This book opens a window on the lived experience of monastic reform in the twelfth century. Drawing on a variety of textual and material sources from the south German monastery of Petershausen, it begins with the local process of reform and moves out into intertwined regional social, political, and ecclesiastical landscapes. Beach reveals how the shock of reform initiated decades of anxiety at Petershausen and raised doubts about the community's communal identity, its shifting internal contours and boundaries, and its place within the broader spiritual and social landscapes of Constance and Swabia. The Trauma of Monastic Reform goes beyond reading monastic narratives of reform as retrospective expressions of support for the deeds and ideals of a past generation of reformers to explore the real human impact that the process could have, both on the individuals who comprised the target community and on those who lived for generations in its aftermath.

St Benedict's inspirational work has been guiding Benedictine monks for fifteen centuries, and the Penguin Classics edition of The Rule of Benedict is translated with an introduction and notes by Carolinne White. Founder of a monastery at Monte Cassino, between Rome and Naples, in the sixth century, St Benedict intended his Rule to be a practical guide to Christian monastic life. Based on the key precepts of humility, obedience and love, its aim is to create a harmonious and efficient religious community in which individuals can make progress in the Christian virtues and gain eternal life. Here, Benedict sets out ideal monastery routines and regulations, from the qualities of a good abbot, the twelve steps to humility and the value of silence to such every day matters as kitchen duties, care of the sick and the suitable punishment for lateness at mealtimes. Benedict's legacy is still strong - his Rule remains a source of inspiration and a key work in the history of the Christian church. Carolinne White's accessible translation is accompanied by an introduction discussing Benedict's teachings, what is known of his life, and the influence and spread of his Rule. Saint Benedict of Nursia (c. 480-543 AD) founded twelve monasteries, the best known of which was his first monastery at Monte Cassino, in Italy. Benedict wrote a set of rules governing his monks, The Rule of Benedict, one of the more influential documents in Western Civilization. Benedict was canonized a saint in 1220. If you enjoyed The Rule of Benedict you might enjoy St Augustine's Confessions, also available in Penguin Classics.

The Handbook takes as its subject the complex phenomenon of Christian monasticism. It addresses, for the first time in one volume, the multiple strands of Christian monastic practice. Forty-four essays consider historical and thematic aspects of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Protestant, and Anglican traditions, as well as contemporary 'new monasticism'. The essays in the book span a period of nearly two thousand years-from late ancient times, through the medieval and early modern eras, on to the present day. Taken together, they offer, not a narrative survey, but rather a map of the vast terrain. The intention of the Handbook is to provide a balance of some essential historical coverage with a representative sample of current thinking on monasticism. It presents the work of both academic and monastic authors, and the essays are best understood as a series of loosely-linked episodes, forming a long chain of enquiry, and allowing for various points of view. The authors are a diverse and international group, who bring a wide range of critical perspectives to bear on pertinent themes and issues. They indicate developing trends in their areas of specialisation. The individual contributions, and the volume as a whole, set out an agenda for the future direction of monastic studies. In today's world, where there is increasing interest in all world monasticisms, where scholars are adopting more capacious, global approaches to their investigations, and where monks and nuns are casting a fresh eye on their ancient traditions, this publication is especially timely.

These works by Sister Bartolomea Riccoboni offer an intimate portrait of the women who inhabited the Venetian convent of Corpus Domini, where they shared a religious life bounded physically by the convent wall and organized temporally by the rhythms of work and worship. At the same time, they show how this cloistered community vibrated with news of the great ecclesiastical events of the day, such as the Great Western Schism and the Council of Constance.
While the chronicle recounts the history of the nuns' collective life, the necrology provides highly individualized biographies of nearly fifty women who died in the convent between 1395 and 1436. We follow the fascinating stories that led these women, from adolescent girls to elderly widows, to join the convent; and we learn of their cultural backgrounds and intellectual accomplishments, their ascetic practices and mystical visions, their charity and devotion to each other and their fortitude in the face of illness and death.
The personal and social meaning of religious devotion comes alive in these texts, the first of their kind to be translated into English.

