Why would anyone choose to live in a place of mortal danger? And if that danger’s noose tightened into a choking death, why would anyone refuse to leave that place?
Those serious questions march right into John Kiser’s The Monks of Tibhirine (St. Martin’s Press, 2002). This haunting true story of seven Trappist monks who lived in Algeria thirty years ago faces and answers those questions.
It all seems to come down to this: Trappist monks live according to “The Rule of St. Benedict.” The rules cover normal life issues like prayer, study, work, play, etc. But one of the rules is the “Vow of Stability.” And that means joining a community and staying there. They stand; they are stable. You know, like a tree.
In classic Christian faith, everyone who follows the Christ lives within His call to die. As Jesus said to his disciples, “…whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” To borrow from our tagline, The Monks of Tibhirine presents portraits of those who “think clearer, see further, and hear deeper.”
That’s why we highlight this splendid book for our readers. It helps to get us up above the mud ruts of earth into the wide open spaces of eternal reality.
The Monks of Tibhirine is very relevant today, first because it portrays ordinary life among Muslims and Christians (or other faith traditions)—we need to see their normal relationships marked by mutual love, respect, and support.
Secondly, it describes life in the midst of terrorism. At the time and in the place of the story, Algeria was convulsed by “violence done in the name of Islam.” Yet, to the author’s credit and wisdom, Islam was not the issue. Just as it really isn’t today. Most of life occurs at eye level, far away from the isms and ologies.
So, what is the issue? I think Thomas Merton captured it when he spoke of monks (but it applies to anyone) as “trees that exist in obscure silence, but by their presence purify the air.” By virtue of their created purpose, you might say (with small poetic license) that trees take a Vow of Stability. They stay. They stand. They purify. Just by enduring.
For example, one of the monks, Brother Luc, a medical doctor, took care of everyone in the village of Tibhirine. No questions asked. Although he was elderly and ill, Luc treated up to 100 people a day. Every day. The monks were poor, so he often had no medicine. But he still purified the atmosphere by his very presence.
The monks certainly knew the danger; they were not naïve. Nor did they have a desire to die. One monk, Célestin, “had a visceral terror of…a violent death. But his even greater fear was not to be there with his brothers when the time came.”
They frequently gathered (often with their Muslim neighbors) around the issue of leaving or staying; they prayed, discussed, and voted. Kiser writes, “As each man expressed his view, the vow of stability kept returning as the touchstone of their thinking. Stability meant they were bound…to their neighbors and to one another.”
In the end, members of GIA, an Algerian terror group, broke into the monastery early in the morning of March 27, 1996, and kidnapped seven monks. They murdered them on May 21, 1996. Their bodies have never been found.
Christian de Chergé, the abbot of the monastery, is the conscience of the book. A man of deep humility, he infused his time and place with a generous vision of faith and community. He also poured his life out in service in the place of his planting. Christian loved everyone and loved them unconditionally, knowing, as he said, “the love of Jesus did not wait for a response.”
Christian wrote a note of thanks to his executioner (before he knew the time, place, or instrument of his death). His note perfectly captures the spirit of the book:
“In this Thank You—which says everything about my life—I certainly include…you, my friend of the last moment, who will not know what you are doing…Yes, for you, too, I wish this thank-you, this ‘A Dieu,’ whose image is in you also, that we may meet in heaven, like happy thieves, if it please God, our common Father. Insha Allah!”
NOTE: The story of The Monks of Tibhirine is also told in the movie, Of Gods and Men. It is one of the best movies about living by faith ever made. We certainly and highly recommend it.
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.