A new edition of this contemporary spirtitual classic in which the ancient and gentle wisdom of the Rule of St Benedict is explored in realtion to the demands of modern living and the importance of balance between prayer, work and study.

In Monasteries and the Care of Souls in Late Antique Christianity, Paul C. Dilley explores the personal practices and group rituals through which the thoughts of monastic disciples were monitored and trained to purify the mind and help them achieve salvation. Dilley draws widely on the interdisciplinary field of cognitive studies, especially anthropology, in his analysis of key monastic 'cognitive disciplines', such as meditation on scripture, the fear of God, and prayer. In addition, various rituals distinctive to communal monasticism, including entrance procedures, the commemoration of founders, and collective repentance, are given their first extended analysis. Participants engaged in 'heart-work' on their thoughts and emotions, which were understood to reflect the community's spiritual state. This book will be of interest to scholars of early Christianity and the ancient world more generally for its detailed description of communal monastic culture and its innovative methodology.

This book tells the story of Hild, the abbess of a highly successful double monastery at Whitby in Northumbria, where she was responsible for the education of five future bishops. Here she exercised an authority which in subsequent centuries would be reserved exclusively for men. At thirteen Hild was baptized by Paulinus, who had come to Britain to join Augustine's mission. Augustine had been sent by Pope Gregory to convert Britain, which had largely lapsed into paganism after the fall of the Roman Empire. Augustine in fact had little success in converting the Britons beyond Kent, and even in Kent Christianity had already been partially re-established by Queen Bertha, who had brought her Catholic Chaplain with her from Gaul upon her marriage to King Ethelbert. There were many powerful women, like Bertha, who had been at the forefront of keeping the faith alive in the "Dark Ages," but whose agency has been written out of history or down-played in favour of the actions of famous men. Hild's story is brought back to life alongside Mary, who founded a desert community at Tabenisi; Macrina, the teacher (didaskalos) of Gregory of Nyssa, Basil of Caesarea; Ita, confessor to Brendan; the formidable Aelffled, who succeeded Hild at Whitby, a co-worker and confidante of Cuthbert. As the Catholic Church struggles under the weight of centuries-old misogyny, it is surprising to see how, in the early medieval period, abbesses had shared governance with bishops. As it struggles with a shortage of male priests to celebrate the sacraments, it is instructive to see how many sacramental ministries were once exercised by female monastics. Confession, for example, was once practiced in the same way whether the confessor was a man or, as in Hild's case, a woman. The span of Hild's life covers the period before and after the establishment of clericalism, the unbridgeable gap between the higher plane of the male priesthood and the lower plane of religious women. Bede's telling of Hild's life was already downplaying her authority as a powerful leader in the Anglo-Saxon church. It is time for that to be remedied.

The fourteenth-century controversy between the Dominican Durandus of St Pour ain and his order plays a central role in explaining the later success of Thomism. Durandus's independent approach earned him two censures from Dominican authorities, as he appeared to jeopardize the order's sense of doctrinal identity. Through a close examination of the relevant theological issues, this book follows the course of the controversy to reveal the significant role which Franciscan theology played in the Dominican interpretation of Aquinas. This challenges the commonplace portrayal of early Thomists as a homogenous group, as it reveals the Franciscan contribution to the shaping of a Dominican intellectual tradition.

The monastic experience demystifiedan essential guide to what its like to spend a week inside a Catholic monastery.

A life of quiet, work and prayer, monasticism has been a part of the Christian spiritual tradition for over 1,700 years, and it remains very much alive today. This book offers you a personal encounter with daily life inside the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani, Kentucky, as you might encounter it on a one-week retreat. Including a detailed guide to the monastic places in North America that receive visitors, as well as a detailed glossary, Making a Heart for God is an excellent introduction for anyone interested in learning about monastic spiritualityand it is also the perfect preparation for your first retreat experience.

Whether youre simply curious about whats behind the mystery, or interested in experiencing it firsthand, this is the ideal handbook.

Also included are a helpful glossary of terms and a listing of monasteries throughout North America that receive visitors.

