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Translated by a
Dominican Father
Vidimus et
Approbabimus:
Fr. C. H. McKenna, OP
Fr. J. L. O'Neil, OP,
Revisores Deputati
New York, November 15,1883
Imprimi
Potest:
Fr. M. D. Lilly, OP, Prior Provincial
Province of St.
Joseph, November 15,1883
Imprimatur:
John
J. Williams, DD, Archbishop of Boston
By his Vicar General,
November 22,1883
APOSTOLIC BRIEF
Pope
Gregory XIII
To our well-beloved Son,
Louis of Granada, of the Order of Friars Preachers
Dearly Beloved Son,
Health and Apostolic Benediction:
Your arduous and
incessant labors, both for the conversion of sinners and for the guidance
of souls to perfection, together with the valuable assistance you render
those who are earnestly engaged in the work of the ministry, have always
afforded us great consolation.
Your sermons and
writings, filled with sublime doctrine and practical piety, are
unceasingly drawing souls to God. This is particularly gratifying to us,
for all who have profited by your teaching (and their number is very
great) may be considered as so many souls gained to Christ. You have thus
benefited your fellow creatures more than if you had given sight to the
blind and raised the dead to life. For the knowledge of the Eternal Light
and the enjoyment of the heavenly life, according as they are given to man
on earth to know and enjoy, are far above the knowledge and enjoyment of
the transitory goods of this world.
The charity with
which you have devoted yourself to your great and important labor has
gained for you many crowns.
Continue, then, to
devote all your energies to the prosecution of your undertakings. Finish
what you have begun, for we understand that you have some works yet
incomplete. Give them tot he world for the health of the sick, for the
strength of the weak, for the delight of God’s servants, and for the glory
of the Church both militant and triumphant.
Given at Rome the
21st of July, 1582,
In the eleventh year
of our pontificate.
GREGORY PP.
XIII
About the
Author
VENERABLE LOUIS OF
GRANADA
His Life and
Work
The life of Venerable
Louis of Granada (1504-1588) paralleled to a remarkable degree the
greatest era of the Spanish Empire – that empire known as "the evangelizer
of half the world, the hammer of heretics, and the light of the Council of
Trent." Louis himself is known as "the writer of the Spanish empire." He
was born only shortly after the famous year 1492, when Spain had, under
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, defeated the Moors after eight
centuries of Moorish occupation and oppression in Spain and financed
Christopher Columbus' momentous voyage to America. These were the times of
Spain's intense exploration and missionary activity in the New World, of
the Council of Trent (1548-1563), and of the great Christian victory over
the Turks at Lepanto (1571).
The end of this
glorious era is marked by the great defeat in 1588 of the "invincible"
Spanish Armada off the coast of England, an event which signalled the
beginning of the end of Spain's brief but glorious reign as a world power.
This was also the very year of Louis' death. But during the early and
mid-l6th century, Catholic Spain gave to the world many priceless gifts;
not least of these were the books of her renowned son, Ven. Louis of
Granada.
In the aftermath of
the surrender of the Moors in 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella were faced with
the task of making Granada a Spanish city once again. In order to hasten
the influx of Spanish influence into the city and the blending of the
Moorish and the Spanish people, Ferdinand and Isabella granted free
entrance to the city of Granada to any Spaniard from the provinces who
wished to settle there. One young couple who took advantage of this
opportunity was Francis Sarriá and his wife (whose name has been lost to
history), a couple who in 1504 became the parents of a son named Louis,
later to become famous as "Louis of Granada." Unfortunately, Francis died
in 1509, and Louis and his mother were reduced to poverty, being supported
by alms from the Dominican Monastery.
