At the end of the fourth century, on the banks of the Nile, there unfolded an extraordinary epic: one after another, men left fertile an uninhabited regions of the Delta and disappeared farther into the desert. Founders of Christian eremitism, these heroes of asceticism and virtue earned a reputation far beyond the ordinary as much by their lifestyle as by their maxims (or apothegms) which have been translated into all languages and distributed throughout the Christian world. Deprivation, silence, contemplation, and prayer -- such was the program of these monks for whom the desert did not fail to set many traps -- because it isn't enough to simply isolate oneself in order to meet and to come to know God.

While the role of monastic education has been studied in great detail in regard to male practices, this book examines the differences between the monastic formation and education of men and of women in Western Europe from the eighth to the sixteenth century. Fourteen chapters, written by well-known scholars, consider monastic education and practices in the geographical areas of England, France, Germany and the Low Countries. Using attitudes toward education and actual educational theories, the authors explore issues such as the use of music and physical training in education to explore new realms of the discipline.

In the dark and turbulent centuries after the Roman occupation of Britain, and during the Anglo-Saxon colonisation, the light of heaven still shone through the work and witness of the monastic communities, 'villages of God', which dotted the land. One of the most remarkable figures of those times was Hilda of Whitby. Born and reared amid warring pagan tribes, through the influence of Celtic saints and scholars she became a dominant figure in the development of the British Church, above all at the famous Synod where Celtic and Roman Churches came together. Until recently, though, the story of this extraordinary woman has not received much attention. Published to coincide with the 1400th anniversary of her birth, this book not only explores the drama of Hilda's life and ministry but shows what spiritual lessons we can draw for Christian life and leadership today.

`Both authoritative and attractive, this is a most welcome study... a cornucopia of facts and insights....' CHOICE Professor Milis challenges the accepted view of monasticism as a powerful social influence on medieval life, supporting his case with detailed arguments. `A new assessment of the impact of monasticism on medieval society... a notable merit is that it obliges its readers to re-examine the assumptions which may have entered into their own consideration of the monastic role in society and led them to a different conclusion.' ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW [Barbara F. Harvey]

This in-depth look at Sr. Megan Rice, the octogenarian religious sister and anti-nuclear weapons activist, highlights the life and work of a bold modern-day advocate for peace. She was convicted for her role in carrying out what the "New York Times" called "the biggest security breach in the history of the nation's atomic complex." After breaking into a nuclear weapons facility, Rice's only comment at trial was "I regret I didn't do this 70 years ago."Sr. Megan's faith in a world that can transform its resources into sustainable, alternative methods doesn't end with her own future behind prison walls. Her cause is great and her hope is even greater.
From the People of God series. People of God is a brand-new series of inspiring biographies for the general reader. Each volume offers a compelling and honest narrative of the life of an important twentieth or twenty-first century Catholic. Some living and some now deceased, each of these women and men has known challenges and weaknesses familiar to most of us but responded to them in ways that call us to our own forms of heroism. Each offers a credible and concrete witness of faith, hope, and love to people of our own day.

This is the first book-length study of children in one of the birthplaces of early Christian monasticism, Egypt. Although comprised of men and women who had renounced sex and family, the monasteries of late antiquity raised children, educated them, and expected them to carry on their monastic lineage and legacies into the future. Children within monasteries existed in a liminal space, simultaneously vulnerable to the whims and abuses of adults and also cherished as potential future monastic prodigies. Caroline T. Schroeder examines diverse sources - letters, rules, saints' lives, art, and documentary evidence - to probe these paradoxes. In doing so, she demonstrates how early Egyptian monasteries provided an intergenerational continuity of social, cultural, and economic capital while also contesting the traditional family's claims to these forms of social continuity.