A captivating look into the society of the Knights Templar

Brought to you by the author of "Freemasons For Dummies," The Templar Code is more than an intriguing cipher or a mysterious symbol - it is the Code by which the Knights Templar lived and died, the Code that bound them together in secrecy, and the Code that inspired them to nearly superhuman feats of courage and endurance. "The Templar Code for Dummies" reveals the meaning behind the cryptic codes and secret rituals of the medieval brotherhood of warrior monks known as the Knights Templar. This intriguing guide will cover such topics as who the Knights Templar were, how they rose so high and fell so far, and most importantly why there is so much interest in them today. "The Templar Code For Dummies" will explore myths and theories of Christian history that appear in the "Da Vinci Code" such as the quest for the Holy Grail, the Catholic Church's relationship with women that are hotly debated now with special emphasis on the Templar connection. It also explores the surprising part the Templars have played in some of the most important historic events of these past seven centuries, including the French Revolution, the birth of groups such as the Freemasons, and even the American Civil War.

The institutions of the middle ages are generally seen as tradition-bound; Monks and Markets challenges this assumption. Durham's outstanding archive has allowed the uncovering of an unprecedented level of detail about the purchasing strategies of one of England's foremost monasteries, and it is revealed that the monks were indeed reflective, responsive, and innovative when required. If this is true of a large Benedictine monastery, it is likely to be true also for the vast majority of other households and institutions in Medieval England for which comparable evidence does not exist.
Furthermore, this study gives a unique insight into the nature of medieval consumer behaviour, which throughout history, and particularly from before the early modern period, remains a relatively neglected subject. Chapters are devoted to the diet of monks, the factors influencing their purchasing decisions, their use of the market and their exploitation of tenurial relationships, and their suppliers.

The second volume of Thomas Merton's "gusty, passionate journals" (Thomas Moore) chronicles Merton's advancements to priesthood and emergence as a bestselling author with the surprise success of his autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain. Spanning an eleven-year period, Entering the Silence reflects Merton's struggle to balance his vocation to solitude with the budding literary career that would soon established him as one of the most important spiritual writers of our century.

The book provides an account of many Jesuits, from the time of St. Ignatius to the 1990's, who have been incarcerated around the world for their faith. It is divided into chapters that deal with specific themes related to their imprisonment. The principal themes are: prayer as a key element in survival, arrest and trial procedures, the experience of suffering, Mass, the daily order of prison life, forced labor, ministry to other prisoners, guards, prisoners who became Jesuits while imprisoned, community in prison, and voluntary incarceration.This is the first book to examine the experience of incarcerated Jesuits around the world and down through the centuries from the standpoint of these various themes. Much of the material is by the Jesuits themselves, in letters, autobiographical fragments and other sources-including obscure publications long out of print. The result is a gathering together of these pieces and fragments into a coordinated whole, with commentary on their significance in the context of the political and cultural situations of their time-situations that were generally the immediate cause of the Jesuits imprisonment, whether in Elizabethan England or in Communist China and Russia. A chart of imprisoned Jesuits by country of incarceration at the beginning, and a glossary of names at the back (as well as an index), will help the reader to keep track of the names of the many Jesuits who figure in the book.

This is a case study of one pietist religious group, the Bruderhof. A Christian brotherhood founded on Anabaptist and evangelical pietist doctrine, they practice community of goods, seeking to emulate the vision of the Apostolic church and fulfill the ethic of brotherhood taught in the Sermon on the Mount. Rubin offers compelling accounts of the lives of Bruderhof apostates who foundered over issues of faith, and relates these crises to the central tenets of Bruderhof theology, their spirituality, and community life.

In this book the renowned medievalist G.R. Evans provides a concise introduction to St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), a figure of towering importance on the twelfth-century monastic and theological scene. After a brief overview of Bernard's life, Evans focuses on a few major themes in his work, including his theology of spirituality and his theology of the political life of the Church. The only available introduction to Bernard's life and thought, this latest addition to the Great Medieval Thinkers series will appeal to a wide audience of students and scholars of history and theology.

