Selection of Thoughts from the Writings of Fr. Jan Brenninger, O.Carm. – Part 1
On November 25, 2006, it will be sixty years since the death of Fr. Jan Brenninger, O.Carm. On this occasion, we want to publish not only a brief information about his life on the pages of our magazine but also some of his reflections regarding the Carmelite vocation and spirituality.
Father Brenninger was born on April 16, 1890, in Freising, Bavaria, and was baptized under the name Joseph. In his childhood, he suffered from paralysis of the legs and was miraculously healed through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, invoked at the pilgrimage site in Altötting. At the age of nineteen, he joined the Order of Carmelites and took the name John (of the Cross). After completing his studies, he was ordained a priest on July 26, 1914. During the following years, he experienced a personal crisis in his relationship with our religious community. Perhaps this was related to the difficult situation of the order in Bavaria, which was exacerbated by the world war. At that time, Fr. Jan asked for permission to transfer to the order of the Discalced Carmelites, and only due to the influence of the General Procurator of our order, Fr. Hubert Driessen, did the Vatican Congregation for Religious reject his request.1 Soon he was entrusted with important tasks in various monasteries and in the province. From 1925 until his death, he served in Rome as a so-called General Assistant, a close collaborator of the General Prior. By virtue of his position, he also visited, among others, the monastery in Kostelní Vydra (indeed in 1930, perhaps even earlier in 1926). For twelve years (1931–1942), he also served as the superior of the international college of St. Albert in Rome, where he himself taught Mariology, mystical theology, and Hebrew. At the same time, he was also an examiner of the Roman clergy and was entrusted with the spiritual guidance of several religious institutes. From 1940, he was also responsible for the care of tertiaries and members of the scapular brotherhoods. As part of this task, he prepared the text of a new rule for the third order. It was approved and put into effect only in 1948, after his death. In October 1945, he manifested a serious illness. After a month of suffering and hospitalization, he died on November 25, 1946.
In the following text, we bring you freely selected excerpts from his spiritual legacy, as published by Fr. Emmanuele Boaga, O.Carm., in the order revue Analecta ordinis carmelitarum, vol. 47, no. 2, 1996.
Fr. Brenninger was primarily devoted to his vocation and encouraged his Carmelite brothers and sisters to love it. Going to the holy mountain of Carmel, which is “the vineyard and garden of God,” meant to him seeing in Carmel “a symbol of an intensified inner life, a symbol of yearning and ascending towards perfect union with God in love.” “Carmel,” he said, “is a symbol of contemplation, a loving immersion of our mind into eternal truths and (deep) mysteries of our faith, whose goal is to wholly give ourselves to God, who alone is the source of life and happiness. For this reason, however, Carmel also represents a symbol of penance and sacrifice.”
“Elijah’s sacrifice on Mount Carmel shows us two important aspects of the Carmelite life. The first is clear decisions, for one cannot leap between two sides. Such decisions require the great reality of God’s presence, for He is the source of all life, and God alone suffices. These clear stances in life are demanded by our own foundation, our smallness, our never being fully satisfied, and the path ahead of us. For without God, our life has no explanation, no meaning, and is worthless. The thought of God must encompass everything. It is impossible to leap between two sides. God is everything. From this arises the Carmelite principle: God alone, always and in everything, that is, to proceed from the will of God, to walk in God’s companionship, and to aim for the glory, praise of God.”
“The second aspect is the whole burnt offering or complete sacrifice. A complete offering, not just an act of presentation or a mere part.” Here, Fr. Jan Brenninger points to the fire that descended from heaven on Carmel and consumed everything – the offering, the wood, and the altar. “These clear decisions are the means by which we can be a whole burnt offering: may there at least be a beginning of these clear decisions in us...”
To understand the characteristic features of the ascent to Mount Carmel, he used as a tool, as he said: “the school of Carmelite gardening,” which consists of three activities: “weeding, planting, and watering God’s garden.”
Weeding: removing, distancing, suppressing everyday sin and any disobedience to God; thus uprooting harmful weeds, passions that corrode the spirit (pride, vanity, ambition) and the body (laziness, intemperance, sensuality).
Planting: practicing the necessary virtues related to family and societal life (after all, we live in a family) and loving. These virtues manifest in our demeanor, in the way we speak and behave, but are born primarily from within: courtesy, gentleness, patience, humility, love.
