aeternus

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PRECIOUSNESS OF SILENCE
“But Jesus was silent.” Mt 26:63
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The Silence is Meekness.
When you do not defend yourself against offenses;
When you do not claim your rights;
When you let God defend you;
The Silence is Meekness.

The Silence is Mercy.
When you do not reveal the faults of your brothers to others;
When you readily forgive without inquiring into the past;
When you do not judge, but pray in your heart;
The Silence is Mercy.

The Silence is Patience.
When you accept suffering not with grumbling but joyfully;
When you do not look for human consolations;
When you do not become too anxious, but wait in patience for the seed to germinate;
The Silence is Patience.

The Silence is Humility.
When there is no competition;
When you consider the other person to be better than yourself;
When you let your brothers emerge, grow and mature;
When you joyfully abandon all to the Lord;
When your actions may be misinterpreted;
When you leave to others the glory of the enterprise;
The Silence is Humility.

The Silence is Faith.
When you keep quiet because you know that the Lord will act;
When you renounce the voice of the world to remain in the presence of the Lord;
When you do not labor yourself to be understood;
because it is enough for you to know that the Lord understands you;
The Silence is Faith.

The Silence is Adoration.
When you embrace the cross without asking “Why?”;
The Silence is Adoration.
From the Missionaries of Charity prayer book.

I thought I would give my impressions from the documentary film, Into Great Silence.

I had learned about this film some months ago and was eager for it to come to my town. So, it was with great and anxious anticipation that I went to see the movie last week. As the movie began, all popcorn eating ceased (thankfully) and the half full theater itself plunged into silence. What a treat, to see a movie with others whom were also eagerly anticipating watching this movie about silence and themselves KEEPING silent! Wow! (I am sure the Holy Spirit was at work here!)

The documentary, for those of whom are unfamiliar with this film’s premise, is centered around the Carthusian Monks (contemplative order founded during the 11th century by Saint Bruno) at the Grande Chartreuse Monastery in the French Alpine Mountains. The location of this monastery is one of God’s great gifts to man for its vistas of the Alps from its location are beyond compare. I can not imagine a soul who’s heart would not swell with passion for God after viewing the earth from this most beautiful venue of His creation. The film captures life at the Monastery for a whole year so we are able to see the four seasons of this mountain paradise in snow white and tranquil green.

The filmmaker, Philip Gröning says of his work:

This transcendent, closely observed film seeks to embody a monastery, rather than simply depict one—it has no score, no voiceover and no archival footage. What remains is stunningly elemental: time, space and light. One of the most mesmerizing and poetic chronicles of spirituality ever created, INTO GREAT SILENCE dissolves the border between screen and audience with a total immersion into the hush of monastic life. More meditation than documentary, it’s a rare, transformative theatrical experience for all.

While I understand completely what the filmmaker is trying to accomplish, I would like to make an observation about how the “silence” was portrayed. I almost got the feeling that the silence itself was more important than the “reason” for the silence — namely Our Creator, God.

Let me try to explain…

The film seems to emphasis only the silence and not really explain why it is necessary. It is a mysterious silence, but perhaps not so explained was the “holiness” of this silence. Its kind of like music without lyrics and so the viewer must concentrate very hard to understand the score. The music is there, and it is definitely “classical” in nature but your not sure if it is a Renaissance piece or some Neo-classical noise.

I think clarity could have come with more attention to the WHY of the silence. It was not until almost the end of the film (nearly 3 hours!) that the audience was first introduced to any formal liturgy (save the late night Matins prays of the hours and the beautiful chanted prayer that accompanied it). It also was not again until the end where we got to hear the most beautiful and contemplative philosophy from the blind monastic and his love of God through his sacrificial life as a member of the community. (O.K. this is the point of the film where I actually could not hold back tears. He was such a beautiful soul that I was overwhelmed!) I guess I’m just concerned that viewers of this film (most of whom would be contemporary secular culturalist who are viewing this “very different life of silence” for the first time.) I just don’t want them to get the wrong idea. But, perhaps though, I am not trusting enough in Divine Providence by saying this!

Well, having critiqued this minor exterior versus interior silence issue I have with the film, I HIGHLY recommend this film to all. And, I even recommend taking your children. I took my 10 year old son with me and though he mumbled to me that he was starving (I would not let him interrupt the silent theater with popcorn eating! - What a mean mother I am, but it was a healthy sacrifice for him!) he truly enjoyed the film. We spent more time talking about it this past week than we have any other film I can remember. It was such a great teaching tool for the contemplative life!

Watch the movie trailer.

See when and where it is playing…

For more information about Carthusian monks, viewers may also be interested in Nancy Klein Maguire’s book An Infinity of Little Hours.

Film Info:
2006 162 mins Color Germany In minimal English subtitled French dialogue
35mm Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 Sound: Dolby SRD