Canon Law and Spirituality

The paper aims to show the usefulness of canon law for the spiritual life of the faithful and refutes the deep-seated notion that law deadens or inhibits spirituality. First, it proceeds historically and gives examples of ecclesial discipline, which have proven to be of substantial help in experiencing spirituality, especially the consecrated way of life. It then points out the ritual richness of the Oriental churches as well as problems associated with the liturgy of the Christian West and cites legal means ensuring that liturgical practice is carried out to the spiritual benefi t of the faithful. It then analyses in detail diverse forms of consecrated life and the way in which they are conceived by canon law. Then it goes on to investigate lay societies, new movements in the Church and ecumenism. In the sacramental discipline of the Church, canon law is expressed not only as an assurance of the validity and licitness of legal acts, but especially as a prerequisite of the spiritual utility of sacramental life for the faithful.


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ca. 346). One of the meanings of this new and, in the history of world Christianity, well-established form of spiritual striving was certainly minimising the opportunities to individual failure. Th ey were to be corrected by community life subjected to common rules and regulations. 3 Th e classic work by Th omas à Kempis 'Th e Imitation of Christ' (De imitatione Christi libri quattuor) gives evidence that the contemplative Middle Ages also could not imagine spiritual improvement without steadily relying on a strict observation of monastic rules: How do so many other religious who are confi ned in cloistered discipline get along? Th ey seldom go out, they live in contemplation, their food is poor, their clothing coarse, they work hard, they speak but little, keep long vigils, rise early, pray much, read frequently, and subject themselves to all sorts of discipline. 4 Th e Protestant Reformation rejected the monastic way of life, emphasising the lay element and marital life. Th e Augsburg Confession refers not only to Paul's biblical text, but also to a prestigious canon law authority of the Middle Ages, the Decretum Gratiani: Monks used to gather together to learn. Now they pretend that it is a type of life established to earn grace and righteousness. Th ey preach that it is a perfect way of life, and they put it far above all other kinds of life established by God.
[…] Th e command of God is, 'Since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife' (1 Cor 7:2). […] Even church law teaches that vows are not binding when someone who has authority (such as a bishop or pope) releases that person from his vow. In the same way, God's commands must overrule vows that are contrary to his Word. 5 Th e Council of Trent, on the other hand, strove to create a creditable legal framework for the renewal of monastic life. Th e decree Eadem sacrosancta published at the Council's 25 th session (1563) states: Forasmuch as the holy Synod is not ignorant how much splendour and utility accrue to the Church of God, from monasteries piously instituted and rightly administered; It has, -to the end that the ancient and regular discipline may be the more easily and promptly restored, where it has fallen away, and may be the more fi rmly maintained, where it has been preserved, -thought it necessary to enjoin, as by this decree It doth enjoin, that all Regulars, as well men, as women, shall order and regulate their lives in accordance with the requirements of the rule which they have professed. 6 It needs to be emphasised that the Council published the decree at a time when the reform work of the most important and spiritually most fruitful representatives of the Catholic monastic renewal, for example, Ignatius of Loyola, Th eresa of Ávila, Phillip Neri, and their numerous contemporaries and followers, was already spreading. Old orders were being renewed and new orders as well as new forms of monastic life were arising.
3 'Th e requirement of equality of all monks excluded individual ascetic fervour and various bizarre ascetic feats. […] Th e authority requiring something is now the order and the superior over it. Th ere is no dispensing ever from this for any monk, not even the most perfect one. '

