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The Spirituality of Suzanne Aubers and its Application to Spiritual DirectionAn essay by Sr Sheila McGrath, written 2000 Suzanne Aubert was born on 19th June 1835 at St-Symphorien in France. At the age of two she nearly died when, chasing a pig on thin ice, she fell through hitting her head on a rock. This accident left her crippled and visually impaired. Without a doubt, this incident in her life gave birth to her compassion for and care of people with disabilities. The fact that there is no written record of this incident does nothing to take away the reality of it for Suzanne. When she was an old woman she attended a meeting on eugenics and "told her stunned listeners that if those principles had been in force when she was little she would not be there then."[i] By the time the Treaty of Waitangi had been signed in New Zealand, the Aubert family had moved to the town of Lyon. Young Suzanne was educated by the Benedictine Sisters. Many of Suzanne's contemporaries in Lyon made their mark in the life of the church: Pauline Jaricot, noted for her work in social justice[ii], and Frederick Ozanam who founded the St Vincent de Paul Movement.
Lyon too, was the home of the Society of Mary, members of which were to have a lasting influence in the life of Suzanne both in France and in New Zealand. Of all those mentioned, however, the person with the greatest influence on Suzanne, the one from whom she sought spiritual direction, sometimes standing in a queue for long hours waiting "to receive his direction for her future life,"[iii] was St Jean Marie Vianney. Indeed it was as an outcome of this direction that Suzanne discerned her call to work in New Zealand. Even before his canonisation the Curé of Ars was named as a patron saint of the religious congregation Suzanne founded. That the Curé had an influence of the founding of the Sisters of Compassion is documented on the wall of the basilica in Ars.[iv] It would appear that religion in France in those days was a healthy blend of mysticism and orthodox faith. Suzanne was imbued with this. She valued the mysticism of Teresa of Avila and is said to have taught herself Spanish so that she could read Teresa's works in the original.[v] On the 4th September 1860 Suzanne set sail for New Zealand, where she was to work among the Maori people for many years. She had learnt the Maori language on board ship so that she could better understand the people. The Maori people found in her one who cared for the whole person, one who treated them with respect and dignity. She exhorted her followers to love the Maori people, to educate them and warned against making second class citizens of them.[vi] Although this preamble seems long, it is valuable, I think, in assessing the early, formative years of Suzanne's life, and in gaining some insight into her character and spirituality and the implications they have for spiritual direction. Barry & Connolly define spiritual direction as:
So what were the characteristics of Suzanne's spirituality and in what way are they significant in the process of Spiritual Direction? Briefly, the hallmarks of her spirituality were faith, prayer, simplicity, compassion, and complete and utter trust in Divine Providence. Much of her spirituality is expressed in the Directory she wrote for her sisters, particularly her Letter to the Novices, and in the life she led which spread far beyond the walls of the convent to the ordinary people of this land. Suzanne's faith was strong and practical, and was the motivating force behind all her actions. It was a faith that went beyond the confines of the Tridentine Church of her time. Her new life in New Zealand enabled her to leave behind the minute rules and regulations that marked a church under siege. In practical terms she knew the meanings of 'ecumenical ' and 'inclusivity' long before Pope John XXIII opened the windows of the Church for the wind of the Spirit to blow through. For her all people regardless of race, colour or creed were important. It is interesting to note that Suzanne is in the Liturgical Calendar of the Anglican Church in New Zealand,[viii] an honour accorded her for her non-sectarian outreach to the underprivileged of our country. She firmly believed in the presence of God in people, places, events ... in short in all things. Faith and prayer were part of the one reality for Suzanne. Among her notes are to be found such thoughts as these: "The most beautiful mysticism is to see God everywhere"[ix], "We are never alone because God is always with us"[x],"To be faithful is to keep oneself in the presence of God".[xi] Suzanne, by her Christian faith, example and teachings, invited and encouraged her followers to find God in all things, and to become aware of God working in them through the ordinary events of life. All her charitable works were animated by the principle of Faith. She can certainly be seen as "one Christian helping others (even non-believers, so going further than the definition offered by Barry & Connolly) on the road to God". Prayer was never far from the heart of Suzanne. Along with the usual prayer times in the daily horarium; meditation, Lexio Divina, examen of consciousness and conscience, Suzanne devised the "Hours of Union"[xii] – a way of praying in the workplace. One of the purposes of "The Hours" is to unite the active and contemplative life. It works along the lines of a prayer clock, with each member having a different hour in which to unite themselves with some aspect of the life of Jesus that relates to the work in hand. Although as written, the hours appear to be directive, I do not think that is the intention of Suzanne. Seen in the context of history, where many of the young women she was directing had no secondary education, the expense and paucity of spiritual material at the time, and reluctance of Catholics to use the Bible, her teaching makes sense. What she presented enabled the young women to access the Scriptures to "feed" their prayer. Suzanne had an almost disarmingly simple way of praying. When one of the novices complained that Suzanne expected them to be praying all day and that her head and her knees would not stand it, she very matter of factly stated,