A history of the role played by the Franciscans during the contentious Wars of Religion (1562-1594). In this paperback reissue of The Politics of Piety, author Megan Armstrong situates the Franciscan order at the heart of the religious and political conflicts of the late sixteenth century to show how a medieval charismatic religious tradition became an engine of political change. The friars used their redoubtable skills as preachers, intellectual training at the University of Paris, and personal and professional connections with other Catholic reformers and patrons to successfully galvanize popular opposition to the spread of Protestantism throughout the sixteenth century. By 1589, the friars used these same strategies on behalf of the Catholic League to try to prevent thesuccession of the Protestant heir presumptive, Henry of Navarre, to the French throne. This book contributes to our understanding of religion as a formative political impulse throughout the sixteenth century by linking the long-term political activism of the friars to the emergence of the French monarchy of the seventeenth century. Megan C. Armstrong is Associate Professor of History at McMaster University.

The New York Times bestselling author and senior fellow at the Discovery Institute blends science and religion in this thoughtful guide that teaches modern believes how to use the leading wellness trend today--intermittent fasting--as a means of spiritual awakening, adopting the traditions our Christians ancestors practiced for centuries into daily life. Wellness minded people today are increasingly turning to intermittent fasting to bolster their health. But we aren't the first people to abstain from eating for a purpose. This routine was a common part of our spiritual ancestors' lives for 1,500 years. Jay Richards argues that Christians should recover the fasting lifestyle, not only to improve our bodies, but to bolster our spiritual health as well. In Eat, Fast, Feast, he combines forgotten spiritual wisdom on fasting and feasting with the burgeoning literature on ketogenic diets and fasting for improved physical and mental health. Based on his popular series "Fasting, Body and Soul" in The Stream, Eat, Fast, Feast explores what it means to substitute our hunger for God for our hunger for food, and what both modern science and the ancient monastics can teach us about this practice. Richards argues that our modern diet--heavy in sugar and refined carbohydrates--locks us into a metabolic trap that makes fasting unfruitful and our feasts devoid of meaning. The good news, he reveals, is that we are beginning to resist the tyranny of processed foods, with millions of people pursuing low carb, ketogenic, paleo, and primal diets. This growing body of experts argue that eating natural fat and fasting is not only safe, but far better than how we eat today. Richards provides a 40-day plan which combines a long-term "nutritional ketosis" with spiritual disciplines. The plan can be used any time of the year or be adapted to a penitential season on the Christian calendar, such as Advent or Lent. Synthesizing recent science with ancient wisdom, Eat, Fast, Feast brings together the physical, mental, and spiritual benefits of intermittent fasting to help Christians improve their lives and their health, and bring them closer to God.

The Benedictine Handbook is a lifelong companion for oblates, associates, and friends of the Benedictine communities. This handbook will help people follow the Rule of Benedict as it explains the essential elements of Benedictine spirituality.

This book brings together the work of eleven leading international scholars to map the contribution of teaching Sisters, who provided schooling to hundreds of thousands of children, globally, from 1800 to 1950. The volume represents research that draws on several theoretical approaches and methodologies. It engages with feminist discourses, social history, oral history, visual culture, post-colonial studies and the concept of transnationalism, to provide new insights into the work of Sisters in education. Making a unique contribution to the field, chapters offer an interrogation of historical sources as well as fresh interpretations of findings, challenging assumptions. Compelling narratives from the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Africa, Australia, South East Asia, France, the UK, Italy and Ireland contribute to what is a most important exploration of the contribution of the women religious by mapping and contextualizing their work. Education, Identity and Women Religious, 1800-1950: Convents, classrooms and colleges will appeal to academics, researchers and postgraduate students in the fields of social history, women's history, the history of education, Catholic education, gender studies and international education.

Sister Mary David Totah was a nun of the Benedictine contemplative community of St Cecilia's Abbey on the Isle of Wight. American by birth, she was educated at Loyola University, the University of Virginia and Christ Church, Oxford. After a distinguished teaching career, she entered religious life in 1985. For 22 years until her early death from cancer she guided the young nuns of her abbey with enthusiasm, wisdom and wit.

The spirituality to be found in the pages of this book demonstrates to the reader why her influence should have been so great and so deep. Her notes to the novices deal with issues of relevance to a world beyond the cloister: What is the meaning of suffering? How do we cope with living with people who annoy us? How do we relate to a God we cannot see? How do we make the big decisions of life?

