Even when the Carthusian Order does not promote the beatification or canonization of any of its members, there are Carthusian blessed and saints. In most cases, these saints were bishops (such as Saint Anthelm) or martyrs (like the English Carthusian martyrs). In those cases, the dioceses they belonged to (and not the Carthusian Order) promoted their causes.
In 2017, the cause of canonization of Salvador Montes de Oca was opened by the diocese of Valencia (Venezuela). If he is canonized, he will become the first Carthusian saint who was both a bishop and a martyr.
He was born in Carora (State of Lara, Venezuela) on 21 October 1895. He was ordained a priest on 22 September 1922. In 1927 he was appointed as the second Bishop of Valencia by Pope Pius XI.
The political situation of the time triggered the struggle of Bishop Montes de Oca in favor of Human Rights and the Doctrine of the Church. This led to his expulsion from Venezuela in 1929. He returned to the country in 1931.
The Carthusian …More

From a letter of Saint Bernard to Guigo, the Prior, and to the other monks of the Grande Chartreuse
I received the letters of your Holiness with a delight equalled only by my longing eagerness for them. I have read them and mused upon them and they have fired my heart like so many sparks from the fire which the Lord came to spread over the earth. How great must have been the fire burning in your meditations to have sent out such sparks as these! Your burning and kindling greeting seemed to me, I confess, to have come, not from man, but from him who sent word to Jacob. It was no ordinary greeting such as one gives in passing on the road, or from habit; I could feel it came from the heart, a welcome and unexpected benison. May the Lord bless you for troubling to meet me, your child, with such a blessing in your letter to me that you have given me the courage to write back to you, after I had for so long wanted to, but not dared. For I was loath to harass your holy peace in the Lord, to …More

A few days ago we commemorated the anniversary of the foundation of the first Carthusian monastery, on June 24, 1084, in the Chartreuse Massif (France), on the initiative of St. Bruno and six companions. And today, June 29, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Saints Peter and Paul, martyred in Rome. Peter is remembered for being the first Pope, and that is why this day is also called «Pope’s Day».
It does not seem to be a coincidence that the anniversary of the foundation of the Order and Pope’s day are so close in time. It seems rather a sign of the closeness that has existed between the See of Peter and the Order since its origins. In fact, out of obedience to Pope Urban II, in the year 1090, St. Bruno leaves the newly founded monastery in Chartreuse to become the Holy Father’s advisor in Rome.
It did not seem that St. Bruno was able to adjust to the curial environment. In fact, a year after his arrival to Rome, in 1091, Urban II granted St. Bruno permission to retire and live a totally …More

Some saints have had a special relationship with the Carthusian Order. St. John of the Cross considered the possibility of becoming a Carthusian monk before St. Teresa convinced him to help her in the Carmelite reform. And before founding the Society of Jesus, St. Ignatius of Loyola considered entering the Seville Charterhouse . As we celebrate today, 22nd June, the memorial of the English martyr St. Thomas More (1478-1535), we would like to focus on his relationship with the Carthusian Order.
In 1499 Thomas More, then a brilliant young law student hardly come of age, went to live at the Carthusian monastery of London. In words of William Roper, his-son-in-law and first biographer, «he gave himself to devotion and prayer in the Charterhouse of London, religiously living there, without vow, for about four years». Did he occupy a monk’s cell? Probably not. Most likely he lived in the guesthouse, or somewhere near the monastery. It is hard to believe that he would have been allowed, …More

In 1535 King Henry VIII decided to break away from the Roman Catholic Church. He forced his English subjects to recognize in him the head of the Church in England. Many of them accepted. Others managed to flee the country in order to remain loyal to the Pope. Still others suffered martyrdom. This is the case of saints John, Robert, Augustine and their companions, martyrs whom we remember today. They are commemorated in the Order with the «rite of twelve readings». We offer below eight of these readings. In them, the Carthusian Father Maurice Chauncy, who managed to escape from England, recounts the martyrdom of his brothers in the Order.
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In the beginning of the year 1535 it was settled by the King, and enacted by the celebrated Act of his Parliament, that all should renounce the authority and obedience they owed to our lord the Pope, or any other superior in other countries, and should acknowledge under an oath, the King himself as supreme head of the Church, in spiritual things as …More

Today the Church celebrates St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380), a saint who has a special connection to the Carthusian Order. She wrote at least twelve letters to several Carthusian monks who received spiritual advice from her. One of these letters — written to a carthusian monk on the island of Gorgona — is included in the readings for today's Matins (readings 1 to 8). This is what we would like to share with you today.
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Dearest and very loved son in Christ gentle Jesus, I Catherine, slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, am writing to you in his precious blood. I long to see you living in the house of self-knowledge, where you will learn every virtue. Without such knowledge you would be living in every sort of evil, irrationally. But you could say to me, “How can I get into this house, and how can I keep living there?” I will tell you. You know that without light there is nowhere to walk but in the dark, and the darkness will make us stumble. In such darkness you would not be able to …More

