FRATRES ORDINIS PR,ODICATORUMCurua. GnNnru.r,rrr,t

Rome. September lz'h 2012.

To participants in the Eckhart Society's 25th Annual Conferenceand to all members of the Eckhart Society

Prot. 50/12/690 Letters MO

Dear Friends,

I write to send my best wishes to you on the occasion of the 25th annual Eckhart Society

Conference. In recent decades the Society has played a crucial role in promoting knowledge

and understanding of Meister Eckhart's writings and thought. The Society was founded at a

time of renewed interest in his work, when the question of his orthodoxy had once agatn

become a live issue. Through the 1970s Eckhart's work was promoted by some in ways that

threatened to confirm suspicions and prejudices about his thought. The General Chapter of1980 set up a commission of scholars to investigate the background to Eckhart's

condemnation. The work of that commission showed that the bull In agro dominico, while itcondemned certain formulations of the Meister, did not condemn his doctrine, and certainly

not the person himself. I would like to acknowledge here the work of the late Ursula Fleming

and of the Eckhart society in encouraging that fresh investigation of Eckhart's orthodoxy.

It is now widely accepted that Eckhart is a reliable theologian and spiritual guide. His

teaching has been used by Pope John Paul II and many others find rich resources in his

thought for engaging with contemporary questions of spirituality, theology, and inter-religious

dialogue. Our Dominican brother, Donagh O'Shea, speaks about being introduced to

Eckhart's work by a friend he met inZencircles. 'I had gone around the world to discover my

own house', he writes, referring to the fact that he had always lived in houses where Eckhart's

writings were to be found but had not been inclined to read them until encouraged to do so by

hrs Zen Buddhist friend (Go Down to the Potter's House, p.47).There are today many

brothers and sisters in the Order using the works of Meister Eckhart and the other Rhineland

mystics in dialogue with Buddhism and other approaches to spirituality. Eckhart is a

providential bridge between classical Christian spirituality and modern currents of spirituality.

For Dominican spirituality and for the preaching mission of the Order today, Eckharl has

much to offer us. He takes us directly to the centraL question of God and the human being's

relationship with God. In the Talks of Instruction given to his novices Eckhart speaks as

follows about what it means really to 'have' God: \

A man should not have, or be satisfied with, an imagined God, for then, when the idea

vanishes, God vanishes! Rather, one should have an essential God, who far transcends

the thought of man and all creatures. Such a God never vanishes unless a man

witlfutly turns away from Him. He who has God thus essentially, takes Him divinely,

and for him God shines forth in all things, for all things taste divinely to him, andGod's image appears to him from out of all things. God flashes forth in him always, inhim there is detachment and turning away, and he bears the imprint of his beloved,

present God (Talks of Instruction 6, 'On Detachment and on Possessing God').

Convento Santa Sabina (Aventino) -PiazzaPietro d'Illiria, 1 - 00153 ROMA

Many of the themes of Dominican theology are contained in this rich text: it is theocentric andyet reserved about theological language and imagination, it recognizes God's transcendenceand yet presence in all things, it witnesses to the transforming power of grace by which we areboth detached and engaged.

A text much valued by Dominicans is Eckhart's sermon on the Lord's visit to Martha andMary. He found too simplistic the traditional typology for which Martha and Maryrepresented the active and contemplative lives. Eckhart sees in Martha the free and maturecontemplative whose contemplation is bearing fruit in compassionate service. Her anxiety isthat Mary should grow beyond the need for sweet ecstasy and Jesus re-assures her that, fornow, Mary is choosing what she needs most. Martha represents the preacher, then, internallyfree and completely available for the loving service of the Word. It is Eckhart's version ofAquinas's description of the teacher or preacher as one who not only contemplates but handson to others what has been contemplated.

In many ways Eckhart's work complements that of his brother and master, Saint Thomas. Inote that this year's conference has 'Eckhart and Thomas' for its theme. Thomas presents histhought almost always with a detached objectivity, whereas Eckhart's work is significant forits awareness of the self in the spiritual journey. This awareness seems more immediatelycongenial to contemporary sensibilities than does the way of Thomas. Recent historical workhas shown how devoted Eckhart was to the memory of Saint Thomas and how keen to defendhim. They were the only two to be recalled to the Dominican chair at Paris, Thomas to defendthe unity and integrity of the human person in philosophical disputes with Averroism, andEckhart to defend Thomas's positions and to strengthen what was emerging as the' Dominican' theological perspective.

Theology in the West has tended to rationalism and it is figures like Eckhart who correct thattendency. His texts are challenging, encouraging us to search deeper, for the understandingand wisdom that may be gained through entering into paradox and mystery. By speaking thelanguage of Christian mysticism Eckharl leads us towards the heart of our faith. At that heaft,standing on the ground of our true humanity, we discover windows that open on somesurprising neighbors. We are also helped to relearn our own spiritual language and to liveagain with a part of our spirit that has been ignored by the discursive mind. Eckhart helps us

also to read Thomas well, for his theology too has often been rationalized and there is much tobe rediscovered in him also.

I hope that your Conference this year will be very successful and I pray that the Society willcontinue to flourish. I am grateful to all who are studying the works of Eckhart and promotinghis thought. He is one of the great figures of Domirìican history. He gave himself completelyto the Order and its mission. He served it unstintingly as a teacher and preacher, as a prior andprovincial, as a spiritual companion and a courageous thinker. !

With all good wishes

{- (*-- Gr,^; ,?fr. Bruno-Cadoré, O.P.

Master of the Order