Two leading practitioners of new monasticism open up the movement's spiritual landscape and its distinctive calling and gifts within today's church. Practical experiences and stories are set alongside reflection and liturgies as a creative resource for all who are already involved in, or are exploring intentional living in community. Focusing on new monasticism's key characteristics of prayer, mission and community, this book explores: * continuity with traditional religious life * innovations, such as its use of social networking technology * potential for spiritual formation * preference for the abandoned places of society * transformative approach to mission * blend of the traditional and experimental in worship * growing international presence

Courtesy books were especially popular in England in the fifteenth-century, but though they were numerous in number, this particular example, "A General Rule", is unique in that no other treatise corresponds to it closely. Translated from "MS. Addl. 37969", it is a guide to manners and duties, including instructions on conduct and demeanour, plus many practical hints on how to serve a "lorde or mayster". Also included are "The Thirde Order of Seynt Fraceys" and "The Rewle of Sustris Menouresses" - two medieval religious Rules, or handbooks. Presented here, un-modernised, in their original form, these guides make fascinating reading and give true insight into the aspects of medieval life and manners.

Representations of convents and nuns assumed power and urgency within the volatile political culture of eighteenth-century France. Drawing from a range of literary, cultural, and legal material, Mita Choudhury analyzes how, between 1730 and 1789, lawyers, religious pamphleteers, and men of letters repeatedly asked, "Who should control the female convent and women religious?" These sources chronicled the conflicts between nuns and the male clergy, among nuns themselves, and between nuns and their families, conflicts that were presented to the public in the context of potent issues such as despotism, citizenship, female education, and sexuality.The cloister operated as a symbol of despotism, the equivalent of the Sultan's seraglio or the King's Bastille. Before 1770, lawyers and magistrates praised nuns as the personification of virtuous Christian women, often victims vulnerable to those who would use them to further their own political ends. After 1770, men of letters evaluated nuns according to more secular norms, and concluded that the convent had no purpose in society, except as a reminder of the problems inherent in the Old Regime. Choudhury elaborates on how nuns were not always passive entities, mere objects to be shaped by the political needs of others. But because they relied on men in order to make their voices heard, the place of women religious in the public sphere was a complex one based on negotiations between female action and male subjectivity. During the French Revolution, whatever support they had enjoyed was lost as republicans and moderates began to see nuns as potentially disruptive to the social order, family life, and revolutionary values.

Patterns of migration for the purpose of religious mission are an unexamined dimension of the immigration narrative. Catholic sisters from many countries around the world come to the United States to minister and to study. Sociologists from Trinity Washington University and CARA at Georgetown University combined forces to document and understand this contemporary and historical phenomenon. Together, they located more than 4,000 "international sisters" who are currently in the United States for formation, studies, or ministry, from 83 countries spread over six continents. Through surveys, focus groups, and interviews, they heard the stories of these sisters and learned of their joys and satisfactions as well as their struggles and challenges. This book examines the experience of these sisters in depth and offers valuable suggestions for religious institutes, Catholic dioceses and parishes, and others who benefit from their contributions. More broadly, this book also raises awareness of immigration issues at a time of great contention in the public policy debate in the United States. Illustrated with instructive graphics and tables, it is an accessible and inviting resource for academics and the media, as well as bishops, and leaders of Catholic health care, social service, education, pastoral, and philanthropic institutions.

One happy day, in the midst of writing to her fiancee, her hand stopped writing unbidden; then it continued by itself, etching the words which would change her life forever: '...but there's no point now, as I am going to be a nun.'That bolt from the blue set events in motion that caused Shirley to lose her mother and sisters, her husband to be, her horses, her parties and life of ease. Within months, Shirley had become Sister Agatha. But her faith in her choice never faltered, despite years of great difficulty when her Convent was close to bankruptcy. Her belief took her to London to knock on Sir Paul Getty's door to secure the money to ensure her community would not lose their home...and getting it. Now eighty-five, she looks back on an incredible life of love, loss and belief. This is at once a deeply poignant tale of doomed romance, and a heart-warming story of taking a leap of faith and finding a meaning in life beyond the wealth and comfort she was born into.Whether a believer or not, Sister Agatha's momentous life will touch and inspire, whilst reminding us that it is perhaps better to accept that not everything in the world is yet explained.