Sister Mary David's teaching was both profound and intensely practical, suffused with faith in God's joy in our work, leisure, community and family life but above all in our view and understanding of ourselves. This book, with an introduction by Abbot Erik Varden OCSO (author of The Shattering of Loneliness) shows us how to realize the Joy that is God.

Investigation of lives of the saint, Lindisfarneand its scriptorium and Gospels, and the treasures of Cuthbert's coffin.Very fine collection of essays...a rich feast of scholarship with many discoveries and new interpretations of greatest value for Anglo-Saxon history. SPECULUM `Very fine collection of essays - a rich feast of scholarship with many discoveries and new interpretations of greatest value for Anglo-Saxon history.' SPECULUM St Cuthbert is known to many as the the saintly bishop of Holy Island inthe 7th century, but he was also a figure of great political and territorial power. The book is divided into four sections, each dealing with different aspects of Cuthbert and his milieu. Among the topics investigatedare the early Livesof the Saint, two by Bede himself, and his cult; Lindisfarne, its scriptorium and of course the famous Gospels; the sumptuous treasures gathered round the coffin, such as a portable altar and elaborately-worked silks, many of which are still preserved at Durham; and St Cuthbert's community at Chester-le-Street and Durham. Contributors: J. CAMPBELL, CLARE STANCLIFFE, MICHAEL HERITY, BENEDICTA WARD SLG, MICHAEL LAPIDGE, WALTER BERSCHIN, ALAN THACKER, DEIRDRE O'SULLIVAN, CHRISTOPHER D. VEREY, MICHELLE P. BROWN, JANET BACKHOUSE, R. BRUCE-MITFORD, DAIBHI D CRDINN, NANCY NETZER, ROSEMARY CRAMP, RICHARD N. BAILEY, J.M. CRONYN, C.V. HORIE, R.I. PAGE, JOHN HIGGITT, ELIZABETH COASTWORTH, HERO GRANGER-TAYLOR, CLARE HIGGINS, ANNA MUTHESIUS, ERIC CAMBRIDGE, GERALD BONNER, LUISELLA SIMPSON, DAVID ROLLASON, DAVID HALL, A.J. PIPER, VICTORIA TUDOR

Since the apostolic age, Christian churches have seen a constant dialectic between inspiration and institution: how the ungoverned spontaneity of Spirit-led religion negotiates its way through laws, structures and communities. If institutional frameworks are absent or insufficient, new, creative and dynamic expressions of Christianity can disappear or collapse into disorder almost as quickly as they have flared up. If those frameworks are excessively rigid or punitive, they can often quench the spirit of any new movements. This volume explores the interplay between inspirational movements and institutional structures throughout Christianity's history, examining how the paradox of inspiration and institution has been negotiated from the ancient world to the modern era, tracing how different Christian movements have striven to hold these two vital aspects of their faith together, often finding creative or unexpected ways to institutionalize inspiration or to breathe new life into their institutions.

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.

The Nun in the Synagogue documents the religious and cultural phenomenon of Judeocentric Catholicism that arose in the wake of the Holocaust, fueled by survivors who converted to Catholicism and immigrated to Israel as well as by Catholics determined to address the anti-Judaism inherent in the Church. Through an ethnographic study of selected nuns and monks, Emma O'Donnell Polyakov explores how this Judeocentric Catholic phenomenon began and continues to take shape in Israel. This book is a case study in Catholic perceptions of Jews, Judaism, and the state of Israel during a time of rapidly changing theological and cultural contexts. In it, Polyakov listens to and analyzes the stories of individuals living on the border between Christian and Jewish identity-including Jewish converts to Catholicism who continue to harbor a strong sense of Jewish identity and philosemitic Catholics who attend synagogue services every Shabbat. Polyakov traces the societal, theological, and personal influences that have given rise to this phenomenon and presents a balanced analysis that addresses the hermeneutical problems of interpreting Jews through Christian frameworks. Ultimately, she argues that, despite its problems, this movement signals a pluralistic evolution of Catholic understandings of Judaism and may prove to be a harbinger of future directions in Jewish-Christian relations. Highly original and methodologically sophisticated, The Nun in the Synagogue is a captivating exploration of biographical narratives and reflections on faith, conversion, Holocaust trauma, Zionism, and religious identity that lays the groundwork for future research in the field.