Saint Hugh (1053 - 1132), the saint we are celebrating today, could be considered the co-founder of the first Charterhouse. Actually, he was the bishop who received Saint Bruno and his six companions into his diocese, and it was he who granted them the Charterhouse desert ("Chartreuse" in French) to live a monastic life there. Below are eight of the twelve readings from last night's Matins (or Office of Readings). It is part of a biography of Saint Hugh of Grenoble authored by Guigo, who was the fifth prior of Chartreuse.
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Hugh had entered the monastery already fervent, and he returned all the more so, when the same pope who had consecrated him, Gregory VII, bade him return to his bishopric. He had increased more in virtue through one year’s pursuit of the monastic life than many do from the labours of a lifetime. From that time on, vigilant circumspection was his only cloister, whereby he regulated both his senses and the thoughts of his heart; rectitude was his abbot, from whose …More

The cross towers over the monastery: it is a warning. Everything here flourishes in the shadow of the cross and in it you come to take shelter. It is good to draw your attention to it at once. The world does not put a better face on it than in St. Paul’s time: foolishness to some, scandal to others (1 Cor 1:23). Even those who preach on thee cross do not do so without much timidity.
Only in his light does the life of the Carthusian make sense. Christ warns you: «If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me» (Lk 9:23). You are weak and sensitive like every man, and that prospect is not altogether pleasant. The Cross would no longer be the Cross if it ceased to afflict. Only the spiritual part of your soul will be able to rejoice. Even for a generous soul, the only attraction of the cross is its relationship to Jesus.
The Son of God became incarnate in order to suffer. His first conscious act at the very moment of his conception was to offer …More

The first weeks in the cell will not reveal much to you, perhaps nothing. Be humbly content to be bored and to wander around. Your heart is raw for all that you have just left, and on the rough walls nothing is drawn but a Crucifix and an image of the Virgin.
There is still too much turmoil in your imagination and your sensibility to be captivated by the Invisible. You had dreamed so much of this cell. You are in it... and you shiver. You feel like escaping. Be patient. Pray. Organize yourself a cycle of occupations, readings, some little work on the Bible or any other spiritual subject of your liking. Little by little you will discover and savor the mystique of the cell. Those who have sung it in emotional terms through the centuries were not novices. And, like you, they have tasted its austerity.
The Carthusian cell is a unique dwelling of its kind. It is not the office of an ecclesiastic, nor the room of a Jesuit or a mendicant. The Carthusian sleeps, works, eats and solaces himself …More

From the Life of Saint Hugh of Lincoln by Adam the Carthusian
Hugh of Avalon made profession with the Augustinian Canons at Villarbenoît, in Dauphiné, where he entered at a very young age. In the opinion of all, he had already attained to the height of perfection aspired to by his order, and far in advance of his years, although he himself judged that he had never reached even the beginning of the way of perfection and godly living. Hugh already knew the reputation for extreme sanctity enjoyed by the monks of Chartreuse and wished with all his heart for the inspiration of their example. Carefully concealing his immense longing, he arranged matters so that he could see and speak with them. After this had happened, his heart was almost immediately inflamed with so great a love of their holy way of life, that he could hardly keep his passion to himself. In the happiness of his love, he understood the truth of the words of one who had loved unhappily, “The hidden fire burns the more fiercely …More

The Carthusians are not afraid of leaving this world. The cemetery is in the middle of the large cloister. Every day, beginning in the novitiate, the fathers have walked beside the enclosure in order to get to the church.
When a Carthusian dies, the whole community gathers in the cell of the deceased for the lifting of the body. The body is led in procession to the church. In the choir, between the stalls, the deceased is no longer alone. Near the body laid on the floor, the monks pray for him.
The Carthusians themselves dig the graves that welcome the bodies of their own. The deceased is secured to a simple board lowered into the clay soil. The cemetery is not large; regularly, the monks have to empty the old graves by hand to make room. The skulls and bones are first set aside before being put back in the grave at the same time as the new body.
Traditionally, the latest novice to enter the monastery holds the processional cross, placed at the foot of the grave. It is he who most clearly …More

Here are the observations (in latin animadversiones) of the Promoter of Faith Msgr. Verde, who was arguing against the canonisation of Thérèse of Lisieux. These objections were presented prior to the opening of the Cause on April 8th, 1914.
Who is this young lady?
It is first required of the members of the Congregation of Rites to identify the case they are to examine: it concerns a young lady who joined the Carmelites at the age of fifteen, died after nine years of religious life, and whose reputation for holiness has spread rapidly throughout the world. Drawing inspiration from Mgr de Teil’s Articles, Verde summarises Thérèse’s biography in the first two numbered paragraphs, concentrating particularly on events that took place prior to her religious life: her illness and miraculous recovery, her Christmas conversion, at which point Verde becomes somewhat muddled in the chronology, and her request to Pope Leo XIII. Concerning her life in the Carmel, he above all emphasises her role as …More

