Cristiana Piccardo was the long-time abbess of an unusual Cistercian community in Italy. "We have always believed," she writes, "that the monastic charism can be a precious 'talent' offered to our contemporary world, and there are moments in history when what normally remains hidden should come into the light." These words accurately describe both the force behind the story of the Vitorchiano monastic family and the account of it given in Living Wisdom, her refl ection on the meaning of that story. Over the course of four decades, the Abbey of Vitorchiano founded no fewer than six new...
Cristiana Piccardo was the long-time abbess of an unusual Cistercian community in Italy. "We have always believed," she writes, "that the monastic cha...
How should we live in this house of God? We know that the way a building is shaped also helps in determining the way those within it live and relate. We are indeed formed by what we form. Qualities such as integrity, hospitality, humanity and beauty in a place will enable its dwellers to live lives in which such qualities are evident. The way we understand who we are and how we live will be reflected in our places and vice versa. Our places become bearers of meaning and memory. From Chapter 1In "Living in the House of God," Margaret Malone draws on her study of and research on the Rule of...
How should we live in this house of God? We know that the way a building is shaped also helps in determining the way those within it live and relat...
As master of novices for ten years (1955-1965) at the Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani in Kentucky, Thomas Merton was responsible for the spiritual formation of young men preparing for monastic profession. In this volume, three related sets of Merton's conferences on ancient and contemporary documents governing the lives of the monks are published for the first time: - on the Carta Caritatis, or Charter of Charity, the foundational document of the Order of Citeaux - on the Consuetudines, the twelfth-century collection of customs and regulations of the Order - on the...
As master of novices for ten years (1955-1965) at the Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani in Kentucky, Thomas Merton was responsible for the sp...
Dom Andre Louf (+2010) was abbot of the Trappist-Cistercian monastery of Mont-des-Cats in northern France from 1963 to 1997. This book brings together talks given to a variety of audiences in which he shared his spiritual experience from both his life of prayer and his life in community. Each chapter offers inspiring insights on the spiritual experience, the priority of love, and other areas of our Christian life: community life, obedience, prayer, psalms, the liturgy, etc. In this book we enter "a school of contemplation" wherein the monastic experience enlightens our lives and service to...
Dom Andre Louf (+2010) was abbot of the Trappist-Cistercian monastery of Mont-des-Cats in northern France from 1963 to 1997. This book brings together...
For three decades, Monastic Practices has been a valued resource for English-speaking aspirants to monastic life. In this second edition, updated and expanded, Charles Cummings, OCSO, explores the common practices of the monastic life in order to rediscover them as viable means of leading persons to a deeper encounter with God. How do monks and nuns occupy themselves throughout the day? Have they modernized their lifestyle or is it still cluttered with medieval customs? Could any of the monastic practices be of use to those outside the monastery? A certain wisdom is necessary to know how to...
For three decades, Monastic Practices has been a valued resource for English-speaking aspirants to monastic life. In this second edition, updated and ...
The Vita Christi, a spiritual classic of the fourteenth century by the Carthusian Ludolph of Saxony, was an early and extremely comprehensive book of meditations on the events recorded in the gospels. A popular and influential book for centuries, it was instrumental in the conversion of Ignatius Loyola, and Teresa of Avila directed that every convent of her reform include "the Carthusian" in its library. This volume, which consists of excerpts from the full Vita Christi (forthcoming from Cistercian Publications), presents Ludolph's meditations on the resurrection and the appearances of the...
The Vita Christi, a spiritual classic of the fourteenth century by the Carthusian Ludolph of Saxony, was an early and extremely comprehensive book of ...