This is the first detailed scholarly study of the Order of Fontevraud's English monastic houses. During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the Order was notably prestigious and autonomous, renowned both for the prayerfulness of its members and for their independent management of their affairs. The huge following of Robert Arbrissel (d. 1116) included many women - not at first the aristocrats who later dominated the Order of Fontevraud, but prostitutes, beggars, and other representatives of the dregs of society. Urged by Church authorities to stabilize his women followers, Robert gave them a Rule which was, in essentials, that of St Benedict, but he introduced men as chaplains, clerks, and lay-brothers for the nuns. Uniquely, however, for contemporary houses for women, the men were placed firmly under the direction of the nuns and remained there throughout the Order's history. Sister Berenice Kerr's study of Fontevraud's English establishments: Amesbury, Nuneaton, and Westwood (Grovebury, the Order's fourth foundation, was never more than administrative centre) opens up a wide range of insights and information about monasticism and religious life for women in the middle ages. Dr Kerr examines the endowment of each house, and its subsequent acquisition of property and its administration; monastic observance; domestic economy, including expenditure on food and drink; the scale and layout of conventual buildings, and the exploitation of new assets, such as salt-pans, markets, and appropriated churches.

This study of the books of Reading Abbey covers not only the whole history of the Abbey from its foundation, but also charts the subsequent dispersal of its book collection. In doing so, the author illustrates intellectual life in a medieval English monastery and, in particular, valuable insights into the fate of monastic books after the Dissolution of the monasteries.

The sixteenth century was a period of crisis in the Catholic Church. Monastic reorganization was a major issue, and women were at the forefront of charting new directions in convent policy. The story of the Carmelite Reform has been told before, but never from the perspective of the women on the front lines. Nearly all accounts of the movement focus on Teresa de Avila, (1515-1582), and end with her death in 1582. Women Religious and Epistolary Exchange in the Carmelite Reform: The Disciples of Teresa de Avila carries the story beyond Teresa's death, showing how the next generation of Carmelite nuns struggled into the seventeenth century to continue her mission. It is unique in that it draws primarily from female-authored sources, in particular, the letters of three of Teresa's most dynamic disciples: Maria de San Jose, Ana de Jesus and Ana de San Bartolome.

A full and comprehensive survey of the development of the Cistercian Order which emerged from the tumultuous intellectual and religious fervour of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The Cistercians (White Monks) were the most successful monastic experiment to emerge from the tumultuous intellectual and religious fervour of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. By around 1150 they had established houses the length and breadth of Western Christendom and were internationally renowned. They sought to return to a simple form of monastic life, as set down in the Rule of St Benedict, and preferred rural locations "far from the haunts of men".But, as recent research has shown, they were by no means isolated from society but influenced, and were influenced by, the world around them; they moved with the times. This book explores the phenomenon that was the Cistercian Order, drawing on recent research from various disciplines to consider what it was that made the Cistercians distinctive and how they responded to developments. The book addresses current debates regarding the origins and evolution of the Order; discusses the key primary sources for knowledge; and covers architecture, administration, daily life, spirituality, the economy and the monks' ties with the world. Professor Janet Burton teaches at theSchool of Archaeology, History and Anthropology, University of Wales Trinity Saint David; Dr Julie Kerr is Honorary Research Fellow in the School of History, University of St Andrews.

On her twenty-first birthday Monica Baldwin - daughter of Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin - entered one of the oldest and most strictly enclosed contemplative orders of the Roman Catholic Church. Twenty-eight years later, having realized she did not have a true vocation for the life of a nun, she obtained a special rescript from Rome and left the convent. But the world Monica had known and forsaken in 1914 was very different to the world she found when she emerged into it at the height of the Second World War - This book is the fascinating story of one woman's two very different lives, with lucid descriptions of the world of a novice, the duties of a nun's day, and the spiritual aspects of convent life. These are interwoven with the trials and tribulations of life in a new and alien world, as the author is confronted by fashions, interventions, politics and art that are totally unfamiliar to her. Humour, intelligence, an endearing humility and an exciting honesty characterize this remarkable book that gives readers both a glimpse into a hidden world and a uniquely fresh take on a familiar one.