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Clearly, in order for the Catholic reform to take strong root it was necessary not only to renew discipline in monastic and priestly life, but also to provide an opportunity for lay persons to apply themselves to the spiritual life and receive guidance appropriate to their state. Orthodox Christianity took a diff erent path, since it is -unlike Western Christianity -so intensively formed by monastic ascetic spirituality that it lacks motivation for formally distinguishing between spiritualities of the individual Christian 'states' . 7 Th e Catholic milieu, on the other hand, did react to the one-sided Protestant emphasis on the lay element. Th ere is probably no more important handbook having a centuries-long impact on the spiritual life of lay persons than the 'Introduction to the Devout Life' (also Filothea) by Francis de Sales. 8 Th is famous and numerous times published book, as well as later instructions for spiritual life intended for the broad masses of Catholic faithful, could have for many of them represented a freely accepted 'order' of private spiritual life, but, of course, observing the ways of spiritual experience and prayer practices recommended in them could not be grasped in terms of canon law. Th e spiritual exercises by Ignatius of Loyola had a diff erent 'fate' than the private inspiration of the work of Francis de Sales for personal piety. In 1538, they were approved by Pope Paul III and the subsequent development soon showed that they are a suitable instrument of spiritual life, which can also be applied in the form of imposing a legal obligation. Th e Code of Canon Law of 1917 obliges eight categories of faithful to take part in spiritual exercises, which do not include lay persons not aspiring to the monastic or clerical form of life. Th e exercises were then transformed into a legally imposed obligation for seminarians, newly ordained priests, diocesan priests, postulants, novices, regulars, priests and canons. 9 Th is historically fi rst code of canon law in the Catholic Church aimed fi rst of all to 'clear up' the existing legal norms, of which the most significant part came from the collection Corpus iuris canonici containing medieval law. But imposing the obligation of spiritual exercises was already a matter of norms implied by the need for a modern ecclesial reform, which also entered in the Code. Obviously, they had already been tested by time. Th e new Code of 1983 is somewhat less detailed concerning spiritual exercises and does not contain the possibility to take disciplinary penance 'by doing spiritual exercises for several days in a pious or religious house' . 10 Th e obligation to take spiritual exercises at least once a year is certainly an extraordinary and intense transposition or the expressions of a particular monastic spirituality beyond the community in which it originated. Th e Code of 1983 also introduces spiritual exercises into the life of parishes so that their spirituality would become accessible for lay persons too. It formulates the process as an organisational obligation of parish priests, who are to 'arrange for those types of preaching which are called spiritual exercises and sacred missions or for other forms of preaching adapted to needs. ' 11 It also mentions holy missions (sacrae missiones), which are an expression of a monastic 7 2017 spirituality other than the Jesuit one, namely the pastorally oriented practical approach of the Redemptorist congregation. 12 Canon law still makes allowance for a specifi c expression of the life of mendicant orders 13 and provides for their spirituality of attitude to material goods by granting an exception from the general prohibition of asking for contributions towards any ecclesial purpose without the written consent of the ordinary. 14

Eastern Christianity and the liturgy of the Church
Eastern Catholic Churches represent specifi c spiritualities: for in them, distinguished as they are for their venerable antiquity, there remains conspicuous the tradition that has been handed down from the Apostles through the Fathers and that forms part of the divinely revealed and undivided heritage of the universal Church. 15 Th e most perspicuous expression of their spiritual life are specifi c liturgical celebrations, which is why these churches have come to be called 'ritual' , i.e., churches celebrating diverse forms of rites which have formed over time in diff erent parts of the Christian East. Moreover, the majority of Eastern Catholic churches have a 'second' , opposite form: for example, Catholics of the Byzantine rite fi nd their opposite in the autocephalous Orthodox churches which exist without maintaining unity with Rome and without the leadership of the Pope. Th e Code of Canons of (Catholic) Oriental Churches of 1990 does not limit the concept of rite to liturgy: ' A rite is the liturgical, theological, spiritual and disciplinary patrimony, culture and circumstances of history of a distinct people, by which its own manner of living the faith is manifested in each Church sui iuris. ' 16 But it must be emphasised that liturgy plays a crucial part in forming the spirituality of Eastern Christians. 17 According to the lawgiver, specifi c spirituality is a conceptual mark of the individual rites, which are divided into fi ve historically formed 'families': 'Th e rites treated in this code, unless otherwise stated, are those which arise from the Alexandrian, Antiochene, Armenian, Chaldean and Constantinopolitan traditions. ' 18 In the Western (Latin) church it is also in some places possible to fi nd distinctive liturgical rites, such as, for example, the Ambrosian rite in the diocese of Milan. Th ese also naturally infl uence the specifi c spiritual life of the faithful. But due to the gradual centralisation of the Western church in the course of the fi rst millennium, their 'celebrating' churches are not independent churches having their own law (sui iuris); so, these rites are not the cause of establishing autonomous churches, as is the case in the East. 19 12 'Th e Redemptorists were excellent popular missionaries, estate preachers and confessors who were spreading the new devotion and piety in the spirit of St. Alphonsus, also as authors of missionary books and translators.

