This book is a study of the life, monastic writings, and spiritual theology of John Cassian (c., 360-435). His Institutes and Conferences are a remarkable synthesis of earlier monastic traditions, especially those of fourth-century Egypt, informed throughout by Cassian's awareness of the particular needs of the Latin monastic movement he was helping to shape. Sometimes portrayed as simply an advocate of the sophisticated spiritual theology of Evagrius of Ponticus (360-435), Cassian was actually a theologian of keen insight, realism, and creativity. His teaching on sexuality is unique in early monastic literature in both its breadth and its depth, and his integration of biblical interpretation with the ways of prayer and teaching on ecstatic prayer are of fundamental importance for the western monastic tradition. The only Latin writer included in the classic Greek collections of monastic sayings, Cassian was the major spiritual influence on both the Rule of the Master and the Rule of Benedict, as well as the source for Gregory the Great's teaching on capital sins and compunction.
Columba Stewart's book is the first major study of Cassian to be published in twenty years. It begins by establishing Cassian's credibility as a teacher on the basis of his own experience as a monk and his familiarity with the fundamental literary sources. Stewart then turns to Cassian's spiritual theology, paying particular attention to Cassian's view of the monastic journey in eschatological perspective, his teaching on continence and chastity, the Christological basis of biblical interpretation and prayer, his method of unceasing prayer, and his integration of ecstatic experience with an Evagrian theology of prayer.

Contents include: Anglo-Saxon and Later Whitby (Philip Rahtz); Antiquaries and Archaeology in and around Ripon Minster (R. A. Hall); The Early Monastic Church of Lastingham (Richard Gem and Malcolm Thurlby); The Romanesque Church of Selby Abbey (Eric Fernie); Observations on the Romanesque Crossing Tower, Transepts and Nave Aisles of Selby Abbey (Stuart Harrison and Malcolm Thurlby); Some Design Aspects of Kirkstall Abbey (Malcolm Thurlby); The 13th-century Choir and Transepts of Rivaulx Abbey (Lawrence R. Hoey).

Presents Father Columba's chapter-by-chapter commentary designed to help others share St Benedict's words and approach to living the Christian life. The book draws on the author's lifetime of living and teaching the Rule, of his mission experience and on his work with the growing Oblate movement.

Since the 6th century, this has been one of the most influential documents of Western thought and civilization. Full of plain wisdom, the words of St. Benedict are a guide for work, prayer, study, and community life.

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.

The Kievan Caves Monastery was for centuries the most important Ukrainian monastic establishment. It was the outstanding center of literary production, and its monks served throughout the territory of Rus' as bishops and monastic superiors. The most detailed source for the monastery early history is its "Paterik," a thirteenth-century compilation containing stories reaching back to the monastery's foundation in the mideleventh century. Muriel Heppell now makes available the first complete English translation of the Paterik. With an introduction, map, and several appendices, Muriel Heppell discusses the work's Byzantine background and also sets it in its historical context.

The "Harvard Library of Early Ukrainian Literature" is one portion of the Harvard Project in Commemoration of the Millennium of Christianity in Rus'-Ukraine sponsored by the Ukrainian Research Institute of Harvard University. The "Library" encompasses literary activity in Rus'-Ukraine from its beginning in the mid-eleventh century through the end of the eighteenth century. Included are ecclesiastical and secular works written in a variety of languages, such as Church Slavonic, Old Rus', Ruthenian (Middle Ukrainian), Polish, and Latin. This linguistic diversity reflects the cultural pluralism of Ukrainian intellectual life in the medieval and early-modern periods. The "Library" consists of three parts: "Texts," which publishes original works, in facsimile whenever appropriate; "English Translations"; and "Ukrainian Translations." Each volume begins with an introductory essay by a specialist. The two translation series also include maps, appendices, and indices. A cumulative index to the entire "Library" is planned.

"Oneness" considers the role small-group 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 the how such communities negotiate the boundary between the solitary life and life within their community. Contributions include: Sarah Foot on Northumbria's long tradition Peta Dunstan on Monasticism in the 19th century Andrew Louth on the Skete George Guiver on the monastic sacrament in life, liturgy, saints and buildings Dom Xavier Perrin on Gregorian chant and monastic life Christopher Irvine and Ralph Pattison on the buildings of Shepherds Law in their context With an afterword by Rowan Williams