One of the most surprising facts about the number of books in the Old Testament is that this is not a discussion that was born at the time of the Protestant Reformation, in the 16th century.
Much earlier, in the 5th century, St. Jerome translated the Bible for the first time from the original Hebrew and Greek into Vulgar Latin (hence this version is known as "St. Jerome's Vulgate"). There is an important detail: Jerome, like Luther a thousand years later, included in his translation of the Old Testament only 39 books. Therefore, this is not a discussion between Catholics and Protestants. In any case, it is a discussion inherited by the Catholic and Protestant (or Reformed) churches of today.
In favor of saying that the Old Testament has 39 books we can refer to the phrase "salvation comes from the Jews" (Jn 4:22). And if salvation before Christ comes from the Jews, therefore we must accept in the Old Testament the books considered as inspired by the Jews today. That is, only 39 books, …More

This article appeared in “America”, March 11, 1989. It was written by Susanne Batzdorff, who was born in 1921 and is one of Edith Stein’s nieces. She is a devout Jewish woman who now lives in Santa Rosa, CA.
It was a great honor to receive the 1988 Edith Stein Guild Award and especially to share it with my good friend Josephine Koeppel (OCD). Our work in connection with the translation of Edith Stein's autobiography [Life in a Jewish Family (ICS Publications, 1986)] first brought us together more than 10 years ago, and since then we have grown in mutual respect and understanding. I worked closely with her on editing and refining this translation and served as a resource for family and cultural milieu and authenticity.
That cooperation symbolizes, in a way, our endeavor to promote cooperation, mutual respect and understanding for human beings who may have different beliefs and ideologies, but who must live together in a troubled world.
In reflecting about the reasons for having been given …More

Among those of us who admire the Carthusian Order, several of us have had the honor and privilege of having lived for a few days in one of its monasteries. Having made several retreats at “Cartuja San José”, in Argentina, I'm writing this in order to share this gift with those who haven’t been able to stay in a Carthusian monastery.
There are three biblical quotations that come to my mind when I think of my experience there. The first is Lk 4:1-2: “Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit (…) was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days (...)”. As it is well known, with few exceptions, one can make a retreat in a Charterhouse only if one aspires to embrace that way of life. For 16 years I was a “chronic” aspirant. For various reasons, sometimes I felt I had the vocation and sometimes I didn’t. In those 16 years I made several retreats, 8 more exactly, which lasted 5 days each. That brings the total to about 40 days. Maybe it was more (there were retreats of 6 days I think), but I like …More

This article appeared in the New York Times Magazine, April 12, 1987, just prior to the Beatification of Edith Stein, Sister Teresia Benedicta a Cruce. The author, Susanne M. Batzdorff, one of Edith Stein nieces, is a freelance writer and poet living in California.
On May 1 Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross is to be beatified for a holy life that ended in martyrdom at Auschwitz. The ceremony will be at the Sports Stadium in Cologne, West Germany, and my husband and I, Jews and proud of our Judaism, are to be among the invited guests, along with about 20 of our relatives. Teresa Benedicta was Edith Stein, my mother's youngest sister.
Aunt Edith, or Tante Edith as I have always called her, was only 19 months younger than my mother, Erna, and they were always close. They shared a bedroom growing up in Germany at the turn of the century and attended the same schools through their first year of college. When my aunt converted to Roman Catholicism, she first confided in Erna, begging …More

What is the world of the Carthusian monks in Pleterje like? Tamino Petelinšek, a photographer who spent almost a month at the monastery last year, tells you about it.
Photographs of the Carthusian monasteries, which the talented photographer Tamino Petelinšek visited in Pleterje for a year, adorn the cover of National Geographic Slovenia. Inside, there is an extensive report. Among other things, he shares with us the insights with which he has recently been "blessed" by the exhaustion he has recently overcome.
It is not every day that a photographer has his work on the cover and in the lead article of National Geographic magazine. Nor is it usual to feature monks.
How did you get involved in the "project" of visiting and photographing the Carthusian monks in Pleterje for a year?
A few years ago I went to Pleterje to buy some old apple and pear tree seedlings. At that moment I remembered my first visit to Pleterje, when my father and I met father Stanislav Capudro, who gave us a banquet …More

The various Marys
For Catholics, the figure of the Virgin Mary occupies a place of relevant importance, both in our faith and in our devotion. Sometimes we may think that the whole Bible favors and supports this point of view. But if we read the books of the New Testament carefully we will be surprised: not all of them give her a prominent or transcendent role. Why? Because more than fifty years passed between the first and the last books of the New Testament were written. And during that time, the image of Mary evolved. In fact, as the years went by, Christians began to reflect and discover the marvels that the Lord had done with her. Later writers did not hesitate to praise and extol her in their books. If we now analyze, attentively and respectfully, the texts of the New Testament, from the most ancient to the most modern, we will be able to discover this evolution.
Mary, the ignored
The first writings of the New Testament were the letters of St. Paul (written between the years 50 …More