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Both valid codes of canon law confi rm the right to having their own rite and their own spirituality as one of the basic 'constitutional' rights of the faithful: 'Th e Christian faithful have the right to worship God according to the prescripts of their own rite approved by the legitimate pastors of the Church and to follow their own form of spiritual life so long as it is consonant with the doctrine of the Church. ' 20 Th e right to divine services implies the obligation of the sacred servants to observe the liturgical books approved by the relevant church authorities. 'Creativity' beyond the framework of liturgical law is quite contrary to the fundamental principle according to which 'no other person, even if he be a priest, may add, remove, or change anything in the liturgy on his own authority. ' 21 For the discipline of the contemporary form of liturgy of the Western rite it is incessantly necessary to pay heed to a fi rm disciplinary framework ensuring that the Roman rite is celebrated according to the liturgical norms: it is the right of all of Christ's faithful that the Liturgy, and in particular the celebration of Holy Mass, should truly be as the Church wishes, according to her stipulations as prescribed in the liturgical books and in the other laws and norms.  Pastoral activity in the Catholic Church, Latin as well as Oriental, no longer aims at having the faithful of one Church pass over to the other; that is to say, it no longer aims at proselytizing among the Orthodox. It aims at answering the spiritual needs of its own faithful and it has no desire for expansion at the expense of the Orthodox Church. 32 church discipline. Since the Latin rite was superior to the Greek one, it was, for example, forbidden to transfer someone from the Latin Church to the Greek Church, because it would be inconceivable to replace a superior rite with a lower one. '

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In this context, it is also necessary to note the fact that some unions of Eastern churches with Rome have also been in existence for centuries and in the meantime their spiritual life has acquired distinctive forms, since Eastern Christianity is not rigid and is also undergoing gradual development. 33

Monastic and lay spirituality
Th e Christian West in the second millennium witnessed an extraordinarily articulated development of the most diverse forms of monastic spiritualities. On the one hand, it is possible to speak of a venerable spiritual wealth, while on the other hand a precarious internal fragmentation of the life of the Church gradually took place. Th is tendency was expressed as early as by the Fourth Lateran Council (1215), which stated a general prohibition on the founding of new orders: 'Lest too great a diversity of religious orders lead to grave confusion in the Church of God, we strictly forbid anyone in the future to found a new order, but whoever should wish to enter an order, let him choose one already approved. ' 34 Th e development over the next eight hundred years brought in some periods fervent waves of founding further and further orders, societies, congregations and institutes. Th e Code of Canon Law attempts to reduce this abundant wealth to the highest common denominators with the general regulation for communities professing evangelical counsels, which is broadly structured by division into religious and secular institutes of consecrated life 35 and societies of apostolic life. 36 Within these three categories the communities are divided into male and female, and further into communities of papal law (exempt) and of diocesan law. 37 Th e Holy See further reserves the right to approve any new ways of consecrated life. 38 Th e classical division into active and contemplative orders is not grounded in the regulations of the present Code in such a schematically established dual form. Th ere is a richer diversifi cation, since the institutes of consecrated life 'more closely follow Christ who prays, or announces the kingdom of God, or does good to people, or lives with people in the world. ' 39 Consecrated life is not a 'fl ight from the world' (fuga mundi), 40 but it does take various forms of distance from the world according to the nature and spirituality of the particular form of consecrated life: 'Th e public witness to be rendered by religious to Christ and the Church entails a separation from the world proper to the character and purpose of each institute. ' 41 Th e spirituality must further radiate a clear ecclesial dimension and ought not to consist 7 2017 primarily in an individualistic eff ort at ascetic self-perfection, 42 since consecrated life 'belongs to the life and holiness of the Church' . 43 All forms of consecrated life 'off er an extraordinary sacrifi ce of praise to God, illumine the people of God with the richest fruits of holiness, move it by their example, and extend it with hidden apostolic fruitfulness' . 44 Th e Code formulates the basic constitutional structure of the People of God in two basic categories: these are clerics and lay persons, while consecrated persons are not some sort of tertium quid, but belong to one of the former -religious sisters and brothers remain as laity, while religious priests have become clerics. 45 Th e Code of Canons of Oriental Churches treats religious life in a somewhat diff erent context and divides Christians de facto into 'three peoples': the clerics 'are deputed through a gift of the Holy Spirit received in sacred ordination to be ministers of the Church participating in the mission and power of Christ, the Pastor' , 46 the lay are 'Christian faithful whose proper and special state is secular and who, living in the world, participate in the mission of the Church' , 47 while religious 'renounce the world and totally dedicate themselves to the acquisition of perfect charity in service to the Kingdom of God for the building up of the Church and the salvation of the world as a sign of the foretelling of heavenly glory' . 48 But this conception does not imply a strict division into a contemplative and active form of consecrated life either. Compared to the task of the laity, for whose specifi c situation activity is actually a conceptual mark, religious life, while it need not appear to be an expression of 'fl eeing from the world' , certainly is conceived as a choice preferring seclusion, which solely makes it possible to attain a focused spiritual life. Such a spirituality is fully endorsed by hermits, who 'have given themselves totally into heavenly contemplation and who are totally separated from people and the world' . 49 Th e apostolic exhortation Vita consecrata by John Paul II of 1996, which resulted from the prece- Among the inexhaustible number of spiritualities, the so-called charismatic renewal has asserted itself in the Catholic Church since the 1960s, which has, oft en rather eclectically, brought elements taken over from the practice of Pentecostal Christianity of North America into the Catholic Church. Catholic charismatic renewal ought to strive to harmonise this specifi c spirituality, which lays emphasis on spiritual and bodily healing, with the traditional Catholic conception, especially in the sphere of sacramental life. 59 Nonetheless, the actual activity of some groups may be inordinate, which is why the Church expresses a determination to make use of disciplinary means to regulate their practice: Confusion between such free non-liturgical prayer meetings and liturgical celebrations properly so-called is to be carefully avoided. Anything resembling hysteria, artifi ciality, theatricality or sensationalism, above all on the part of those who are in charge of such gatherings, must not take place. 60

