Fontgombault Sermon for Pentecost: If God rests in a heart, then this heart rests in God, and it is at peace.

Homily of the Right Reverend Dom Jean Pateau

Abbot of Our Lady of Fontgombault

Fontgombault, May 23rd, 2021

Illumina cor hominum.
Illuminate men’s hearts.
(Hymn of Wednesday Vespers)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

My dearly beloved Sons,

The feast of Pentecost, through the great richness of its texts, and the outstanding beauty of its melodies, evokes with a great liturgical simplicity the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, gathered in the Cenacle with Mary. A mighty wind fills the whole house. Tongues as of fire appear, part themselves, and sit upon the head of each of the disciples. These begin to speak with different tongues, according to what the Holy Spirit gives them to speak.

Obviously, these phenomena are not limited to the sole room of the Cenacle. A crowd gathers outside, drawn by the noise, and curious to see what is happening. Inhabitants of Jerusalem, devout Jews coming from all the nations, are bewildered because all of them can hear the words of the disciples in their own tongue. They bear witness to what the disciples are proclaiming, “the wonders of God.”

After having meditated on the Lord’s resurrection, the cause of our salvation, the events taking place this morning in the Cenacle should lead us to desire a new Pentecost. The liturgy, for that matter, urges us to call for it, “Veni, Come.”

PENTECOST - Fontgombault Sermon: "Nine months are necessary for a child to be begotten in its mother’s womb. A whole life is necessary to earn Heaven."

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Sermon of the Right Reverend Dom Jean Pateau

Father Abbot of Our Lady of Fontgombault

Fontgombault, May 31, 2020

Illumina cor hominum.

Illuminate the hearts of men.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

My dearly beloved Sons,

During this time of pandemic, the feast of Pentecost call for a new outpouring of the Spirit of God upon us, upon all the faithful, all men. May God renew our so desolate earth, may He illuminate and give peace to so many men ensnared by disease, poverty, rebellion, or murmuring against the virus, and the measures taken by the civil and ecclesiastical authorities to limit its spreading.

Our joy is great in these days when many Christians can at last go back to church and receive again, after long weeks of deprivation, the sacraments of the Eucharist and penance.

Yet, many questions are left unanswered. Why this disease, inexorably roaming through cities, countries and continents? Who is responsible? Is it Nature and its chances, or man’s imprudence or wickedness, is it God’s wrath? 

Whatever the answer may be, it is a harsh lesson for man, who has been for many decades now pushing back, apparently without any hindrance, the frontiers of what is considered possible in almost all known domains. Ever faster, ever farther, ever stronger... But many are left over, forgotten, wretchedly remaining on the roadside, and contenting themselves with watching through the media the world and its achievements. In this wild and crazy race, the sacred domain of life hasn’t been forgotten: human enhancement, children conceived in a test-tube, then available for self-service... we might draw a long list, witnessing to a freedom that was hoped to be limitless.

And, now, a tiny virus calls all this into question! No one is spared. The whistle signal has been blown in the world of the first creation, turned into a playground for re-creation. The return to reality is rough. “God always forgives, man seldom, Nature never.” Family and home become shelters when everything is crumbling away. Shall we be humble enough to keep remembering, when these days have gone away?

Fontgombault Sermon for Pentecost 2019: "Television and the Internet are invasive weeds on our soul, occupying the place that belongs to the Holy Spirit."

Sermon of the Right Reverend Dom Jean Pateau

Abbot of Our Lady of Fontgombault

(Fontgombault, June 9th, 2019) 

Mansionem apud eum faciemus.

We will make our abode with him.

Jn 14:23

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

My dearly beloved Sons,

Today, the Church celebrates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, who were gathered praying with Mary in the Upper Room. The narrative of this event is taken from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles. The Gospel is taken from the discourse after the Last Supper, and recounts the Lord’s words to His disciples:

If any one love me, he will keep my word. And my Father will love him and We will come to him and will make our abode with him. (Jn 16:5-7)

Jesus adds the promise of a Defender, “the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name”. His role will be to teach the Apostles and bring to their remembrance all the words of Christ. 

This morning, I beg leave to point out the most topical character of this feast. What are we expecting from this outpouring of the Holy Spirit, from His presence, in our lives, our families, our communities, our countries? One thing, and one thing only: that He should make of all these places His abode, according to the promise made by Jesus to those who love Him.

Yet, is it indeed necessary to beg for the coming of the Spirit? Today, knowledge reaches us through media such as the television, the internet… Those are the competitors of the Holy Spirit. They can make their abode in us, to such an extent as to arouse in us an unquenchable need. The tawdry nature of a manifold and superficial knowledge dazzles our intelligence. As compared with that, an in-depth knowledge of God, of a few close persons, seems to be but a poor surrogate.

Fontgombault Sermon - Pentecost: We must remain on the teaching of the Lord

Fontgombault Abbey in May

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Sermon of the Right Reverend Dom Jean Pateau

Abbot of Our Lady of Fontgombault

(Fontgombault, May 24, 2015)

Replevit totam domum, ubi erant sedentes.

It filled the whole house where they were sitting. (Acts 2:2)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

My dearly beloved Sons,

The Book of the Acts of the Apostles tells of the first moments when the good news of the Gospel is proclaimed. It is a book full of action, as its title indicates, “Acts of the Apostles”.

Yet, in an astonishing way, this book does not begin with actions. Shortly before the Ascension of the Lord, the disciples had received a somewhat paradoxical order: “Not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father” (Acts 1:4), the Holy Ghost that was to come upon them. Those who were called to teach all the nations and to make disciples of them, were first to withdraw from the world and receive the strength of the Holy Ghost. Only then could they be witnesses of the Lord in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth (cf. Acts 1:8).

After the Ascension, the Apostles obeyed the commandment of their Master:

They went up into an upper room, where they were staying. […] All these were persevering with one mind in prayer with the women, and Mary the Mother of Jesus, and with His brethren. (Acts 1:13-14)

On the morning of Pentecost, the unity of the Apostles is emphasized by a redundancy:

They were all together in one place. Erant OMNES pariter in EODEM loco. (Acts 2:1)