A life of consecration prefigures what Christians hope for by calling into question the value of power, sexuality, and material possessions. Religious life challenges the idea that these things alone bring happiness and shows that we can be more fulfilled, happier, and more whole without being attached to them. Furthermore, detaching ourselves from these desires allows others to live with more dignity and greater ease, as well. Consecrated life, then, is a prophetic witness to the joy of the eschatological call of Christianity. In the words of Pope Francis to religious men and women leading up to the Year of Consecrated Religious, "Wake up the world! Be witnesses of a different way of doing things, of acting, of living!"

Despite its rich history in the Latin tradition, Christian monasticism began in the east; the wellsprings of monastic culture and spirituality can be directly sourced from the third-century Egyptian wilderness. In this volume, John Binns creates a vivid, authoritative account that traces the four main branches of eastern Christianity, up to and beyond the Great Schism of 1054 and the break between the Catholic and Orthodox churches. Binns begins by exploring asceticism in the early church and the establishment of monastic life in Egypt, led by St Anthony and Pachomius. He chronicles the expansion, influence and later separation of the various Orthodox branches, examining monastic traditions and histories ranging from Syria to Russia and Ethiopia to Asia Minor. Culminating with both the persecution and the revival of monastic life, Binns concludes with an argument for both the diversity and the shared set of practices and ideals between the Orthodox churches, creating a resource for both cross-disciplinary specialist and students of religion, history, and spirituality.

Malcolm Barber's classic The Trial of the Templars recounts the dramatic demise of this elite military force in the fourteenth century. Having fought against Islam in the crusades in the East for nearly two centuries, in October 1307 the members of this respected Order were arrested on the order of Philip IV, King of France, and charged with serious heresies, including homosexuality and the denial of Christ. Finding resonances between the fourteenth-century trial and contemporary events, Barber's classic account endeavours to tackle the unresolved controversies surrounding the consequences of the trial, and includes discussions in the context of new work on the crusades, heresy, the papacy and the French monarchy.

Shenoute the Great (c.347-465) led one of the largest Christian monastic communities in late antique Egypt and was the greatest native writer of Coptic in history. For approximately eight decades, Shenoute led a federation of three monasteries and emerged as a Christian leader. His public sermons attracted crowds of clergy, monks, and lay people; he advised military and government officials; he worked to ensure that his followers would be faithful to orthodox Christian teaching; and he vigorously and violently opposed paganism and the oppressive treatment of the poor by the rich. This volume presents in translation a selection of his sermons and other orations. These works grant us access to the theology, rhetoric, moral teachings, spirituality, and social agenda of a powerful Christian leader during a period of great religious and social change in the later Roman Empire.

Using vignettes set in or near his monastery in downtown Newark, New Jersey, Benedictine monk Albert Holtz helps us to see that the Easter mystery, which can often seem abstract and distant, is in fact present all around us. As we accompany him through the fifty days of the Easter season, we listen in on his intriguing interactions with local street people and his inner-city high school students-an insider's look at what goes on in a monk's heart as he chants Vespers to the sound of police sirens. Anyone wishing to deepen his or her experience of the Easter mystery will find this a valuable and engaging book.

Balaam's Donkey is a series of daily reflections based on the homilies preached by Cistercian monk Michael Casey over his fifty years of priesthood. What remained of the original homilies was a large box full of index cards with a few talking points on each. From there, Casey has re-created the homilies and recast them into short reflections, arranged randomly for every day of the year. The range of topics discussed is broad and the approach taken differs with each reflection, most of them colored with a touch of Casey's whimsy and good humor.

Thomas Merton's deep roots in his own Cistercian tradition are on display in the two sets of conferences on the early days of the Order included in the present volume. The first surveys the relevant monastic background that led up to the foundation of the Abbey of Citeaux in 1098 and goes on to consider the contributions of each of the first three abbots of the "New Monastery" that would become the epicenter of the most dynamic religious movement of the early twelfth century. The second set investigates the arc of medieval Cistercian history in the two centuries following the death of Saint Bernard, in which the Order moves from being ahead of its time, in its formative stages, to being representative of its time in its most powerful and influential phase, to becoming regressive with the rise of new religious currents that begin to flow in the thirteenth century. Merton stresses the need to respect the complexity of the actual lived reality of Cistercian life during this period, to "beware of easy generalizations" and instead consider the full range of factual data. The result is a richly nuanced picture of the development of early Cistercian life and thought that serves as a fitting concluding volume to the series of Merton's novitiate conferences providing a thorough "Initiation into the Monastic Tradition."