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For more than fi ft y years the Catholic Church has also been actively involved in the ecumenical movement, which also infl uences the spirituality of many faithful. 61 In this sphere, canon law states not only possibilities, but also limits, as evinced, for example, by the very limited possibility of sacramental intercommunion, especially with Christians from churches of the Protestant Reformation: If the danger of death is present or if, in the judgment of the diocesan bishop or conference of bishops, some other grave necessity urges it, Catholic ministers administer these same sacraments licitly also to other Christians not having full communion with the Catholic Church, who cannot approach a minister of their own community and who seek such on their own accord, provided that they manifest Catholic faith in respect to these sacraments and are properly disposed. 62 'Eucharistic hospitality' (eucharistische Gastfreundschaft ) is a highly sensitive issue also for the Orthodox, which is why it is not appropriate to think of it as necessary and topical, 63 even if other forms of spiritual enrichment and rapprochement may be quite diverse.

Sacramental spirituality
Canon law of the Catholic Church diff ers from civil law in that it distinguishes between the validity (validitas) and licitness (liceitas) of legal acts. Not meeting the conditions of licitness does not on its own cause invalidity. Th is is clear for example in the basic regulation of the Code of Canon Law concerning the Eucharistic minister: 'Th e minister who is able to confect the sacrament of the Eucharist in the person of Christ is a validly ordained priest alone (sacerdos valide ordinatus). A priest not impeded by canon law celebrates the Eucharist licitly (licite) […]. ' 64 But validity and licitness are merely the prerequisite of legally relevant acting in the Church. Since legal acts are frequently at the same time spiritual acts, the Code introduces the category of spiritual utility (utilitas), or fruitfulness (fructuositas), so that, for example, in the sphere of marital law it obliges the shepherds to 'a fruitful liturgical celebration of marriage which is to show that the spouses signify and share in the mystery of the unity and fruitful love between Christ and the Church' . 65 But the elements of validity and licitness cannot be artifi cially placed in an opposition against the spiritual essence of celebrating marriage, since they are a necessary prerequisite of the marriage taking place within the order established by the Church, within which it brings spiritual utility to the prospective spouses and their personal spirituality. 66 A proper legal regulation is also required by an act as spiritual and intimate as celebrating the sacrament of reconciliation. Only at fi rst glance it appears to be paradoxical that precisely this sacrament requires the establishment of an extraordinarily complex legal framework. 67 Here it is also not possible to contrast the spiritual and legal dimension of the sacrament, since what is at stake is primarily the assurance of protection for the penitent, which cannot be attained without fi rmly grounded disciplinary means; but at the same time it is incorrect if the penitents themselves lapse into a rigid juridicism. 68 Th e contemporary legal norm no longer speaks of the confessor's jurisdiction, but of his faculty (facultas), because he is active in a specifi c inner forum, namely the sphere of conscience (forum internum). While this faculty is a prerequisite of the confession's validity, canon law itself urges confessors to take an approach stimulating spiritual utility for the penitents: 'In hearing confessions the priest is to remember that he is equally a judge and a physician and has been established by God as a minister of divine justice and mercy, so that he has regard for the divine honor and the salvation of souls. ' 69 Th e lawgiver conceives celebrating the Eucharist in a similar fashion. First of all, the condition of validity is clearly stipulated: 'Th e minister who is able to confect the sacrament of the Eucharist in the person of