An engaging look into the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, queer activists devoted to social justice The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence make up an unlikely order of nuns. Self-described as "twenty-first century queer nuns," the Sisters began in 1979 when three bored gay men donned retired Roman Catholic nuns' habits and went for a stroll through San Francisco's gay Castro district. The stunned and delighted responses they received prompted these already-seasoned activists to consider whether the habits might have some use in social justice work, and within a year they had constituted the new order. Today, with more than 83 houses on four different continents, the Sisters offer health outreach, support, and, at times, protest on behalf of queer communities. In Queer Nuns, Melissa M. Wilcox offers new insights into the role the Sisters play across queer culture and the religious landscape. The Sisters both spoof nuns and argue quite seriously that they are nuns, adopting an innovative approach the author refers to as serious parody. Like any performance, serious parody can either challenge or reinforce existing power dynamics, and it often accomplishes both simultaneously. The book demonstrates that, through the use of this strategy, the Sisters are able to offer an effective, flexible, and noteworthy approach to community-based activism. Serious parody ultimately has broader applications beyond its use by the Sisters. Wilcox argues that serious parody offers potential uses and challenges in the efforts of activist groups to work within communities that are opposed and oppressed by culturally significant traditions and organizations - as is the case with queer communities and the Roman Catholic Church. This book opens the door to a new world of religion and social activism, one which could be adapted to a range of political movements, individual inclinations, and community settings.

Published in honor of John C. Olin, Professor Emeritus of History at Fordham University, for his many contributions to the study of Catholic reform in the sixteenth century, this is an assembly of nine essays on Catholic religious orders of that period. The contributors devote attention to the spirituality of the founder(s) and to the specific apostolate of the order. The focus of the essays is on the religious communities that were founded between 1524, when the Theatines arose, and 1621, when the Piarists were recognized by the papacy as a religious order. Most of these orders were founded for reasons unrelated to the crisis posed by Protestantism, but they were soon enlisted by the hierarchy to counteract its effects. If the Council of Trent (1545-1563) can be considered the architect of Catholic reform and renewal, and the papacy and episcopate as its enforcer, surely the religious orders of men and women in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries ought to be considered as the initiators or disseminators of reform while serving as missionaries, teachers, preachers, catechists, and confessors. The contributors are: Kenneth J. Jorgensen, S.J., Albertus Magnus College; Elisabeth G. Gleason, University of San Francisco; Richard L. DeMolen, Erasmus of Rotterdam Society; Charmarie J. Blaisdell, Northeastern University; John W. O'Malley, S.J., Weston School of Theology; Jodi Bilinkoff, University of North Carolina-Greensboro; John Patrick Donnelly, S.J., Marquette University; Wendy M. Wright, Creighton University; Paul F. Grendler, University of Toronto.

Throughout her adult life, the twelfth-century Benedictine nun Elisabeth of Schonau claimed to receive divine revelation through a series of ecstatic visionary experiences. Her reflections on these experiences were recorded and provide both a rich source of understanding of the religious life of a medieval woman and an important perspective on the religious and political ferment of mid-twelfth-century Germany. Anne L. Clark has written the first comprehensive study of Elisabeth of Schonau. In it, she points out that Elisabeth did not transcribe her own revelations, but rather dictated them to the other nuns of the convent and to her brother Ekbert. Clark takes on the problem of Elisabeth's literary and examines the nature and extent of Elisabeth and Ekbert's collaboration. In addition, Clark offers a new interpretation of Elisabeth's relationship with Hildegard of Bingen, her celebrated - and more studied - contemporary. Clark contends that Elisabeth was not a timid emulator of a brilliant mentor; instead, she had her own spiritual perspective and her own means of expressing it. In this way, Clark firmly establishes the originality of Elisabeth's visionary accounts. In the course of the text, Clark highlights the social dynamics revealed in these religious meditations, particularly Elisabeth's place in a world in which women were subordinated to male authority and lay people were subordinated to the religious authority of the clergy. Elisabeth of Schonau is an informative and ground-breaking work. It will be of particular interest to scholars and students of medieval religion and mysticism, as well as women's studies.