After a few years of
destitution, there occurred an event whereby Louis de Sarriá's fortunes
changed suddenly and dramatically. While engaged in a street fight with a
boy who had insulted his mother, Louis was discovered by the Count de
Tendilla, Mayor of the Alhambra, who was impressed with his courage. The
Count took Louis under his patronage. Thereafter Louis spent many hours on
the balconies of the Alhambra; thus, in addition to his other education,
his soul was fed by the magnificent beauty of the surrounding countryside,
fueling that deep love for the beauty of nature which was to be a hallmark
of his thought and writing for the rest of his life.
When Louis de Sarriá
reached young manhood, he turned his path toward the religious life. At
the same Dominican Monastery where he had begged alms as an orphaned
child, the Convent of the Holy Cross, he received the habit of a Friar
Preacher on June 15, 1524, to the joyful tears of his beloved mother. A
year later he made his religious profession.
At the Convent of the
Holy Cross, Friar Louis, or Fray Louis, as he was called, undertook
the rigorous Dominican ratio studiorum: a review of Latin and then
three years of Philosophy and three years of Theology. The texts used were
the grammar of Nebrija, the Summae af Peter the Spaniard, and the
works of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas. Louis de Sarriá was brilliant
in scholastic disputations; he had no equal in mental capacity,
application to study, and exact observance of the monastic
life.
After some time, he
was awarded a scholarship to the celebrated College of St. Gregory in
Valladolid. Arriving there in 1529, he spent the designated eight days in
preparation for taking the oath to uphold the statutes of the College;
thus Louis de Sarriá became formally invested in the College of St.
Gregory, taking on both the honors and the obligations thereof. In the
mind of the young friar, his first duty was worthily to represent Holy
Cross Convent of Granada. Grateful for the confidence placed in him by his
fellow religious of Holy Cross, he changed his name from Fray Louis de
Sarriá to Fray Louis of Granada. With such great seriousness did the
Spanish ecclesiastical student of the l6th century hold his exalted
position as a knight of Thomistic truth.
The students of St.
Gregory studied logic, natural philosophy, moral philosophy, theology,
exegesis, and cases of conscience. Latin only was spoken, except on
vacation days, when Spanish was allowed.
The first fruit of
Louis' pen to appear in print was a book he did not himself write; rather,
he edited one written by the Regent of Studies, Astudillo, though he
himself wrote and added to the book two encomiums of Astudillo. These
small works by Louis portray their author as a man enamored of philosophy,
and as an authentic man of the Renaissance.
But there was more
than learning in Louis' heart and soul. By prayer and penance, as well as
study, he was preparing for a future apostolate of preaching.
In the year 1534, at
the age of 30, because of his ardent longings for the apostolate, Louis
stepped forward and generously offered himself as a missionary to Mexico.
Although he had not yet completed his eight-year course of studies, he was
willing to abandon the lecture halls. He was all prepared to leave for the
Americas; but when his departure was imminent, Fray Louis' superior
commanded him to cancel his trip and let another go in his
place.
This was a tremendous
disappointment for Fray Louis. In fact, although he obediently accepted
the sacrifice, the longing for the mission field remained a thorn in his
soul all his life. This event ushered in a deepening in the soul of Louis
of Granada. More and more he realized that prayer, rather than study, is
the way to true spiritual knowledge of Christ. He saw more clearly that
his goal should be to live the life of Christ within his own soul, and
then to preach Christ to others. He even began to have a distaste for
study. In this regard, the writings of the famous Master John of Avila
also had a great influence in the changing of Fray Louis' attitude. At
this time there also awakened in him his vocation as a spiritual writer.
He desired that the riches of the spiritual treasure should be imparted to
and shared by all, and the means by which he intended to diffuse them were
preaching and writing.
In 1539, at the age
of 35, he wrote a small tract on the method of prayer for a student at St.
Gregory in Valladolid who had written to him for advice. The tone of this
work is entirely different from the Renaissance humanist flavor of his
prologue to the work of Astudillo; this little tract is spirituality pure
and simple. It is the first lecture of Fray Louis from the chair of
Spanish spirituality. This same tract was later to be transformed into a
work that would make Fray Louis' name immortal: The Book of Prayer and
Meditation.
