A similar story is told of a deceased prior of the Grande Chartreuse
whose successor had to command him under obedience to cease working
miracles because his gravesite was attracting pilgrims, who were
disturbing the quies of the Chartreuse. The story is found in
Carthusian chronicles--see Charles Couteulx, _Annales ordinis
cartusiensis_ vol. 3 (1888), 129-131.
Dennis Martin
>>> Janice Pinder <[log in to unmask]> 08/22 7:26 AM
>>>
> Date: Thu, 19 Aug 1999 16:07:48 +0000 (America/Knox_IN)
> From: Christopher Crockett
<[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Fresh Outa the Box <Hagiography site
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Reply-to: [log in to unmask]
> "....Cistercian saints, in a tradition that probably dated to the
> earliest days of the order, when monasteries were not supposed to
be
> pilgrimage sites, were frequently said to have been ordered by the
abbots to
> stop working miracles. After the death of Stephen of Grammont...
miracles
> worked at his tomb resulted in a pilgrimage that threatened the
peace and
> isolation of the community. The prior approached his tomb and
solemnly
> commanded him to cease his miracles, or else, he was told, his body
would be
> disinterred and cast into the nearby river..." (chapt. 6, "Coercion
of Saints
> in Medieval Religious Practice," pp. 119-20, citing the _Vita S.
Stephani_, PL
> 204.1030)
Didn't Thomas Merton's superiors have a similar attitude to the
attention his writing attracted?
Janice Pinder
Research Associate
School of Historical and Gender Studies
Monash University
Clayton 3168
Australia
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