"Crown and Veil" offers a broad introduction to the history and visual culture of female monasticism in the Middle Ages, from the earliest communities of Late Antiquity to the Reformation. Scholars from numerous disciplines offer a wide range of perspectives not to be found in any other single book on the subject, placing the art, architecture, literature, liturgy, religious practices, and economic foundations of these communities within a wide historical and cultural context.

Long considered marginal to mainstream history, nuns and canonesses in fact had a profound influence on medieval culture. Revered and admired as models of piety, they commanded considerable prestige and exercised a significant degree of political power. Whether acting as producers or patrons of art, nuns were widely celebrated for their imaginative accomplishments. Focusing on the visual culture of female monastic communities in the German Empire, Frankish Gaul, Langobard Italy, and Anglo-Saxon England, this volume underscores the richness of largely unfamiliar material and its role in shaping distinctive forms of religious life.

This book is the first publication of a very early collection of Christian monastic rules from Roman Egypt. Designed for the so-called White Monastery Federation, a community of monks and nuns who banded together about 360 CE, the rules are quoted by the great monastic leader Shenoute of Atripe in his writings of the fourth and fifth century. These rules provide new and intimate access to the earliest phases of Christian communal (cenobitic) monasticism. In this volume, Bentley Layton presents for the first time the Coptic text of the rules, amounting to five hundred and ninety-five entries, accompanied by a clear and exact English translation. Four preliminary chapters discuss the character of the rules in their historical and social context, and present new evidence for the founding of the monastic federation. From passing remarks in the rules, Layton paints a brilliant picture of monastic daily life and ascetic practice, organized around six general topics: the monastery as a physical plant, the human makeup of the community, the pattern of ascetic observances, the hierarchy of authority, the daily liturgy, and monastic economic life . The Canons of Our Fathers will be a fundamental resource for readers interested in Christian life in late antiquity, ascetic practices, and the history of monasticism in all its forms.

Most of the essays gathered in this volume evolved from papers that were delivered at a conference in the former charterhouse Our Lady of Bethlehem in Roermond (1376). This conference was held on the occasion of The Secret of Silence. The Hidden World of the Carthusians of Roermond (27 March - 21 June 2009), an international exhibition that explored the history and spirituality of the Carthusians, highlighting the Order's outstanding artworks now kept in public and private collections. The current volume explores the history of the Carthusians and their cultural and spiritual heritage in the Low Countries. It presents Carthusian monasticism as a multidimensional phenomenon requiring a multidisciplinary approach that explains the broader historical dimension of the Carthusian Order in relation to its local manifestations, cultural forms, and the centrality of its spirituality.

Ressourcement: A Movement for Renewal in Twentieth-Century Catholic Theology provides both a historical and a theological analysis of the achievements of the renowned generation of theologians whose influence pervaded French theology and society in the period 1930 to 1960, and beyond. It considers how the principal exponents of ressourcement, leading Dominicans and Jesuits of the faculties of Le Saulchoir (Paris) and Lyon-Fourviere, inspired a renaissance in twentieth-century Catholic theology and initiated a movement for renewal that contributed to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. The book assesses the origins and historical development of the biblical, liturgical, and patristic ressourcement in France, Germany, and Belgium, and offers fresh insights into the thought of the movement's leading scholars. It analyses the fierce controversies that erupted within the Jesuit and Dominican orders and between leading ressourcement theologians and the Vatican. The volume also contributes to the elucidation of the complex question of terminology, the interpretation of which still engenders controversy in discussions of ressourcement and nouvelle theologie. It concludes with reflections on how the most important movement in twentieth-century Roman Catholic theology continues to impact on contemporary society and on Catholic and Protestant theological enquiry in the new millennium.

At the start of the nineteenth century, the Jesuits seemed fated for oblivion. Dissolved as a religious order in 1773 by one pope, they were restored in 1814 by another, but with only six hundred aged members. Yet a century later, the Jesuits numbered seventeen thousand men and were at the vanguard of the Catholic Church's expansion around the world. In the United States especially, foreign-born Jesuits built universities and schools, aided Catholic immigrants, and served as missionaries. This book traces this nineteenth-century resurgence, showing how Jesuits nurtured a Catholic modernity through a disciplined counterculture of parishes, schools, and associations. Drawing on archival materials from three continents, American Jesuits and the World tracks Jesuits who left Europe for America and Jesuits who left the United States for missionary ventures across the Pacific. Each chapter tells the story of a revealing or controversial event, including the tarring and feathering of an exiled Swiss Jesuit in Maine, the efforts of French Jesuits in Louisiana to obtain Vatican approval of a miraculous healing, and the educational efforts of American Jesuits in Manila. These stories place the Jesuits at the center of the worldwide clash between Catholics and liberal nationalists, and reveal how the Jesuits not only revived their own order but made modern Catholicism more global. The result is a major contribution to modern global history and an invaluable examination of the meaning of religious liberty in a pluralistic age.