Watering: the garden needs water. Inevitably, we need grace because we are nothing, because we can do nothing without light, without strength, without perseverance, and that all the more as we strive to reach the summit of Carmel.”
When expanding on the reflections regarding the spiritual symbolism of Mount Carmel, Fr. Jan bases his thoughts on the question: “Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? Who shall stand in his holy place?” And he provides two conditions for ascent as the answer.
“We must be able to say with the psalmist: “O Lord, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells” (Ps 26:8). It is necessary that we embrace this holy vocation with all our heart and be convinced that we have received an extraordinary grace from the Lord when he brought us into the land of Carmel, so that we might eat its fruits and its choice picks.”2 We must – so to speak – inhale the spirit of Carmel with full lungs until we are completely permeated by it. We must burn with the desire to reach the summit of Carmel and not stop at the foot of this holy mountain. The sanctuary is at the top, at the summit of the mountain.
But let us beware of the temptation to change Carmel to suit our tastes. It is essential to accept it as it is. Carmel is God’s sanctuary; it is a mountain. The Carmelite life therefore represents an ascent, an effort, and not a carefree stroll or an enjoyable outing.
We must love everything that pertains to the spirit of Carmel, especially the life of prayer that characterizes it. The foundation is not that we pray a lot or recite a multitude of prayers, but what matters is that we love to pray. And to pray means to be with God and to treat him as absolutely the greatest good for us, our life, our joy, and pleasure, in short, as the one who is everything for us and whom we seek with all our hearts...
In the ascent, we must be persistent. One cannot run up to the summit. The ascent is slow and laborious... Many start with determination, but soon become fatigued, and instead of boldly continuing in the climb, they stop midway, or rather return back to the lowlands of mediocrity, where they drag along and circle around the mountain whose summit now seems unreachable. No, there is no need to lose courage; we must continue the ascent, armed with unwavering and tireless trust in the help of the Lord and our most holy Mother. Everything is possible for him who believes, says our Lord. However, we need patience, for our Lord does not usually give everything at once. He himself chooses the time and the suitable moment according to his will and in accordance with what is good for us. The motto of our order must always be: To the top of Carmel.”
The second condition is found in the words: “Innocent hands and a pure heart” (Ps 24:4). Only the one who has “innocent hands and a pure heart” can hope to reach the goal, to achieve complete union with God in love, to the summit of Carmel.” Fr. Jan refers to the text of the Carmelite writing On the Foundation of the First Monks, which describes the aim of the Carmelite life in the words: “to offer God a pure heart.” He adds: “The ascent to Carmel requires the renunciation of sin. Sin is a great burden that pulls the soul down and prevents it from ascending to the heights of the mystical mountain. Voluntary attachment to sin, even everyday ones, is a great obstacle to prayer. Sin, indeed, even the everyday one, is an absence of love, and that connection lies precisely in love. Therefore, St. John of the Cross explicitly calls contemplation “a union of love.” The first stage of the ascent to Carmel is, therefore, the struggle against sin. And this struggle must continue until the very last roots of this weed are torn out.
Furthermore, it is appropriate to achieve as complete a detachment from creatures as possible. In sin, the soul detaches itself from God and attaches to something created; therefore, for a return to God, it is necessary to proceed in the opposite direction: to detach oneself from what is created and attach oneself to God. (...)
To ascend to the summit of Carmel, we must surrender to the Lord and let him act. (...) What carries us upwards is no longer our activity or the sacrifices we have chosen ourselves; it is God’s action in us that gives us a taste of the best fruits of the mountain of contemplation, provided that we do not lack the necessary cooperation from our side.
Let the devout soul then completely give itself to God, let it surrender unreservedly to his divine guidance and unconditionally accept what he sends, let it never look back, but always forward, with unwavering trust, even when it must pass through dark nights and dense mists, and God will surely take care of this generous soul in a special way, deliver it from “the snares of the fowlers” and set it on solid rock, on the summit of Carmel.
And when we reach the summit of Carmel, what do we find there?
Pure air: the soul’s freedom from sin, from selfishness and pride, from all dullness; the soul breathes in the pure air of God.
Perfect peace: a detachment from everything, a balance that transcends all and ensures that the soul remains constantly united with the Lord.
A wonderful view: the soul experiences contemplation, strengthened by the gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel.”
Based on the Italian original processed by Vlaďka M. Polišenská and Fr. Gorazd, O.Carm.