Die Geschichte des ehemaligen Benediktinerklosters regt zum Nachdenken uber die Bedingungen eines annahernd tausendjahrigen Lebens und UEberlebens einer kirchlichen Einrichtung an. Erstmals wird hier die Geschichte vom Adelskloster zum Adelsstift nachgezeichnet, welche fur die Geschichte Wurzburgs so eminente Bedeutung besitzt. Das linksmainisch gelegene Kloster/Stift wurde von Burghard, dem ersten Wurzburger Bischof, als Domkloster St. Andreas gegrundet. Es durchlebte im Laufe seiner langen Existenz Krisen und Umwandlungen, bis es schliesslich im Jahr 1803 aufgehoben wurde. Wie gewohnt werden die inneren Strukturen der Einrichtung ausfuhrlich analysiert, ebenso die ausseren Beziehungen wie die Besitzverhaltnisse. Ausfuhrliche Personallisten runden den Band ab.

This bilingual volume (Latin text with English translation) is the second in the series presenting hagiographical narratives from medieval Central Europe. It contains the most important hagiographical corpus of medieval Hungarian history: that of Saint Margaret (1242-1270), daughter of King Bela IV, who lived her life as a Dominican nun. Margaret's cult started immediately after her death and the demand to examine her sanctity was first formulated in 1272. The canonization process recommenced in 1276, followed by further initiatives across the centuries. Margaret was eventually canonized only in 1943. Besides the full Latin text and the English translation of her oldest legend, written between 1272 and 1275, this volume contains the acts of the 110 testimonies of the papal investigation concerning her sainthood, recorded between July and October 1276 and prepared from existing source editions. In addition, the editors include a series of recently discovered documents, including a petition by the bishop of Varad (Oradea) to promote the cause, and the notarial records of a set of miracles that occurred at Margaret's grave in the second half of the fifteenth century. The book ends with a selected bibliography of Saint Margaret and of her hagiography.

Ideal for gift-giving, this beautiful edition offers all of G. K. Chesterton's insight, humor, and wit as he uncovers the real meaning of the life of the worlds most popular saint. The most insightful book about Francis of Assisi-ever. Samples from this classic book: All [Francis's] life was a series of plunges and scampers; darting after the beggar, dashing naked into the woods, tossing himself into the strange ship, hurling himself into the Sultan's tent and offering to hurl himself into the fire. In appearance he must have been like a thin brown skeleton autumn leaf dancing eternally before the wind; but in truth it was he that was the wind. The conversion of St. Francis involved his being in some sense flung suddenly from a horse. There was not a rag of him left that was not ridiculous. Everybody knew that at the best he had made a fool of himself. The word fool itself began to shine and change.

The Ecclesiastical History of Orderic Vitalis has been called `the greatest of all medieval chronicles'. Written in Normandy between 1114 and 1141, it is a detailed history of the Norman people and their conquests, full of vivid, often penetrating portraits of the lives and characters of kings and queens, lords and bishops, simple knights, and humble villagers. The chronicle gives a unique, authentic picture of feudal society during a period of rapid change in church and state which saw the emergence of the Anglo-Norman realm, the spread of new forms of monasticism, and the launching of the Crusades. Published in 1968, volume II of Marjorie Chibnall's six-volume edition of the Ecclesiastical History is now available for the first time in paperback. `a superbly edited Latin text and a unique English translation of the work of a major historian' American Historical Review `Mrs Chibnall is giving us ... her edition of a classical medieval text which will itself become a classic of medieval scholarship.' Times Literary Supplement

European history from 1480 to 1570 was a period of turbulent change, political upheaval, profound moral questioning, and urgent philosophical speculation. This book explores the intriguing role of the almost-forgotten Congregation of Benedictine monks of Italy and southern France in the events of these tumultuous years. From archival and published records, the picture emerges of a closely-knit order of humanist scholars whose religious and philosophical studies later put them in a unique position to understand the Reformers. The book also casts light on the monks' fascinating reaction to the Reformation, as they poured out a stream of academic books, tracts, sermons, and poems in their attempt to heal the deepening rift between Rome and the Reformers. Critized and misunderstood by all sides, the Congregation gradually fell into decline until it was finally suppressed under the Napoleanic invasions.