Bernard de Give (8 May 1913 – 27 January 2020) was a Belgian priest and writer who became a monk of Scourmont Abbey.

Biography

After his secondary studies at Collège Saint-Servais in

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

, de Give joined the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

on 23 September 1931. He earned a degree in philosophy at the Faculté de Philosophie S.J. in Egenhoven, and later a degree in philosophy from

Université catholique de Louvain UCLouvain (or Université catholique de Louvain , French for Catholic University of Louvain, officially in English the University of Louvain) is Belgium's largest French-speaking university and one of the oldest in Europe (originally establishe ...

. During his studies, he became fluent in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

and learned of Eastern religions under the direction of

Étienne Lamotte Étienne Paul Marie Lamotte (; 21 November 1903 – 5 May 1983) was a Belgian priest and Professor of Greek at the Catholic University of Louvain, but was better known as an Indologist and the greatest authority on Buddhism in the West in his ...

. De Give was ordained on 27 July 1944. De Give left

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

for

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

on 26 January 1947. He taught ancient philosophy, ecclesiastical studies, and classical studies at the Pontifical Seminary of Kandy in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

for six years. He served as a professor in several Indian cities, including

Ranchi Ranchi (; ) is the capital city and also the largest district by population of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern ...

Hazaribagh Hazaribagh is a city and a municipal corporation in Hazaribagh district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It is also the administrative headquarters of Hazaribagh district and divisional headquarters of North Chotanagpur division. It is known ...

Kodaikanal Kodaikanal () (English: ) is a municipality and hill station in Dindigul district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is situated at an altitude of in the Palani hills of the Western Ghats. Kodaikanal was established in 1845 to serve as a r ...

, and

Poona Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

. He returned to Belgium in 1955, taking courses in classical studies at the Juvénat de La Pairelle in Wépion. He then published

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

and

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

textbooks, and became a professor of philosophy at the Faculté SJ d'Eegenhoven-Louvain, then at the

Université de Namur The University of Namur or ''Université de Namur'' (UNamur) is a Jesuit university in Namur, in the French Community of Belgium. Both teaching and research in the university are carried out by six ''faculties''. Location The University of Nam ...

. In the 1970s, de Give took courses at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

under the direction of

Robert Charles Zaehner Robert Charles Zaehner (8 April 1913 – 24 November 1974) was a British academic whose field of study was Eastern religions. He understood the original languages of various sacred texts, including Sanskrit, Pali, and Arabic. At Oxford Universit ...

. He interacted with

Chögyam Trungpa Chögyam Trungpa (Wylie transliteration, Wylie: ''Chos rgyam Drung pa''; March 5, 1939 – April 4, 1987), formally named the 11th Zurmang Trungpa, Chokyi Gyatso, was a Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhist master and holder of both Kagyu and Nyingm ...

at the university. De Give joined the

Trappists The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a Religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious o ...

at Scourmont Abbey on 2 June 1972. In 1977, he became a founding member of Monastic Interreligious Dialogue. He took place in interfaith meetings at

Praglia Abbey Praglia Abbey () is a Benedictine order, Benedictine monastery in the frazione of Bresseo in Teolo, Province of Padua, Italy. It is located at the foot of the Euganean Hills, some 12 kilometers southwest of Padua, and four kilometers from Abano Te ...

in 1977 and 1979. He spent ten years studying the

Tibetan Language Tibetan language may refer to: * Lhasa Tibetan or Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dialect * Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard * Any of the other Tibetic languages See also * Ol ...

at the

Temple of One Thousand Buddhas A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He helped organize the Christian-Buddhist colloquial at the Shangpa Karma Ling Institute. He would take several trips to Tibetan centers across Western Europe, and made a trip to

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

in July 1994. He published his doctoral thesis, titled ''Les rapports de l'Inde et de l'Occident des origines au règne d'Aśoka'', in 2005. On his 100th birthday, 8 May 2013, Scourmont Abbey published a collection of his poems, titled ''Quand l'âme chante...''. Bernard de Give died on 27 January 2020 at the age of 106.

Works

*''Chronicon Alnense. Chronique d'Aulne de dom Norbert Herset'' (1977-1978) *''Registre des choses advenues à l'abbaye d'Aulne'' (1980) *''L'Imitation de Jésus-Christ traduite et paraphrasée en vers par Pierre Corneille'' (1998) *''Les rapports de l'Inde et de l'Occident des origines au règne d'Asoka'' (2005) *''A Trappist Meeting Monks from Tibet'' (2009) *''Grammaire latine'' (2011) *''Quand l'âme chante...'' (2013)

References

Belgian men centenarians 20th-century Belgian Jesuits 1913 births 2020 deaths Trappists {{Belgium-reli-bio-stub