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 MARITAIN’S KULTURKAMPF 1 Jacques’s most active involvement in Action Française was from  through , thanks to his connection with La Revue Universelle. Jointly financed by Maurras and Maritain from money they had each received from the fallen Villard, it was meant to convey the ideas of Action Française to readers beyond those who subscribed to the official publications of the organization. Maurras had begun his career as a literary critic, and Maritain was now disposed to turn his attention to the world around him. During the year following the end of the war, Jacques was granted a leave of absence from the Institut Catholique, and the Maritains—meaning the little flock of three: Raïssa,Vera, and Jacques—retreated toVernie, near Solesmes, where they lived in a rectory.The ostensible purpose of Jacques’s leave was to enable him to write the first volumes in a manual of philosophy he had agreed to do, but it was to be a year when a fundamental change in Maritain’s understanding of his vocation occurred. The three members of the little community sought to live a life in communion with the Benedictine ideal; all three were oblates of Saint Benedict. An intense spiritual life governed the household and provided the background for Jacques’s intellectual work. Jacques compared the two sisters to Martha and Mary, Vera being a solid practical presence while Raïssa was ethereal and withdrawn, given to closely monitoring her spiritual life and recording it in her journal. She was clearly influenced by what she read about the saints and mystics, though it is doubtful that any of them kept so obsessive a record of the ups and downs of their inner life. It is clear that Raïssa longed for mystical experiences. She withdrew into her room to devote herself to hours and hours of prayer and then noted in her journal how things had gone. But accounts of her health vie with accounts of her spiritual experiences. We will return to this when we discuss the posthumous publication of her journal and Jacques’s interpretation of it and of his wife’s spirituality. For now, this contemplative penchant of Raïssa’s, plus the removal of any financial concerns thanks to theVillard legacy, made plausible the idea that the three would simply withdraw from the world and develop contemplative spiritual lives. A recurrent question in Raïssa’s journal is wondering what God wants her to do. If the withdrawal did not happen, the reason was Raïssa. When Raïssa emerged from prayer, she sometimes brought with her a decision as to what was to be done.Thus it was Raïssa who broke the logjam of conflicting advice about the proposed journey to Rome to see the pope while war was raging. So too, during the year of seclusion at Vernie, it was Raïssa who decided that they must seek to have a direct impact on the world in which they lived. It seems clear that one of the things bothering Raïssa was how her life was to fit into Jacques’s. His lectures attracted attention , his book on Bergson had been a sensation, he was invited here and there to talk. Raïssa notes that her health mysteriously deteriorates as soon as he leaves.The vow that they had taken clearly required a prolonged effort if their celibate life and their intimate cohabitation were to be reconciled. Raïssa sometimes sees Jacques as a rival with God for her love.When young, they had fallen madly in love with one another and now, as a convert seeking ever closer union with God, Raïssa had fallen madly in love with her creator . Amour fou is the phrase Jacques uses. She vows (May ) to detach herself from “everything to which she is particularly drawn,” such as to follow Jacques in his work and to help him. One thing she did help him with was a book he was writing that would be called Art and Scholasticism. This little book, which was destined to have a tremendous impact throughout the century on working artists, suggested an outlet that was denied Raïssa so far as philosophy was concerned. Culture was not exhausted by abstract thought, and the path of the poet seemed analogous to that of the mystic.Thus was born Raïssa’s decision that they must return to the world and seek to influ-  Tierce [13.59.236.219...

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