Courageous Souls
Nine Martyr Monks : the Lives of the English Benedictine Martyrs beatified in 1929. By Dom Bede Carom, M.A., F.S.A. (Burns, Oates and Washbourne. lie.) IN a certain small and ancient church of Devon there is a wooden altar ; and in its drawer is kept by long-established custom a copy of Foxe's Book of Martyrs. When we consider the opinions for which these martyrs died, which certainly included a hearty horror of the cult of relics, this instinctive placing of their memorial beneath the altar of Christian sacri- fice is an instructive testimony to the innate conviction of all men, that there is something in self-offering to the uttermost which is in its very nature divine. A post-Reformation Dante might well discover the men who died at Smithfield and the men who died at Tyburn, singing together the same song of joyous victory in the Heaven of the Courageous Souls. There, too, Arnold of Brescia, whose uncomfortably literal reading of Christianity brought him at last to a heretic's death, may find himself sharing the same transcendent life as the great Apostle of the Indies ; who, in another time and another manner, had endured to the utmost—yet always with gaiety —for the same invisible love. The " soldier-saints " wear many different uniforms ; they often fail regrettably to appreciate each other's point of view ; but, unknown to them- selves, they all fight on the same side.
Modern exploration of the early middle ages has proved how many ardent souls had anticipated St. Francis in the prockunation of that which we loosely call " Franciscan poverty." Reforming saints, and reforming prophets who were a little less than saints (and among these, perhaps, Arnold of Brescia must be placed) constantly arose to protest against the abuses of temporal power ; to point out the disagreeable contrast between the ecclesiastical and evangelical ideala, and demand a return to apostolic simplicity of life. Often these enthusiasms found a safe path of discharge in the forma- tion or reform of religious orders. It was the misfortune of Arnold of Brescia that his outlook was Puritan and political, rather than devotional and ascetic. An Austin Canon, a man of culture, and a disciple of the dangerous scholar Abailard, he became possessed by the immortal dream of a Christian society ; based on the poverty and holiness of a cleansed and repentant Church bereft of temporal power, and therefore full of spiritual strength. " He taught," says John of Salisbury drily, " things most consonant with the law of Christians, but as remote as possible from actual life." The same thing might perhaps have been said of St. Francis ; but Arnold'S impetuous nature, his lack of geniality and tolerance, made enemies, where the Little Poor Man made friends. His conflict with St. Bernard, who pursued him with a zest and ruthless- ness that were something less than holy, reveals the least agreeable side of the characters of both these devoted souls. There are saints who seem born under the sign Gemini ; able to combine the extreme of fervour and self-sacrifice with u malicious joy in blackening the reputations of those whose theology they disapprove. Mr. Greenaway bas given us a competent and judicial account of Arnold's tragic life and martyrdom ; from his emergence in the early years of the twelfth century to the final condemnation in 1155 of this too literal preacher of the law of Christ. We receive the im- pression of an ardent, joyless and intrepid spirit, in hopeless conflict with established power. He was handed over to the secular arm, hanged, and burned, and his ashes thrown into the Tiber.
It is a relief to turn from this disheartening story to one of the greatest of all romances of holiness—the heroic career of St. Francis Xavier. The transformation of the proud and reserved Basque noble into the great pioneer missionary and humble mystic, of whom in his last days his companions reported that " the love and joy of his spirit shine in his face," was among the great early triumphs of St. Ignatius. He was, says a contemporary, " the hardest block our great sculptor of men Ignatius ever had to handle." But the block was destined to a special purpose ; even though the sequence of events which sent Francis Xavier to the East seemed to arise almost by chance, and common sense suggested the retention of this brilliant son of the Society in a world where his talents could be used to far greater effect. The story of his missionary voyages—undertaken in the most terrible conditions—his enterprises, adventures and sufferings in the bringing of Christian truth to South India, Malaya and Japan, is admirably and fully told by Miss Yeo in this enthralling book. She rightly emphasizes the growth in spirituality which kept pace with Francis Xavier's outward labours : for he was indeed both active and contemplative, one of the greatest of all examples of the " mixed life." The modern trained missionary will read with astonishment of the impetuous methods of the untrained saint ; often resulting in the mass-production of converts who can have known little or nothing of the faith they received. Yet a generation later, old men were found still cherishing the palm leaf given them at baptism by the " Great Father Francis " ; a tribute perhaps to the principle he instilled without ceasing in his followers, " use every means possible to make yourself loved." As to the rest, Miss Yeo observes that " Hundreds of children, doomed by the appalling rate of infant mortality, at any rate gained heaven in exchange for limbo." And with this consoling conviction
the subject had better be left. •
Dom Bede Camnis studies of the Benedictine Martyrs under Elizabeth dwell much on the heroic fortitude and gay courage of those who faced the terrors of the " English Mission." Some, like Father Mark Barkworth, had a pretty wit, and held their own in verbal battles with their accusers. Many, like Father Roberts, went to their awful martyrdom smiling. Even though we may doubt whether the cause of mutual charity be served by recalling these horrifying events and the more horrifying passions which occasioned them, no English reader can feel anything but shame and admiration when confronted by such records of unlimited ferocity on one side and steadfast heroism on the other. The Fathers of the English Mission may have lived like secret agents, but at any rate they died like saints. Nevertheless, those who desire to avoid a one-sided impression should take the other book of martyrs out of its alffir drawer.
EVELYN UNDERHILL.
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