ST AELRED OF RIEVAULX
(1110-1167)
Aelred: Do you think there is any human being who does not wish to be loved?
Walter: I think not.
Aelred. If you were to see a man living among many people, suspecting all and fearing all as plotters against his own life, cherishing no one and thinking himself cherished by none, would you not judge such a man most wretched?
Walter: Yes, very evidently so.
Aelred: Therefore you will not deny that he is most fortunate who rests in the inmost hearts of those among whom he lives, loving all and being loved by all, whom neither suspicion nor fear cut off from this tranquillity.
Walter: Excellently said, and most truly.
Aelred: But, perhaps, it is difficult to find this perfection with respect to all in this present life, since that is reserved for us in the life to come, yet shall we not consider ourselves happier in proportion as more individuals of this type abound? The day before yesterday, as I was walking the round of the cloister of the monastery, the brethren were sitting around forming a most loving circle. In the midst, as it were, of the delights of paradise with the leaves, flowers, and fruits of each single tree, I marvelled. In that multitude of brethren I found no one whom I did not love, and no one by whom, I felt sure, I was not loved. I was filled with such joy that it surpassed all the delights of this world. I felt, indeed, my spirit transfused into all and the affection of all to have passed into me, so that I could say with the Prophet: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity” (Psalm 132).