Around the year 500 St Benedict wrote a short guide for a small community who wanted to live together the balanced life of body, mind and spirit. The Rule of St Benedict became not only the foundational guide for monastic life in the West, but remains a potent spiritual resource that speaks authentically to countless individuals today. Fr Laurence Freeman OSB has described the text as the most important document for Christian living after the Bible. In this reflective commentary, Esther de Waal recognises the profoundly scriptural emphasis of St Benedict's writings. She shows how his Rule may be read personally and prayerfully by people such as herself seeking practical encouragement and support in their following of Christ.

This is the first book in English on priesthood in religious life to be published in twenty years. Its fourteen contributors search for new ways forward in the understanding of the distinct identity and ministry of religious men-committed to community, the prophetic lifestyle of vows or promises, and the particular charisms of their congregations-who have also answered the call to priesthood. Essays in this collection include reflections from a bishop, from the perspective of a lay theologian, from an expert in the social sciences, and on Pope Francis's teachings on priesthood. Included as well are essays that are rooted in particular cultural traditions, in spirituality, and in canon law.

This volume, written by eighteen monks, nuns, and lay scholars from seven countries and four continents, aims to recognize the contribution that Michael Casey has made to Cistercian and Benedictine life over the past forty years. Acclaimed as one of the most significant writers in the Benedictine and Cistercian tradition, Casey has published over one hundred articles and reviews in various journals, written more than eighteen books, and edited many more books and journals. He is a world-renowned retreat master, lecturer, and formator. Contributors include: Carmel Posa, SGS; David Tomlins, OCSO; Helen Lombard, SGS; Manuela Scheiba, OSB; David Barry, OSB; Mary Collins, OSB; Brendan Thomas, OSB; Elias Dietz, OCSO; Constant J. Mews; Bernardo Bonowitz, OCSO; Terrence Kardong, OSB; Elizabeth Freeman; Austin Cooper, OMI; Katharine Massam; Margaret Malone, SGS; Bernhard A. Eckerstorfer, OSB; Columba Stewart, OSB; Francisco Rafael de Pascual, OCSO; and Bishop Graeme Rutherford

The Honey of Souls is the first full-length study of the Explanation of the Psalms by Cassiodorus. While the Explanation became a seminal document for the monastic movement in the West and was eagerly read and widely quoted for centuries, it has languished in relative obscurity in the modern period. Derek Olsen explores Cassiodorus and his strategies for reading as a window into a spirituality of the psalms that defined early Western biblical interpretation.

Widely regarded as a premier journal dedicated to the study of Syriac, Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies was established in 1998 as a venue devoted exclusively to the discipline. An organ of Beth Mardutho, the Syriac Institute, the journal appears semi-annually and will be printed in annual editions. A peer-reviewed journal, Hugoye is a respected academic source for up-to-date information about the state of Syriac studies and for discovering what is going on in the field. Contributors include some of the most respected names in the world of Syriac today.

A new edition of the popular 'office' hymn book, Hymns for Prayer and Praise provides carefully-selected hymns for the daily monastic office, the Calendar of Saints and the seasons of the Christian year. First published in 1996, this new edition has been updated in light of Common Worship: Daily Prayer. A 'chant' and 'melody' form are provided for each hymn, allowing the material to be used in both community and congregational contexts. Available in both Full Music and Melody editions, Hymns for Prayer and Praise draws on ancient patterns of worship to meet present day needs.

Saint Columban: His Life, Rule, and Legacy contains a new English translation of a commentary on the entire Rule of Columban. Columban was a sixth-century Irish monk who compiled a written rule of life for the three monasteries he founded in France: Anegray, Luxeuil, and Fontaines. This volume also includes the first English translation of the Regula cuiusdam Patris ad Virgines, or the Rule of Walbert, compiled by the seventh-century Count Walbert from various earlier rules designed for women, including those of Columban, Benedict, Cassian, and Basil. This book begins with an extensive introduction to the history of Columban and his monks, as well as various indices and notes, which will be of interest to students and enthusiasts of monastic studies.

The well-being of those who are financially secure depends on the well-being of those who are not, those who fall into the working poor, or Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained, Employed (ALICE). We are interdependent both materially and spiritually and are diminished by the extent to which we do not flourish together. In Building the Good Life for All, L. Shannon Jung explores four strategies for mutual flourishing: charity, self-help, cultural value formation, and government action. Rather than theorizing on the causes of people's poverty, the chapters demonstrate how these transformational strategies work and how others can participate in them. Discussion questions with each chapter help groups process what they are learning and how they can apply these strategies personally and in their community. Designed to be read and discussed in seven sessions, this book encourages the social ministry of churches and the community development of neighborhoods. Churches and community groups will find themselves revitalized through this study and through enacting its strategies to help their neighbors.