Detailed investigation into a transitional period of the Abbey's history, covering the whole community. This book surveys the monastic community at Westminster from the time when Edward the Confessor [1042-1066] adopted it as his burial church down to the end of the reign of king John. Originating according to legend during the Roman occupation, the West Minster was converted from a little collegiate church into a Benedictine monastery around 970. However, the growth of its significance largely dates from its massive endowment by king Edward, who commissioned a lavish rebuilding of the abbey church, a focal point in his programme of monarchical propaganda. Dr Mason covers every aspect of the abbey community in detail examining the careers of the abbots and priors, whilst ensuring that lesser figures are not neglected: monks; craftsmen; lay servants; the personnel of the royal court who were closely associated with the abbey. The author also considers the community's dealings with the growing ecclesiastical bureaucracy; the management of its properties, including its parochial churches; and its relationship with other religious houses. Dr EMMA MASON teaches in the Department of History, Birkbeck College.

The Cistercian Evolution The Invention of a Religious Order in Twelfth-Century Europe Constance Hoffman Berman "An extremely important book, one that will redefine the ways we conceive of medieval religiosity and politics."--"Virginia Quarterly Review" "A significant contribution to the study of the history of monasticism in the twelfth century."--"EHR" "Stimulating, controversial, and compelling, Constance Berman's major revisions of early Cistercian history, "The Cistercian Evolution," should be read by historians of monasticism and will greatly interest scholars in the institutional and religious history of the twelfth century as well as those who study the experience of women in that period."--"The Medieval Review" "An important and provocative book: important because it challenges scholars to rethink a central medieval theme, the creation and expansion of the Cistercian order in twelfth-century Europe; provocative because it brazenly upends received narratives, two generations of accumulated monastic scholarship."--"Speculum" "This important work builds on and continues Berman's solid, indeed splendid, scholarship on the institutional history of the Cistercians in southern France. She explores and rejects much traditional thinking in fields as diverse as the supposed uniformity of Cistercian architecture and the propagation of the order through colonization or 'apostolic foundation, ' pointing out that much Cistercian expansion was by incorporation of existing communities."--"Church History" " Berman's] book changes our understanding of the early Cistercians. It will shape our research for some time to come. Berman's questioning of Cistercian documents, her new picture of Cistercian growth, her warnings about reading thirteenth-century administrative structures and ideas back on to the twelfth, and especially, her insistence that we consider houses of both men and women, make this book an important contribution to the history of religious institutions in the central Middle Ages."--"The Catholic Historical Review" For centuries the growth of the Cistercian order has been presented as a spontaneous spirituality that swept western Europe through the power of the first house at Citeaux. Berman suggests instead that the creation of the religious order was a collaborative activity, less driven by centralized institutions; its formation was intended to solve practical problems about monastic administration. With the publication of "The Cistercian Evolution," for the first time the mechanisms are revealed by which the monks of Citeaux reshaped fact to build and administer one of the most powerful and influential religious orders of the Middle Ages. Constance Hoffman Berman is Professor of History at the University of Iowa and the 1999 May Brodbeck Fellow in the Humanities. The Middle Ages Series 2000 408 pages 6 x 9 ISBN 978-0-8122-2102-2 Paper $26.50s 17.50 World Rights History, Religion Short copy: Reveals the true story behind the growth of the Cistercian order.