Christ is a validly ordained priest alone. ' 70 But the aspect of spiritual utility is not lacking and in the case of this particular sacrament takes on a marked community dimension: 'Th e Eucharistic celebration is to be organized in such a way that all those participating receive from it the many fruits for which Christ the Lord instituted the Eucharistic sacrifi cer. ' 71 Th e fundamental role of the Eucharist in the life of the Church is to be clearly articulated already in the education of future clerics: 'Th e Eucharistic celebration is to be the centre of the entire life of a seminary in such a way that, sharing in the very love of Christ, the students daily draw strength of spirit for apostolic work and for their spiritual life especially from this richest of sources. ' 72 A personal relationship to the Eucharistic mystery is one of the manifestations of an authentic priestly vocation, without which observing all legal and liturgical norms would be meaningless. 73 Eucharistic spirituality is not exhausted by liturgical celebration and communion, since in the second millennium various forms of Eucharistic devotion outside the Mass developed in the Christian West, especially Eucharistic adoration and processions. Here it is also not exaggerated to speak of a spiritual dimension, which is the main bearer of the need for an appropriate legal regulation. 74 Th e fi rst Code of Canon Law confi rmed diverse forms of such devotions: In churches and chapels in which it is permitted to keep the Most Holy Eucharist, it is possible to hold a private exposition or reposition for any pertinent reason without the permission of the Ordinary; a public exposition or with a monstrance on the solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ and in the course of its octave in all churches during Holy Mass and at vespers; at other times only for a pertinent and grave reason, especially public, and with the permission of the local Ordinary, even though the church belongs to an exempt religious institute. 75 Th e Code of 1983 expresses continuity in this matter: It is recommended that in these churches and oratories an annual solemn exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament be held for an appropriate period of time, even if not continuous, so that the local community more profoundly meditates on and adores the eucharistic mystery. Such an exposition is to be held, however, only if a suitable gathering of the faithful is foreseen and the established norms are observed.
[…] When it can be done in the judgment of the diocesan bishop, a procession through the public streets is to be held as a public witness of veneration toward the Most Holy Eucharist, especially on the solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. 76

Conclusion
Since the Church is human and divine at the same time, the external expressions of the spiritual experience of the faithful can at the same time in many aspects be grasped and regulated by canon law. Th is happens at both the collective and individual level. Th e Church is 'constituted and organised in this world as a society' 77 and the general principle ubi societas ibi ius holds in it. Furthermore, not only the Church as a whole is a visible society, but so are the most diverse forms of ecclesial association of the faithful. Especially the consecrated way of life best performs its function in the Church when its regula is observed, not merely an abstractly conceived 'spirit' , but also the corresponding 'letter' . To individual groups of the faithful and the faithful as individuals, the legal regulation grants the right to have their own rite and spirituality according to their own personal spiritual choice, but only on one fundamental condition: 'as it is consonant with the doctrine of the Church. ' 78 Th e liturgical and sacramental acts of the faithful are not only expressions of their spiritual life, but at the same time legally regulated acts. Here, canon law protects a unitary discipline, which constitutes an atmosphere of predictability and stability, which certainly bears witness to experiencing personal spirituality much more than chaos and wilfulness.