finger, in your hearts, not only love, but also the knowledge of his divine law. With your doings you actually show what you love and what you know. Since you practise with all due attention and with the most possible zeal true obedience – consisting in the fulfilment of God’s precepts, this being the key and the seal of every spiritual discipline, which could never exist without great humility and an uncommon patience, which is always accompanied by the Lord’s chaste love and true charity – it is evident that you consciously pick the most delightful and life-giving fruit of Divine Scripture.

4. Thus, my brethren, do persevere in the state which you have reached, and avoid as you do the plague that unhealthy band of those truly false lay brothers who distribute their writings mumbling about matters which they neither understand nor love, and which they contradict by words and deeds. These lazy and wandering brothers, defame their goodness and faith, and indeed think that it is due to all this that they should be worthy of praise, by slandering those who should instead be praised; they hate obedience and discipline.

5. I would have then liked to keep close to me brother Landuino owing to his serious and frequent infirmities: yet since he is of the opinion that, without you, nothing is healthy for him, nothing is joyful, nothing is life-giving and useful, he has not agreed to this, showing me, with a heavy flow of tears shed for you and with many sighs, how useful you are for him and with what perfect charity he loves you all. For which matter, I did not want to exercise any compulsion, so that I would not harm him in any way, and yourselves, who are most dear to me on account of your virtues. Meanwhile, my brethren, I caringly and humbly warn you, yet forcefully beg you, that you show the charity you have in your hearts with works towards him, who is your prior and most dear father, procuring him with great benevolence and attention those things which, owing to his numerous infirmities, are required by him. Perhaps he might not allow you to fulfil this service of humanity, preferring to place in jeopardy his health and life rather than omitting any part of the rigour of the discipline of the flesh, which should be absolutely disapproved of (most probably he will feel ashamed that as the head of the community, he should appear to be the last on this matter, for fear that because of him someone of you may become more relaxed or more lukewarm, something which, I think, we should not fear in any way); in this case, so as not to be deprived of such grace, I concede to you, who are so full of charity, to stand in my place only insofar as this is concerned: that you are therefore allowed to commit him, with all due respect, to accept whatever you give him which is good for his health.

6. As for me, brethren, know ye that my sole desire, after God, is that of coming over to visit you. And when I can, I shall accomplish it, with the help of God. Farewell.