4. Religious Questions in the Novel
a. God and Faith
Where is God in all that happens
in the abbey? He is rarely invoked. In the novel, God is distant. There is no
experience of the loving, forgiving, and merciful God familiar to modern-day
Christianity. (cf. Vassallo, n.d.).
Though the story transpires
within hallowed grounds, there is no sense of a flourishing spirituality in
that place. It is normal to expect that a medieval setting full of monks,
theological debates and calls to prayer would at least touch on the presence of
God or his concern for the affairs of his creatures. The novel disappoints in
this aspect.
Nominally, God is the master of
the monastery, but he does not reside there. It is true that the monastery is
an emblem of grace and spiritual benefits for the monks and for the people in
the nearby surroundings. Even political authorities and the papal court find
the place a neutral and conducive location to discuss and resolve the most complex
of conflicts. As mentioned above, each day is itself anchored on and divided
according to the moments of mandatory prayers in the choir. But what becomes
clear is that the monastery is the place where personal interests and political
ideologies are merely couched in the veneer of religion.
The God of the novel is thus a
faraway being, helplessly sharing power with the many masters found in the
complex politics of both church and state. It is a good motif to introduce the
Franciscans who will remind readers of the venerated St. Francis, whose only
image of God was that of a loving and caring Father, not a faceless,
emotionless deity imposing heavy duties and exacting inflexible conditions.
The novel supports the idea that
God is ever on the lookout, observing his people, reading their intentions and
interpreting their actions. But he does this precisely to bring down his wrath
on those who mindlessly digress from his commands. The words of the monks are
indicative of their concept of God and of their spiritual condition and
connection with him.
“More space is allotted to sin and to
the antichrist, less to mercy and to salvation. Fear dominates and hope is
absent. Severity and rigor triumphs as the only way to preserve the faith,
while joy is the symptom of evil.” (Molto
spazio è dato al peccato e all’Anticristo, poco alla misericordia e alla
salvezza. Domina la paura ed è assente la speranza. Trionfano la severità e il
rigore come unico modo per custodire la fede, mentre la gioia è sintomo di male – translation mine. (Vassallo, n.d., p. 5.).
To
illustrate, the following were the words of Ubertino of Casale in his first reunion
with William:
“The
days of the Antichrist are finally at hand, and I am afraid, William!... His
lieutenants are already here, dispatches as Christ dispatched the apostles into
the world! They are trampling on the City of God, seducing through deceit,
hypocrisy, violence. It will be then that God will have to send His servants,
Elijah and Enoch, whom He maintained alive in the earthly paradise so that one
day they may confound the Antichrist, and they will come to prophesy clad in
sackcloth, and they will preach
penance by word and by example….” (Eco, The Name of the Rose, 2003, 67).
The
grotesque Salvatore shares his spiritual anxieties about the devil in his
chance encounter with Adso:
“Penitenziagite!
Watch out for the draco who cometh in futurum to gnaw your anima! Death is
super nos! Pray the Santo Pater come to liberar nos a malo and all our sin! Ha
ha, you like this negromanzia de Domini Nostri Jesu Christi! Et anco jois m’es
dols e plazer m’es dolors… Cave el diabolo! Semper lying in wait for me in some
angulum to snap at my heals...” (Eco, The Name of the Rose, 2003, 51).
The
case of Adso, the narrator, who was a young aspiring monk, is interesting. Eco
inserts within this historical mystery an amorous affair that the youth
casually experiences with a total stranger, a beautiful woman, one night in the
kitchen. While clearly devoted to his calling, the monk unites with the woman
without qualms of conscience, without resistance of the will. The forbidden
physical encounter was re-lived by Adso using the biblical imageries and
philosophical rants on intimacy and love that he surely learned by studying the
Scripture and arts in the monastery.
“O
sidus clarum pellaru,” I cried to her, “o porta clausa, forts hortorum, cella
custos unguentorum, cella pigmentaria! Inadvertently I found myself against her
body, feeling its warmth and the sharp perfume of unguents never known before.
I remembered, “Sons, when mad love comes, man in powerless!” and I understand
that, whether what I felt was a snare of the Enemy or a gift of heaven, I was
now powerless against the impulse that moved me…” (Eco, The Name of
the Rose, 2003, 263).
After
falling into this sin, he reveals his tryst to William to receive his absolution
in the sacrament of confession. However thoughts of the woman continue to
bother him even long after he believed he thought he repented. Thus the
ocnfession seems to be just a cosmetic salve to relieve the guilt but not to
offer the chance for genuine conversion.
“But I would not be writing the truth, or, rather, I would
be attempting to draw a veil over the truth to attenuate its force and clarity.