This book introduces a beautiful fourth-century Coptic discourse on love and self-control in its first English translation. The text's heading attributes it to Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, but this attribution is questionable. Exploring issues of authorship and context, this book locates the origins of On Love and Self-Control in the Upper Egyptian Pachomian monastic community of the mid-fourth century. It then traces the various uses of On Love and Self-Control to the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries, when the single surviving manuscript was copied as part of an anthology at the Monastery of St. Shenoute of Atripe. A partial reconstruction of this now dismembered codex is provided.

Oneness considers the role monastic life plays within the life of the contemporary church. Using a focus on the life, practice and history of the Shepherds Law community as a starting point, the book broadens the discussion to consider how such communities negotiate the boundary between the solitary life and life within their community. With a foreword from Justin Welby and an afterword from Rowan Williams. Table of Contents: Foreword by Archbishop Justin Welby Prologue by Diarmaid MacCulloch Part 1: Setting the Scene Introduction - Stephen Platten 1. Religious Communities and Their Citizenship - George Guiver 2. Northumbria's Long Tradition - Sarah Foot 3. Father William's Baton - Peta Dunstan 4. Shepherds Law: The Story so Far - Stephen Platten Part 2: Unfolding the Mystery 5. The Skete - Andrew Louth 6. Francis of Assisi: A Hermit and His Hermitages - Brother Nicholas Alan Worssam SSF 7. The Monastic Sacrament in Life, Liturgy, Saints and Buildings - George Guiver 8. Gregorian Chant and Monastic Life - Dom Xavier Perrin OSB 9. Monastic Architecture and the Building of Shepherds Law: Monastic Life and Architecture - Christopher Irvine and Ralph Pattison 10. Waiting While Running - George Guiver Afterword by Rowan Williams

An eye-opening biography of a woman at the intersection of three distinct cultures in colonial America Born and raised in a New England garrison town, Esther Wheelwright (1696-1780) was captured by Wabanaki Indians at age seven. Among them, she became a Catholic and lived like any other young girl in the tribe. At age twelve, she was enrolled at a French-Canadian Ursuline convent, where she would spend the rest of her life, eventually becoming the order's only foreign-born mother superior. Among these three major cultures of colonial North America, Wheelwright's life was exceptional: border-crossing, multilingual, and multicultural. This meticulously researched book discovers her life through the communities of girls and women around her: the free and enslaved women who raised her in Wells, Maine; the Wabanaki women who cared for her, catechized her, and taught her to work as an Indian girl; the French-Canadian and Native girls who were her classmates in the Ursuline school; and the Ursuline nuns who led her to a religious life.

Awarded 2019 Best Edition or Translation of an Anglo-Saxon (or Anglo-Latin) Text by the International Society of Anglo-Saxonists St. AEthelwold (904/9 -984), abbot of Abingdon and bishop of Winchester, made the first translation of the Rule of Saint Benedict into English (or, indeed, into any vernacular language) as part of the tenth-century English Benedictine Reform. This movement dramatically affected the trajectory of religious life in early medieval England and influenced the ways in which secular power was conceived and wielded in the kingdom. AEthelwold's translation into Old English reworks Benedict's Latin text through numerous silent additions, omissions, and instances of explanatory material, revealing an Anglo-Saxon ecclesiastical and political reformer intent on making this foundational Latin text more readily accessible to the new monks and nuns of the Reform and to the laity. Presented with related texts composed in Old English, this volume makes AEthelwold's transformation of Benedict's Rule available in Modern English translation for the first time.

In addition to being a prolific spiritual writer and the abbot of the premier Cistercian monastery in northern England, Aelred of Rievaulx somehow found the time and the stamina to travel extensively throughout the Anglo-Norman realm, acting as a mediator, a problem solver, and an adviser to kings. His career spanned the troubled years of the civil war between King Stephen and the Empress Matilda and reached its zenith during the early years of the reign of Henry II. In this work, Jean Truax focuses on the public career of Aelred of Rievaulx, placing him in his historical context, deepening the reader's understanding of his work, and casting additional light on his underappreciated role as politician, mediator, and negotiator outside his abbey's walls.

Corita Kent, an American nun and pop artist, led a life of creativity and love that took her in unexpected directions. In this engaging portrait, Sr. Rose Pacatte, FSP, offers an in-depth look at Corita Kent, gentle revolutionary of the heart, letting the beauty and truth of her life and art speak for itself. Frances Elizabeth Kent's rise to fame coincided with some of the most socially volatile years of the twentieth century. As Sr. Mary Corita of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters, she became a nationally-respected artist-though the Archbishop of her home city of Los Angeles regarded her work as blasphemous. Seeing no contradiction between the sacred and the secular, Corita designed the US Postal Service's iconic "Love" stamp and created the largest copyrighted work of art in the world, on a gas tank for the Boston Gas Company. These examples and more exemplify the theology and point of view of one of the twentieth century's most famous and fascinating artists.