The sole end of the Carthusian path is CONTEMPLATION: by the strength of the Spirit, to live as continually as possible in the light of the love of God for us, made manifest in Christ. This assumes a purity of heart, or charity: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." (Mt 5:8) Monastic tradition also calls this end pure and continuous prayer.

The fruits of contemplation are: liberty, peace, and joy. O Bonitas! O Goodness, such was the cry which came forth from the heart of Bruno. But the unification of the heart and the entrance in the contemplative rest assume a long road, which our Statutes describe such:

Who perseveres without defiance in the cell and lets himself taught by her tends to make his entire existence a single and continual prayer. But he may not enter in this rest without going through the test of a rough battle: it is the austerities to which he applies himself as someone close to the Cross, or the visits of God, coming to test him like gold in the fire. Thus purified by patience, fed and strengthened by studied meditation of Scripture, introduced by the grace of the Holy Spirit in the recesses of his heart, he will thus be able to, not only serve God, but adhere to him. (Statutes 3.2)

All monastic life thus consists of this journey towards the heart and all the value of our life is shaped towards this goal. They help the monk unite his life to charity, introducing it to the depths of his heart.

Truth be told, it is not this end which distinguishes us from other contemplative monks (Trappist, Benedictines...), but the borrowed path, of which the essential characteristics are:

• solitude
• a certain dose of solitary life and community life
• Carthusian liturgy