In 1544 the Dominican
Order gave Louis the title of Preacher General. In 1546, he was granted
the privilege of going anywhere in Spain to preach, in the company of a
companion of his choosing, and no superior could prevent his preaching.
During this period, Fray Louis spent much of his time travelling and
preaching. He was in demand everywhere as a preacher and spiritual
director – even among the royalty. He became widely known as a holy friar,
a preacher, and a man of great administrative ability.
About the year 1552,
Queen Catherine of Portugal, the sister of Charles V, selected him as her
confessor and advisor. Practically the rest of his life was spent in
Portugal, with occasional visits to Spain. Because of his great knowledge
and his practical talents, Fray Louis was frequently called upon to help
settle problems arising among the royalty-important problems upon which
might hang the welfare of entire nations. But all such dealings with
worldly affairs were painful to him, and appear to have constituted the
greatest cross of his later life.
In addition, in 1556
he was elected Provincial of the Dominican Province of Portugal. A year
later he turned down Queen Catherine's offer of the archbishopric of
Braga, which would have made him Primate of Portugal. In the midst of such
preoccupations, Fray Louis never forgot his apostolate of spiritual
writing.
In 1554 The Book
of Prayer and Meditation was published. Its success was a complete
surprise, especially to Fray Louis, but it confirmed him in his vocation
of spiritual writer. From that time forward he dedicated himself with a
divine impatience to writing on spiritual themes for all.
Louis himself,
because of his ascetical practices and the constant work of the pen and
pulpit, came to appear older than his years. His cell was poor and his
possessions few: a wooden bed, a crude table, a few books, reams of
colored paper (so that the eyes would not tire as he wrote),and a
collection of various penitential instruments. Fray Louis could have lived
in the palace, but since childhood he was espoused of poverty and he
disdained the delights and comforts of the world. He received many alms
and he earned much money from his books, but all went to the convent or to
the poor. He dressed in such poverty that he wore the same hat for forty
years and his black cappa was worn and patched with twelve years of use.
Although he was a frequent visitor in the royal palace, he paid no
attention to the courtly atmosphere; his spirit rose above all the things
that fascinate the worldly ones: gold, coaches, love, silk, and power. To
subdue the rebellious flesh, he wore a penitential belt. He excelled in
meekness, native and acquired humility, an exquisite distinction in his
bearing, and good counsel for all who needed it.
Such is Granada's
moral portrait. The physical portrait is given to us by one of his oldest
biographers: "He was of large and majestic stature, with a
well-distributed weight. He had a face of angelic affability and his flesh
was delicate and of good color. His eyes were happy but modest; his
forehead, wide and serene; his teeth, white and in good order; his nose,
stately and aquiline and somewhat large; his mouth, of good proportion;
his head, large and somewhat bald. Most cordial in conversation, he was a
friend to all, although no one became too friendly with him. He had an
indescribable gravity in his appearance, as if he were always absorbed in
spiritual contemplation."
This affable and
simple religious, entirely given to the things of God, was very active and
even dynamic. He rose at four in the morning and spent two hours in
prayer. At six o'clock he celebrated Mass with remarkable solemnity and
devotion. In those days priests were not accustomed to celebrate Mass
every day, but Fray Louis never omitted it, and stated that the best
preparation for the celebration of Mass was to celebrate daily. After Mass
he devoted himself to a lengthy thanksgiving and then returned to his cell
to begin the labors of the day.