This book shows how the kingdom of God has advanced through the progression of distinct covenants, collectively serving as the foundation for God's promise to bring redemption to his people.

Witchcraft. Arson. Going AWOL. Some nuns in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Italy strayed far from the paradigms of monastic life. Cloistered in convents, subjected to stifling hierarchy, repressed, and occasionally persecuted by their male superiors, these women circumvented authority in sometimes extraordinary ways. But tales of their transgressions have long been buried in the Vatican Secret Archive. That is, until now.
In "Nuns Behaving Badly," Craig A. Monson resurrects forgotten tales and restores to life the long-silent voices of these cloistered heroines. Here we meet nuns who dared speak out about physical assault and sexual impropriety (some real, some imagined). Others were only guilty of misjudgment or defacing valuable artwork that offended their sensibilities. But what unites the women and their stories is the challenges they faced: these were women trying to find their way within the Catholicism of their day and through the strict limits it imposed on them. Monson introduces us to women who were occasionally desperate to flee cloistered life, as when an entire community conspired to torch their convent and be set free. But more often, he shows us nuns just trying to live their lives. When they were crossed--by powerful priests who claimed to know what was best for them--bad behavior could escalate from mere troublemaking to open confrontation.
In resurrecting these long-forgotten tales and trials, Monson also draws attention to the predicament of modern religious women, whose "misbehavior"--seeking ordination as priests or refusing to give up their endowments to pay for priestly wrongdoing in their own archdioceses--continues even today. The nuns of early modern Italy, Monson shows, set the standard for religious transgression in their own age--and beyond.

Mar da de San Jos 9 Salazar (1548-1603) took the veil as a Discalced ("barefoot") Carmelite nun in 1571, becoming one of Teresa of Avila's most important collaborators in religious reform and serving as prioress of the Seville and Lisbon convents. Within the parameters of the strict Catholic Reformation in Spain, Mar da fiercely defended women's rights to define their own spiritual experience and to teach, inspire, and lead other women in reforming their church.
Mar da wrote this book as a defense of the Discalced practice of setting aside two hours each day for conversation, music, and staging of religious plays. Casting the book in the form of a dialogue, Mar da demonstrates through fictional conversations among a group of nuns during their hours of recreation how women could serve as very effective spiritual teachers for each other. The book includes one of the first biographical portraits of Teresa and Maria's personal account of the troubled founding of the Discalced convent at Seville, as well as her tribulations as an Inquisitional suspect. Rich in allusions to women's affective relationships in the early modern convent, "Book for the Hour of Recreation also serves as an example of how a woman might write when relatively free of clerical censorship and expectations.
A detailed introduction and notes by Alison Weber provide historical and biographical context for Amanda Powell's fluid translation.

Utterly in love with Jesus Christ and living in poverty, Francis of Assisi touched history. Christians, followers of other religions and even those who declare they have no faith, find they have something in common with him that stirs their sympathy. In 1209, as a young man from the Umbrian region, he went to see the pope. He sought permission to live exactly as Jesus Christ had done: poor obedient, celibate. From a distance the pope saw Francis and his eleven companions. But he had Francis sent away, banishing from his presence the very man sent by providence who could have turned his hopes for the Church into reality. Later, the pope recalled a dream he'd had. He had seen the Lateran basilica leaning dangerously to one side, when suddenly a little monk, looking like a beggar, supported it with his shoulder and stopped it from collapsing. 'Of course,' the pope understood, 'that monk was Francis of Assisi!' How could he not listen to him? We today, can listen to him through his writings, the stories and biographies that speak of him. It would be like a new dawn, reversing the decline all around us into a new future. The texts in this book can all be found in the Early Documents series of the Franciscan movement published by New City in three volumes plus a fourth volume containing the index for these Early Documents.

