Kategoria BISAC: Religion >> Monasticism

Religious travelers were a common sight in the Mediterranean world during Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages. In fact, as Maribel Dietz finds in Wandering Monks, Virgins, and Pilgrims, this formative period in the history of Christianity witnessed an explosion of travel, as both men and women took to the roads, seeking spiritual meaning in a life of itinerancy.

Much of this early Christian religious travel was not focused on a particular holy place, as in the pilgrimage of later centuries to Rome, Jerusalem, and Santiago de Compostela. Rather, the inspiration was more...

An Encomium on Saint Anthony by John of Schmun a letter to the Disciples of Antony by Serapion of Thmuis

Instrumental in the conversion of many, including St. Augustine, The Life of Antony provided the model saint's life and constitutes, in the words of patristics scholar Johannes Quasten, 'the most important document of early monasticism.' Here is one volume are translations of the text in the Greek written by Athanasius (from the new critical edition of G. J. M. Bartelink) and in the Coptic, the language Antony himself spoke. Two short contemporary coptic texts further manifest the...

Like Bernard of Clairvaux, whose last act was to leave his cloister to mediate 'successfully 'between two nobles and prevent bloodshed, Thomas Merton found in the monastic life of prayer a source of strength, empathy, and understanding. To understand Merton, one must first know him as a Prophet of Monastic renewal.

John Eudes Bamberger entered Gethsemani Abbey in 1950, having earned an MD from the University of Cincinnati the previous year and done his internship at Georgetown University Hospital. A student of Thomas Merton from 1952-1955, he worked with Merton, after his...

Praying with Benedict explores the spirituality of the monastic tradition and draws out the essence of a way of praying that embraces the whole of the Christian's life.

Korneel Vermeiren begins by examining the spirituality of the early monastic tradition from the fourth to the sixth centuries. He looks at the central place of prayer in the Rule of St Benedict and the tradition of continuous prayer, exploring the teaching of such formative figures as Basil the Great. He then reflects on the Benedictine precept: 'nothing is to be preferred to the work of God'.

Praying...

The fifth prior of the Grande Chartreuse, Guigo I was esteemed as 'a prior worthy of eternal fame', a prudent man and immensely erudite in both secular and sacred studies. His personal reflections on Holy Scripture take the form of a spiritual journey in which he blends theology and personal experience, daily practicality and ascetic insight, in a way both typical of twelfth-century reformed monasticism and uniquely carthusian.

In these homilies Matthew Kelty speaks to his brothers in community, challenging them 'to remove from their Vision what is false and fraudulent, artificial and contrived'. This is the task not only of monks but of all Christians seeking God.

The author shows how to die to sin and live for God, and the primary sources of our spiritual nourishment in the Eucharist and prayer, until the consummation of our adoption in Christ Jesus in the...

Lectio divina is a way of praying by sustained immersion into a revelatory text. While Scripture is the classic place of encounter with God, the text could also be the book of life or the book of nature.

In Lectio Matters, respected spiritual guide Meg Funk accompanies the reader in exploring the various levels of lectio divina as taught by the ancient church writers and by sharing her own long experience. By means of this wisdom both ancient and new, lectio divina can become our burning bush, a real encounter with the living God, in which we take off our...

Sparkling in the ancient texts of the Fathers of the Church 'the bishop, monks and theologians who wrote during the first formative six christian centuries 'is a fountain of wisdom overflowing with spiritual nourishment for the world today. By presenting a passage for meditation each day through the year, the volume offers an introduction both to the Fathers and to monastic lectio. It speaks not only to the individual seekers but also to those who guide others along the paths of the spirit.

The always eloquent Bernard preaches on the joys and spiritual opportunities of summertime festivals: Rogation tide, Ascension Day, the Pentecost season, and the feasts of Saint John the Baptist and SS Peter and Paul. From a world still in touch with the seasons of nature and a lifestyle integrating prayer and physical work, he speaks to moderns with insight and calm sanity.

After living the Rule and studying it for many years, Adalbert de VogUE, a monk of La-Pierre-qui-Vire in France, introduces it to those encountering it for the first time. The relationship of Benedict's Rule to other early monastic legislation is treated thoroughly, but the book is designed for those who are seeking a guide for living. Christians - in the cloister or in the world - who seek spiritual guidance in 'this little Rule for beginners' will find here an unforgettable introduction.