This is the first modern study in English of the life and thought of the ninth-century Byzantine theologian and monastic reformer, Theodore the Stoudite. Cholij provides a guide to and a complete analysis of all the primary source material attributed to Theodore. If the monastic leader is considered in the context of the tradition to which he belonged, it is clear that his religious formation occurred within a widely established school of Basilian and Palestinian Christian thought. This encourages a fresh engagement with the subtleties in Theodore's behaviour towards the Byzantine religious and secular leaders of his time and provokes new conclusions concerning the religious and secular issues which involved Theodore in controversy. Cholij refutes the established view of Theodore as a breaker of the traditional; Byzantine church and state relationship and provides new insights into Theodore's true understanding of the involvement of the Emperor in church affairs. In his analysis of the rites of holiness that belonged to Theodore's church, the author identifies a false tradition of sacramental mysteries in a misreading of Pseudo-Dionysios the Areopagite and so offers a radically new definition of the origins of the Orthodox sacramental tradition.

Another World explores day to day life in a small Trappist monastery tucked away in the Ozark foothills. Interweaving memoir with conversations with the monks, observations of community life, and relationships with other visitors, Claassen provides a window into contemporary monastic life. Each chapter describes a day in the monastery. The reading experience is like spending time away from the world in a real community that is very human and gently inspiring. Eighteen black & white photos by the author further evoke the experience.

Now back in print, this short biography of St. Therese of Lisieux by Dorothy Day expresses the surprising yet profound connection between Day - the founder of the Catholic Worker movement who was praised by Pope Francis for her passion for justice and dedication to her faith - and the beloved saint best known for her Little Way. Whether you are called to the active life like Day or a more hidden existence like Therese, you will discover that these paths have much in common and can lead you to a love that has the power to transform you in ways that are unexpected and consequential. Written originally for nonbelievers or those unaware of Therese, the book reflects how Day came to appreciate Therese's Little Way, not as an abstract concept, but as a spirituality that she had already been living. Day's life, like Therese's, was filled with all the humble, self-effacing jobs that were a part of this work. She found in Therese a kindred spirit, one who saw these simple hidden tasks as the way to heaven.

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.

Evagrius Ponticus was the most prolific writer of the Christian Desert Fathers. This book is a study of his life, works, and theology. It gives particular attention to his little-studied exegetical treatises, especially the Scholia on Psalms, as well as his better-known works, in order to present a more balanced picture of Evagrius the monk. The practice of psalmody in Northern Egyptian monastic communities of the late fourth century is explored, as is Evagrius' understanding of psalmody's healing properties, and his recommendation of memorized scripture as a spiritual weapon against temptation. Further chapters discuss Evagrius' model of spiritual progress and his use of medical terminology and theory; the logoi of providence and judgement and their use in Christian contemplation; and Evagrius' controversial Christology and his work, the Kephalaia Gnostica.

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.

This is a study of the life, monastic writings and spiritual theology of John Cassian (c.365-430). Cassian's writings were the bridge between eastern monasticism and the developing Latin monasticism of Southern Gaul, and exerted a major influence on the Rule of Benedict and the theology of Gregory the Great.

Monasteries are among the most intriguing and enduring symbols of England's medieval heritage. Simultaneously places of prayer and spirituality, power and charity, learning and invention, illusion and superstition, they survive today as haunting ruins, great houses and as some of our most important cathedrals and churches.
This book examines the growth of monasticism and the different orders of monks; the architecture and administration of monasteries, the daily life of monks and nuns, the art of monasteries and their libraries, their role in caring for the poor and sick, their power and wealth, their decline and suppression, their ruin and rescue.
Many of Britain's greatest churches, including Westminster Abbey, Canterbury, Durham and Gloucester cathedrals were once monasteries. So too were some of Britain's most evocative and awe-inspiring ruins such as Fountain's Abbey in Yorkshire and Tintern Abbey in Wales. This book tells the story of devotion, work and prayer behind those magnificent edifices.

Since its publication in 1989, "The Riddle of Amish Culture" has become recognized as a classic work on one of America's most distinctive religious communities. But many changes have occurred within Amish society over the past decade, from westward migrations and a greater familiarity with technology to the dramatic shift away from farming into small business which is transforming Amish culture. For this revised edition, Donald B. Kraybill has taken these recent changes into account, incorporating new demographic research and new interviews he has conducted among the Amish. In addition, he includes a new chapter describing Amish recreation and social gatherings, and he applies the concept of "social capital" to his sensitive and penetrating interpretation of how the Amish have preserved their social networks and the solidarity of their community.