The Sanctuary Movement began in 1981 as a collection of mostly church-related people deciding to help the wave of Central Americans migrating to the United States, and was transformed in the following years into a highly volatile church-state confrontation. The movement established an underground railroad to help Central Americans enter the US and then provided sanctuary within churches, where the US government was legally forbidden entry. In "God and Caesar at the Rio Grande", Hilary Cunningham offers an account of the history and growth of the Sanctuary Movement in the US, as she demonstrates how religion shapes and is shaped by political culture. Focusing on the Sanctuary located in Tucson, Arizona, Cunningham explores the movement primarily through the experiences of everyday participants, including interviews with Sanctuary workers and reproduction of letters from her stays in Arizona, Mexico, and Guatemala. She discusses and illustrates such diverse subjects as US church-state relations, the social construction of power, and international refugee policy. One of the few books to document the culture of the religious Left in the US, "God and Caesar at the Rio Grande" illustrates how a particular group of people used religious beliefs and practices to interpret and respond to State authority. This book should be of interest to individuals wishing to explore the relationship of religion to power and social change.

What are the ecclesiological challenges and opportunities raised by technology? How have developments related to the COVID-19 global health crisis impacted churches, forcing a swift move to mediated and online worship? And how will this change the shape churches of theological and programmatic choices for years to come? Drawing together a diverse group of theologians and media scholars, this volume considers the key theological question churches and religious leaders need to engage with as they look towards long term strategies involving church life and technology.

A study of the manuscripts, relics and historical traditions of Anglo-Saxon Exeter before Leofric moved the see of Devon and Cornwall there in 1050. In his search for an historical context for the famous Exeter Book of Old English poetry, Dr Conner's examination of the archaeological and textual records of Exeter have led him to significant new conclusions about the city's tenth century monastic culture. He posits the existence of a large library dating from the time of King AEthelstan, an active scriptorium from at least the mid-century period, and suggests that five other important manuscripts may have originated at Exeter c.950-c.990.A codicological examination of the Exeter Book draws fresh conclusions about its composition and its literary context. Anglo-Saxon Exeterconcludes with six appendices in which many documents important to the early history of the city are edited, including its relic-lists, the records for moving the see from Crediton to Exeter, Leofric's Inventory, a series of legal records which survive on a single leaf of an8th-century lectionary, and a study of the history of the Exeter Book from 1050 to the present. PATRICK CONNER is Professor in the department of English at West Virginia University.

In the sixth century when the Roman Empire was breaking apart and politics, cultural life and even the Church were in disarray - tumultuous times not unlike our own - Benedict of Nursia designed what he termed "a little rule" that showed his monks the way to peace as they learned to prefer Christ above all things. The Rule of Benedict offers timeless and practical tools for living this Christ-centered life today. * Revised and expanded 10th anniversary edition * Practical, down-to-earth writing style; explains the content of the Rule of St. Benedict and how to use the practices in daily life * Contains historical background to the Rule and a new chapter on relationships and community * Includes guide for group use

In re-examining the Christianization of the Roman Empire and subsequent transformation of Graeco-Roman classical culture, this volume challenges conventional ways of understanding both the history of Christian monasticism and the history of education. The chapters interrogate assumptions that have framed monastic practice as pedagogically unprecedented, with few obvious precursors and/or parallels. A number explore how both teaching and practice merge classical pedagogical structures with Christian sources and traditions. Others re-situate monasticism within a longer trajectory of educational and institutional frameworks, elucidating models that remain central to the preservation of both Greek and Latin literary culture, and the skills of reading and writing. Through re-examination of archaeological evidence and critical re-reading of signature monastic texts, each documents the degree to which monastic structures emerged in close alignment with urban, literate society, and retain established affinity with classical rhetorical and philosophical school traditions.