The l6th
century was a most turbulent time in the history of the Church, a time
whose terrible legacy of heresy and apostasy is still with us today. (It
was also a century of many, many great saints.) There was a crying need
for true Catholic reform, but many heretics had arisen to feed the
faithful with stones and scorpions instead of bread. An un-Christian
humanism was spreading its contagion of rebellion against God; and in
1517, when Fray Louis was 12 years old, Martin Luther took the step that
was to launch the tragic heresy of external justification, a doctrine
which smothered the true supernatural life of the soul and thus led to the
most man-centered form of humanism. Another error which was spreading at
the time was a false form of spirituality which claimed that religion
should be something completely interior. A fourth error was Quietism,
which discounted the effort required for the Christian soul to grow in
grace and virtue. A goodly number of spiritual writers of the time fell
into one or another of these traps.
Louis of Granada, on
the other hand, was a voice of true orthodox Catholic reform. Although, in
the confusion, he was for a time accused of heresy, this false charge was
disposed of at Trent and Rome. Louis presented life in Christ as the life
proper to all Christians, and he showed the essential role which the
virtues play in the growth of this life. He showed how grace is essential
to life in Christ, and how the Christian must receive the Sacraments and
pray in order to obtain the necessary grace of God. Thus, by reading Fray
Louis' true picture of the Christian life, the 16th century
Catholic – as well as the Catholic of today – is protected against many
errors and given true and powerful spiritual food. His soul is protected
against the error of man-centered humanism, against the error of external
justification without an inner transformation into holiness in the soul,
the error of religion as being something entirely interior and independent
of laws and ceremonies, and the error that the Christian need not expend
effort in order to live and grow in the life of grace. Fray Louis answers
all these errors (which persist in one way or another yet today), even
when he does not attack heresies as such; he preaches the true Christian
doctrine with such clarity and beauty that the soul is attracted and
enlightened and moved to embrace it. His talents and vocation as a
spiritual writer were a gift of Divine Providence to the l6th century;
they are likewise providential for the Catholics of today. St. Teresa of
Avila, Louis' contemporary, called him "a man given to the world by God
for the great and universal good of souls." St. Charles Borromeo, another
contemporary, wrote: "Of all those who up to our time have written on
spiritual matters … it can be stated that no one has written books either
in greater number or of greater selection and profit than Fray Louis of
Granada. … In fact I do not know if in matters of this type there is today
a man more beneficial to the Church than he is."
The teaching in Fray
Louis' books is firmly orthodox, completely Catholic. These works are
based on the Scriptures, the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, and on the
principles of St. Thomas Aquinas; they also include many elements from the
best of classical literature. Nevertheless, Fray Louis' writings are
neither dry nor difficult; they breathe fire and life, touching the heart
of the reader and motivating him to seek God's will as the only source of
true happiness. Fray Louis was an astute observer of human nature, and his
books are as notable for their solid common sense as for their sterling
orthodoxy.
Louis of Granada also
overcame the tendencies to separate asceticism and mysticism, which were
started in his day. Both aspects of the mystical life were evaluated by
him and he coordinated them in such a way that both the ascetics and the
mystics can look to him as a master. Undoubtedly, he gives greater
emphasis to ascetical matters, for the simple reason that he directs his
words in a special way to the great number of simple faithful who need
above all to become enamored of virtue and holiness of life so that they
will eradicate evil inclinations and rise steadily to a higher life.
Granada attempted to lead souls to the threshold of contemplation and the
mystical life, and because he himself lived that life intensely, his soul
frequently soared to the regions of intimate communion with God and at
times seems to move entirely on the planes of the mystical
life.
Yet Louis' writing on
all subjects is so clear that he was accused of "writing for the wives of
carpenters," and his zeal so apostolic that he was criticized for wanting
"to make all Christians perfect." He quoted Scripture so often that he
seems to have known it by heart. Louis of Granada is truly a "theologian
of the people," who wrote for the simple and unlettered. Yet so sublime is
his writing that he was read by princes and kings, saints and literary
figures, pontiffs and ordinary laity, Protestants and pagans. No one knew
as well as he did how to combine loftiness of doctrine with a clarity and
transparency of style that is within the grasp of all.
