The “door of the sky” has opened

Dom Jacques Dupont

Priore della Certosa

Awaited for many years, the inauguration of the Charterhouse Museum is an event whose meaning and importance are difficult to measure.

A unique event because few Carthusian monasteries offer such a structure to the public. An exceptional event since a piece of land within the walls of the monastery was taken away in order to realize this Museum. This was made possible only with the approval of the General Chapter of the Carthusian Order.

What could have justified such an act? What stimulated the monks in order for them to undertake and complete this task, despite countless difficulties?

The Carthusian monks cannot remain in Serra San Bruno if not living as Carthusian monks. Years ago, the news that the Carthusian monks were about to leave the Charterhouse became widespread. Great was the turmoil among Serresi and all Calabrians. Fortunately, this threat was removed. However, it became evident that the future of the Charterhouse depends on measures that allow the monks to live their specific vocation.

The Carthusian monks must preserve their enclosure in order to conduct a contemplative life in solitude, according to the call that God has addressed to them and that the Church has acknowledged. The young people that wish to consecrate themselves to God in desert-like silence have the right to find in the Charterhouse the ideal conditions. It was therefore necessary to re-establish the traditional rules of enclosure and separation from the world. Unless they want to give up being themselves, the Carthusian monks must live apart from the world.

On the other hand, to erect barriers, to close doors, to send away people could not be the solution. The very delicate problem of the encounter of the world with the Charterhouse would have remained intact and it would have actually increased with useless conflicts. Even if they want to protect their solitude, the Carthusian monks cannot ignore all those who would like to know about their life; the monks cannot send back those who come for moral or spiritual comfort.

From this arose the idea to realize what has become the Charterhouse Museum.

To tell the truth, the term Museum is improper since it is not about a display of works of art or souvenirs of the monks.

The visitor will find here all the information regarding the history of the Charterhouse, the monastery, the life of the monks and the stages of their formation and the Carthusian Order. However, we wanted to give the visitor, above all, the possibility to participate somehow in the hidden life of the monks, to be introduced in the mystery of their existence as it takes place in enclosure. So the Museum includes a cell similar to the hermitage of a Carthusian monk, another hall of the Museum has been set up like the church where the monks celebrate the liturgy during the day and at night. In one word, efforts have been directed to re-create an environment, to arouse a particular atmosphere.

The intention was to make the presence of the Carthusian monks so close as to cause an echo in the heart and souls of the visitors.

            In this sense, the Museum really welcomes and offers the possibility to share the ideal of the monks with those who desire to know it and to enjoy it. At the same time, the Carthusian monks can dedicate themselves to their contemplative life in solitude and in silence, essential characteristics of the Charterhouse.

With good reason, one might ask oneself: will the new relations between the world and the Charterhouse improve? Won’t this opening of the Museum, coinciding with a tighter closing of the monastery, be at the visitor’s expense? No, absolutely not. I can assure you that everything will be to your advantage, even if the external contacts with the monks will not be the way you could desire.

As the Holy See has recalled in a recent document addressed to the religious, “the urgent pastoral necessities should not make one forget that the best service of a religious community to the Church is to be loyal to its charisma”. On the contrary “the scarce consideration of the charisma is not useful to both the Church and the community itself.”

Therefore, for us Carthusians, helping others means being what we have to be: “free beings” that have left the world, their family, their country, to follow Christ in the “desert”, to pray with Christ day and night, and to offer themselves with Him for the salvation of all men. If we Carthusians can proceed in our loyalty toward our vocation of prayer and sacrifice, then we will become candles “that burn for nothing, for the beauty of the world, for God’s glance.”

Thus, the Charterhouse will become more than ever a hearth of light, of fervor and of love, when we can reach the end of our consecration, attending to God only, “fired with divine love”, like our father St. Bruno.

One day someone approached a monk to ask him: “Why do you avoid us?” The other answered: “God knows that I love you, but I can’t be simultaneously with God and with men.” Others have the duty to live amongst the world a consecrated life, bringing God to men; the contemplative monks, however, must leave the world in order to attend to the Only One Who is Necessary.

Another day the same monk answered to somebody who wanted to come to him: “If you come, I’ll open up for you. But if I open up for you, I’ll open up for everybody and I shall not remain in this place anymore. Hearing that the visitor said: “If by going I throw him out, I shall not go anymore.”

One cannot deny that the life of the Carthusians is a mystery that requires faith to be lived and faith to be understood. We are apart from the world, but without being cut off; we are united with everybody, being united with God; we are not visible in the world, but in Christ’s heart. According to the Constitution of the Carthusian Order, “if we really adhere to God, our mind expands, our heart dilates to the point that it can embrace the entire universe.” In fact intimacy with God “dilates the heart so that it can enclose the aspirations and the problems of the entire world.”

Yes, I assure you, you all occupy an important place in our hearts, because very great is our love for all of you.