Because the truth is, that I “saw” the girl, I saw her in the brances of the
bare tree that stirred lightly when a
benumbed sparrow flew to seek refuge there; I saw her in the eyes of the
heifers that came out a of the barn, and I heard her in the bleating of the
sheep that crossed my erratic path. It was as if all creation spoke to me of
her, and I desired to see hear again…” (Eco, The Name of the Rose, 2003, 297).
Adso
summarizes the situation of the monastery, and the stance of God in the midst
of the horrifying events when he says to William: “Then we are living in a
place abandoned by God.” (Eco, The
Name of the Rose, 2003, 166).
b. Spirit of Poverty
The
medieval church was a wealthy and privileged institution. The agencies of the
church sit complacently on accumulated treasures. These took the form of money,
gold and silver vessels, livestock, and tracks of land.
Reading
The Name of the Rose, one imagines
the splendor of material blessings and the comfort of economic stability enjoyed
by the monastery. On approaching the abbey, Wiliam remarked to Ados: “ a rich
abbey… the abbot likes a great display on public occasions.” (Eco, The Name of the Rose, 2003, 24). The library, which was the source of the
abbey’s fame, “has more books than any other Christian library.” (Eco, The Name of the Rose, 2003, 39). The abbot admits that though the abbey is considerably
small, it has “one hundred fifty servants for sixty monks.” (Eco, The Name of the Rose, 2003, 37).
The
abbot takes pride in only two things; his fear of heretics (proof of his
orthodoxy and fidelity) and the wealth of the monastery (symbol of his power).
William and Adso catch a glimpse of some of the holy place’s fortunes.
“The
vases, the chalices, each piece revealed its precious materials: amid the
yellow of the gold, the immaculate white of the ivory and the transparency of
the crystal, I saw gleaming gems of every color and dimension, and I recognized
jacinth, topaz ruby, sapphire, emerald, chrysolite, onyx, carbuncle, and jasper
and agate… the altar frontal and three other panels that flanked it were
entirely of gold, and eventaully the whole altar seemed of gold, from whatever
direction I looked at it.” (Eco, The
Name of the Rose, 2003, 152).
If
such was the material conditon of humble monks, how much more can we imagine
the situation of priests, bishops and the pope himself during that period? Adso recalls the teachings of his
masters in Melk about the political and religious vicissitudes of Italy, “the
the peninsula, where the power of the clergy was more evident than in any other
country, and where more than in any other country the clergy made a display of
power.” (Eco, The Name of the Rose,
2003, 54).
With
the wealth come self-absorption and corruption of the church leaders, who take
advantage of the trust of their rich devotees and their poor unquestioning
subjects. It is a blessing to the medieval church that the “fraticello” (little
brother) of Assisi came to rivet attention to “Lady Poverty,” and to the very
example of Christ the Nazarene carpenter.
However
once firmly established, the group Francis founded also succumbed to the
temptations of power and wealth, and gradually came to assimilate the danger it
set out to remove. In time, groups of reformers would emerge, urging a return
to Francis’ original vision. But some of the reformers would fall into the
charge of heresy due to their impetuousness and ignorance of church diplomacy.
The
novel presents the debate between the pope’s delegates and the Franciscans
advocating a more radical poverty. That the pope will be threatened by a few
poor men, is indication enough of how the established religion remained
attached to its glory and honor. The riches and privileges of the monastery and
of the church shine even more starkly when compared to the squalor and misery
of the poor.
c. Shepherds of the Flock
Monastic
life symbolizes the desire for greater holiness and fidelity to the teachings
and example of the Lord Jesus Christ. By voluntarily surrendering the will to
live poverty, chastity and obedience, the monks assume the role of spiritual
guides for the people who come to them for direction and guidance.
The
monks William and Adso encountered however, were all flawed men and far from
exemplary. The monks have questionable motives, checkered past and dark
secrets, often falling into the lures of pride and lust. Abo, their leader was
a mediocre man more concerned about power and wealth than pastorally guiding
his community. Adso remembers how in a conversation with him, Abo “raised one
hand and allowed the daylight to illuminate a splendid ring he wore on his
fourth finger, the emblem of his power. The ring sparkled with all the brilliance
of its stones.” (Eco, The Name of
the Rose, 2003, 478).
This
is true as well of the hierarchical figures in the story. Pope John XXII is
called a “wicked usurper, simoniac, and heresiarch who in Avignon brought shame
on the holy name of the apostle.” (Eco, The Name of the Rose, 2003, 12).
Other figures including the Franciscan head Michael of Cesena and the
Inquisitor Bernardo Gui either exhibit egoism, scheming, corruption or
violence, in varying degrees. Given the material splendor of the medieval church,
the quality of leadership and pastorship of the church leaves much to be
desired. Blinded by power, many of the faithful are marginalized by scandal and
neglect.