In his 35 years of
writing, Fray Louis produced 49 works. These can be classified into five
categories: spiritual theology, apologetics, hagiography, sacred oratory,
and translations. Four of his books are masterpieces of spiritual
theology. These are The Book of Prayer and Meditation, a book that
laments the miseries of life and manifests spiritual contempt for the
world – this is the one of his books that Louis loved best, and one that
has served as a manual of prayer for countless souls; The Sinner's
Guide (first published in 1556), a masterwork of Aristotelian symmetry
and the most scholastic work of Fray Louis, a book which covers from
myriad angles the virtues of the Christian life, proving that this life is
the only way to true happiness (even on earth); Memorial of the
Christian Life, a book of a Platonic flavor, which reminds the
Christian of his obligations and embodies such exquisite doctrine on love
that St. Francis de Sales remarks that it is all that could be said or
that one could wish to say; and Introduction to the Creed, a
gigantic work written in Louis' old age, but which breathes the spirit of
youth. This work shows Louis' preoccupation with the conversion of the
Jews and Mohammedans; he knew the Oriental mind very well, and in this
book he shows, among many other things, that only the Christian religion
can give God due worship. This is undoubtedly his most admirable book, and
modern critics never cease to be amazed at the genius that produced
it.
Louis' books have
been translated into 25 different languages, including Syrian, Arabic, and
Japanese, in addition to the European languages (which often saw hundreds
of editions in a single language). There have been some 6 thousand
editions of Fray Louis' works. In fact, it is known from tales brought
back by missionaries that the Japanese version of The Sinner's Guide was
one of the bullwarks that sustained the faith of the Japanese Catholics
during two centuries of terrible persecution, when both in Europe and
Japan, Japanese Christianity was believed dead. In 1865, when missionaries
were again allowed into Japan, missionary Father Bernard Petitjean was
astonished to find in the hills around Nagasaki thousands of Japanese
Catholics who had kept the Faith, hidden but vital, without priests, for
over 200 years! Immense was the joy of these faithful ones at once again
having a Catholic priest among them. The Sinner's Guide had played
a providential role in sustaining the Faith in their souls during that
trying time.
The works of Fray
Louis were included in the precious cargo brought to the New World by the
Spanish missionaries; these missionaries even translated some of Granada's
works into the native Indian languages. St. Rose of Lima, too, loved the
books of Fray Louis; she had them always at hand. Her favorite was The
Book of Prayer and Meditation. In one of her struggles with the devil,
she protected herself by reading this book; the devil became furious,
snatched the book from her, and threw it onto a rubbish heap. Rose remain
unmoved, certain that the Lord would return it to her as indeed He
did.
Other famous
Catholics who have read and loved the works of Venerable Louis include St.
Vincent de Paul, St. Louise de Marillac, St. Francis de Sales, Cardinal
Berulle and Bossuet (all French); St. Charles Borromeo (Italian), Louis of
Leon (Spanish), and the Jesuit and Barnabite Orders. St. Teresa read
Louis' books and commanded her nuns to do the same. She credited The
Sinner's Guide with having converted over a million souls. In some
religious rules and constitutions the works of Louis were mentioned as
almost obligatory spiritual reading for the novices. There was no bishop
in Spain in the l7th and l8th centuries who did not eulogize, recommend,
and even grant indulgences for the reading of the works of Fray Louis.
Regarding The Book of Prayer and Meditation, St. Peter of Alcantara
wrote: "It is the best book that I have read in our language because it
best expounds the practice and exercise of prayer. It contains good
meditations and helpful counsels for beginners, the advanced, and the
perfect." This book is also renowned for its literary beauty, so that
Azorín could say of it that "the Spanish language has never reached such
fierceness or such angelic suavity" as it does in this work. And it must
be added that Fray Louis' books were read in England, as literature, long
before the works of Cervantes were discovered there.
