Jan van Ruusbroec

In 1343, at the age of 50, Jan van Ruusbroec decided to leave the bustle of Brussels to devote himself fully to contemplation. Accompanied by Jan Hinckaert and Franco van Coudenberg, he retired to the Sonian Forest, at a place called Groenendael, where Duke John III of Brabant placed a hermitage at their disposal. Joined by other companions, including the lay brother Jan van Leeuwen, they lived initially without formal vows before adopting the rule of the Canons Regular of Saint Augustine in 1350. Franco van Coudenberg became the first provost, and Ruusbroec the first prior. It was at Groenendael that Ruusbroec wrote the majority of his literary and mystical work in Middle Dutch (Brabantian dialect) to make it accessible to the laity. His work includes eleven major mystical treatises, including "The Spiritual Espousals" (Die Geestelike Brulocht, circa 1335-1336), "The Kingdom of the Lovers of God" (Dat Rijcke der Gelieven, circa 1330-1335), "The Sparkling Stone" (Vanden Blinckenden Steen), "The Spiritual Tabernacle" (Van den Geesteliken Tabernakel), and "The Mirror of Eternal Blessedness" (Een Spieghel der Ewigher Salicheit, 1359).

John of Ruysbroeck distinguished himself by his profound humility, his gentleness, and his detachment from the world. His contemporaries report that he frequently retreated alone into the Sonian Forest to meditate, writing his treatises under the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit. A hagiographic tradition reports that his companions once found him in ecstasy under a tree, enveloped in a blazing light that did not consume the vegetation. Alongside his contemplative life, he actively engaged in the defense of Christian orthodoxy in Brussels by vigorously opposing the deviations of the "Free Spirit" heresy, notably propagated by Heilwige Bloemardinne. Against these theories, he insisted on the absolute necessity of the practice of virtues and an active life ordered toward charity. He died peacefully at Groenendael on December 2, 1381, at the age of 88. Five years later, during the exhumation of his body ordered by the Bishop of Cambrai, Jean Tserclaes, his remains were found intact and exhaling a fragrance of great sweetness.

After the suppression of the priory of Groenendael in 1783 by Emperor Joseph II, the relics of Jan van Ruusbroec were transferred to the Collegiate Church of St. Gudula in Brussels, where they were unfortunately lost or destroyed during the French Revolution. The cause for his beatification, introduced for the first time in 1624 by Jacques Boonen, Archbishop of Mechelen, was suspended in 1627 due to the wars. A new unsuccessful attempt took place in 1783. The process finally succeeded at the beginning of the 20th century: on December 1, 1908, the Sacred Congregation of Rites issued a decree confirming his cult from time immemorial (equivalent beatification), a decree officially approved by Pope Saint Pius X on December 9, 1908. His liturgical feast is celebrated on December 2, the anniversary of his death.

The mystical theology of Jan van Ruusbroec is profoundly Trinitarian, describing the life of God as a dynamic movement of love between the unity of the divine essence and the distinction of the three Persons. He insists that, even at the summit of mystical union, the soul retains its own identity and distinction of nature in relation to God ("one with God in love, but not in essence and nature"), which preserves him from pantheism despite the controversies raised by Jean Gerson in the 15th century (where he was defended by John of Schoonhoven). Ruusbroec structures the spiritual journey into three complementary stages: the active life (moral virtues and service), the interior life (recollection and desire for God), and the contemplative life (intimate union in pure love). His legacy is immense: a major figure of Rhenish-Flemish mysticism, he profoundly influenced the Devotio Moderna (Geert Groote, Thomas à Kempis), Johannes Tauler, and Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity. In the 19th century, Ernest Hello contributed to his rediscovery by translating his works in 1869, followed in 1891 by Maurice Maeterlinck who translated "The Spiritual Espousals".