Suzanne's prayer life was also fed by the devotional practices of the Catholic Church. This is taken from a letter she wrote to the Sisters from Rome in 1914:
Here she shares with her sisters the easy intimacy she has with Jesus, laced with a little lightness and humour. No doubt this was to encourage one of her first followers, Sister Carmel who was ill at the time.[xv] Whilst Suzanne herself was not a mystic,[xvi] "Let us not try to tread any extraordinary pathways"[xvii] (she had too much work to do for that!), she approached life with a contemplative stance, encouraging and enabling others to do the same. Often she would say to the Sisters, "We have the share of Martha, but let us seize also on the share of Mary."[xviii] And that is just what she did, often working long hours in the ordinary tasks of life, and seeing her care for others as a way to respond to the love of God. When those Suzanne helped were experiencing difficulty in their meditating, unable to think holy thoughts, unable to concentrate, she would tell them that a method of praying, whilst it had it's benefits, could get in the way, and when it didn't work to let it go. "When we cannot reflect much, let us do what we can and our heart will do the rest."[xix] Here Suzanne appreciates that the heart can work without the mind and indeed this is often how she prayed herself. She considered thought and speech could be helpful in relating to God, but that it was not altogether necessary. "If we find nothing to say to God, if our tongue remain dumb, let us show Him our heart … better than the most beautiful speech,"[xx] and, "In prayer, the heart does not go methodically to God, it follows it's natural impulse."[xxi] Suzanne was aware of the importance of praying from the heart, the inner place, and this is relevant to spiritual direction today. Prayer is relational. It involves the whole person and calls forth a loving response towards God and towards the people whose lives we touch each day. Suzanne often told those who came to her complaining about being called away from prayer in the Chapel.
She took to heart the words of Jesus in the gospel of Matthew "...in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me."[xxiv] Living out the consequences of her relationship with God was not always easy for Suzanne. Thus far her virtues have far outweighed the shadow side of her personality. It is clear that Suzanne struggled with impatience and a quick temper. If anything this made her more compassionate towards others who battled with difficulties and weakness. It is my view that Suzanne was probably an Eight on the Enneagram.[xxv] She knew how to stand up for her own rights and the rights of the poor and suffering, especially the very young babies whom the ecclesiastical visitor threatened to take from her. Also at risk were her associations with non-Catholics and her turangawaewae links with the people of the Whanganui River area. Suzanne had fought long and hard for all these things knowing in her heart that they were right.[xxvi] This caused conflict with authority, especially in the local church. To by-pass injustices, she went to Rome without telling anyone of her intentions, and at that time she was seventy-nine years of age. Without a doubt this action also caused pain and heartache to her congregation who were unaware of where she was until she had left Auckland and was on board ship. Prior to her leaving New Zealand she had 'forced out the pain of her feelings' to Bishop Verdon, saying "My relations with the sisters are unbearably strained."[xxvii] If my view is true, becoming a woman of Compassion, was for Suzanne, a life long task in which she relied strongly on the God she believed in and trusted. In her life Suzanne used prayer to discern God's will–she went to Rome because she saw it as God's will for her and for the Congregation she founded. Had Suzanne discussed her intentions with the local authorities, she felt sure she would have been prevented from doing God's will, as she saw it. No doubt the local authorities saw it otherwise. Whilst it was true that Suzanne used principles of discernment to know God's will in big things, it was also true of the ordinary decisions that are part and parcel of daily life. "The will of God for the present moment is a great grace."[xxviii] Notice she doesn't say "when big decisions must be made" but "the present moment, "the now is a time of grace for all who would seek the will of God. It can be seen then that Suzanne helped other Christians 'to pay attention to God's personal communication' to them in their daily lives through exhortation and example. She helped people on the edge of society, enabling them to know that God touches their lives through the love and compassion of others. Through her work other people were drawn to 'respond to this personally communicating God' in the way they too ministered to others in generously giving to those in need and in the way they lived their lives. She enabled and empowered others to live out the consequences of their relationship with God. This empowerment was not only for those who committed their lives to following the Gospel message in her footsteps, but to all who were influenced by her life and her spirit of faith and compassion, courage, determination and humour. James K Baxter in his 'Letter to Eugene' refers to Suzanne thus:
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