St. Francis de Sales
urged a Bishop-elect of his acquaintance to read the works of Louis of
Granada, and to treat them as a second breviary. He advised this man to
read them slowly, beginning with The Slnner's Guide, then
continuing with the Memorial of the Christian Life, then on to all
the rest.
Granada's vast
classical and ecclesiastical culture, his absorbing spirit, and the
perfection of his literary style place him among the creators of Christian
Spanish humanism. With good reason has he merited the title of "the
Spanish Cicero." And the Spanish biographer, Nicholás Antonio, gave to
Fray Louis this well-earned tribute: "Our nation has never had a greater
or more useful man, and perhaps it will never again have one to equal
Louis of Granada."
Yes, in his native
Spain Fray Louis' influence was immense. He ushered in the golden age of
spiritual literature in Spain, an age which was to become most famous for
the magnificent works of St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross.
Fray Louis was in some ways the creator, and in every sense the exponent,
of Spanish devotion and piety; his is an extraordinary instance of one
man's influence, and he contributed immeasurably to the Christian and
theological formation of the Spanish people.
Even heretics and
atheists were readers and admirers of Fray Louis. Most notable is the case
of Marchena – an atheist, revolutionary, liberal, and the sworn enemy of
all spiritual writings. This man carried The Sinner's Guide around
with him for 20 years, and not a day passed but that he read part of it.
To an amazed man who discovered him reading this book, tattered and worn
in testimony of its constant use, Marchena exclaimed: "This book has a
power over me that I cannot explain. I cannot read it nor can I stop
reading it. I cannot read it because it convinces my understanding and
moves my will in such a way that while I am reading it, I feel as much a
Christian as you or any nun or as the missionaries who go to die for the
Catholic faith in China or Japan. I cannot stop reading it because I know
of no book more wonderful in our language."
Such is the power of
Venerable Louis of Granada's writings. His books, filled with quotations
from the Scriptures, and magnificently coordinated with Thomistic order,
are yet written for all. Of their kind, nothing superior has been written
since their author first gave them to the world four centuries ago. They
speak to the heart, they convince, they persuade, they motivate. Anyone
who becomes steeped in even one of Louis' masterpieces will thereby
acquire a profound Catholic outlook on life and a powerful motivation to
live that life. He will know clearly what he must do to gain eternity, the
goal of every true Christian.
In Advent of 1588,
when he was nearly 84 years old, Louis' health was unusually poor.
Nevertheless he prayed more, fasted more, and took his discipline. In
December he began to have attacks of nausea and vomiting which left him
extremely weakened. By December 30 all hope for his recovery was
abandoned. On December 31, 1588, in the bare and humble cell at Santo
Domingo where monarchs of the world had visited him, it was obvious that
Fray Louis' lamp of life was almost extinguished. With tears of joy he
received the Last Sacraments. The novices knelt at the door to his cell
for a last farewell. Fray Louis sensed the approach of death, and asked
that they place him in his coffin. Then, at nine in the evening, he
breathed his last and exchanged the counting of years for
eternity.
His death was
considered one of the greatest losses to Christianity. Lisbon became a
city of mourning. Streams of people came to see him who in death seemed to
be yet alive. It was only with difficulty that the funeral could be
carried out, as people surged to the coffin to touch his clothing, to kiss
his hands, and to touch his body with religious articles. As the body was
carried out for burial, people tried to cut off pieces of his
habit.
The General Chapter
held in Rome in 1589 communicated to the entire Dominican Order the news
of the death of Fray Louis of Granada, and the following terse comment
serves well as his epitaph: Vir doctrina et sanctitate insignis et in
toto orbe celebris – "A man signed with doctrine and sanctity, and
celebrated throughout the entire world." Such was the earthly journey of
Fray Louis of Granada, a journey filled with triumphs and crosses. He was
truly, in the words of St. Teresa of Avila, "a man given to the world by
God for the great and universal good of souls."
Chapters
1-9
Index to The
Sinners Guide
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