Jean Leclercq writes about monastic spirituality, and makes the following notes on compunction: the word compunction is a medical term, designating attacks of acute pain, of physical illness. He goes on to note how the word has evolved in the spiritual sense, and the various ways it is used to express how the soul feels compunction, pain of the spirit, a suffering resulting simultaneously from…the existence of sin and our own tendency toward it… These are the usual thoughts on compunction.
But then Leclercq gives the description used by Gregory the Great: Compunction is an act of God in us, an act by which God awakens us, a shock, a blow, a “sting,” a sort of burn. This type of compunction comes through an awareness of God, one we love, then we lose, and then we pine to regain.
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Which Leckercq book are you referring to? Thanks.
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Rene
The book is titled "The Love of Learning and the Desire for God." by Jean Leclercq and published in 1962 by Fordham University. Though somewhat dated, the spirituality is timeless, and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about Monastic Spirituality from the sources. It is still available from Amazon and a few other online book sources.
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