Life
Denis was born in 1402 in that part of the Belgian province of Limburg which was formerly comprised in the county of Hesbaye. His birthplace was Rijkel, a small village a few miles from Sint-Truiden, whence ancient writers have often surnamed him 'Ryckel' or 'à Ryckel'. He first attended school at Sint-Truiden. In 1415 he went to another school at Zwolle (Overijssel), which was then of great repute and attracted many students from various parts of Germany. He there entered upon the study of philosophy and became acquainted with the principles and practice of religious life, which the rector, John Cele, himself taught. Shortly after the rector's death (1417) Denis returned home. By the age of 18 he had decided to become a monk. He applied to the Carthusian monastery at Roermond only to be told he could not be admitted until he reached the minimum age of 20. The Prior at Roermond urged him to enter the University of Cologne to study philosophy and theology for the next two years. Having earned his Master of Arts degree, he entered the Carthusian monastery at Roermond (Dutch Limburg) in 1424.
His daily activities at Roermond were quite remarkable. All accounts of his life marvel at the fact that Denys was able to devote all of the necessary time to being a monk and also comprise an astonishing amount of writings. Believing that the most perfect life was a blend of contemplation and action, he divided his day into two, devoting the first part to prayer and the second to study and writing, and this remained his pattern for almost 50 years. He is said to have devoted eight hours a day to reciting prayer and receiving mass, while only allotting three hours each night for sleep.
Denis only twice left Roermond for a significant amount of time. For seven months in 1451 Denis accompanied Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa in an attempt to reform the Church in Germany and to preach a crusade against the Turks. In July, 1466, was appointed to superintend the building of a monastery at Hertogenbosch. A three-year struggle against the difficulties of the new foundation broke down his health, already impaired by work and privations, and he was obliged to return to Roermond in 1469.
Posterity has surnamed him Doctor ecstaticus. Fundamental to Denys the Carthusian’s teachings is his theory on contemplation. He proposes a division of life and wisdom into three parts. In the purgative stage the Christian is occupied with overcoming sin and growing in virtue. This stage is associated with what he calls natural wisdom, naturally acquired. In the illuminative stage the Christian’s mind is occupied with the contemplation of divine things. The illuminative stage concerns what Denys calls supernatural wisdom, naturally acquired, also known as scholastic theology. In the Unitive stage he experiences a vehement love from his contemplation of the divine. This type of experience can only come from supernatural wisdom, supernaturally bestowed. Denys the Carthusian was said to have reached the Unitive stage, being privileged to divine ecstatic experiences lasting hours at a time.While still a novice he had ecstasies which lasted two or three hours, and later on they lasted sometimes seven hours and more. During his ecstasies many things were revealed to him which he made known only when it could profit others, and the same may be said of what he learnt from the souls in purgatory, who appeared to him very frequently. In physical austerities, he was assisted by a strong constitution, for he was a man of athletic build and had, as he said, "an iron head and a brazen stomach".
During the last two years of his life he suffered intensely and with heroic patience from paralysis, the stone, and other infirmities. He had been a monk for forty-eight years when he died at the age of sixty-nine.
Upon his remains being disinterred one hundred and thirty-seven years after, day for day (12 March 1608), his skull emitted a sweet perfume and the fingers he had most used in writing, i.e. the thumb and forefinger of the right hand, were found in a perfect state of preservation. Although the cause of his beatification has never yet been introduced, St. Francis de Sales, St. Alphonsus Liguori, and other writers style him "Blessed"; his life is in the Acta Sanctorum of the Bollandists (12 March), and his name is to be found in many martyrologies.
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