This is a collection of reminiscences from visitors to the Abbey of New Clairvaux in Vina, California, a Trappist monastery These contributions bring to life that tension between the secular and the holy; between inside and outside the monastic enclosure. These essays are about being in the moment as one walks to the chapel, or has a cup of tea; and about coming to or leaving the monastery, away from the place and desiring to be there. These are simple, straightforward poems, notes and diary extracts. None of the writers is an expert in theology or church history, or any master of the divine. None is a best-selling author. These are just people who have found something strange and wonderful, and write from the heart. They may remind you of something in your own life.

Anglican Dominicans: An Introduction for Seekers and the Curious offers the reader an opportunity to explore a fascinating new form of religious life, which mixes together ancient monastic commitments, internet communication, and a zeal for spreading the message of the Gospel. Traditional orders of monks and nuns have existed for thousands of years, but the Anglican Order of Preachers embraces men and women, married and single, ordained and lay, from across the world.

This Is A New Release Of The Original 1901 Edition.

Few things are as eternal in this world as man's quest to better know and understand his Creator. Because the human mind is far too small to fully grasp the Almighty, believers who try to approach Him intellectually often freeze up, entering into a cloud of unknowing. But God is approachable. The Cloud of Unknowing dates back as far as the fourteenth century and has inspired generations of seekers in their efforts to connect with God. Created as a primer to instruct young monks to develop techniques for encountering God, its tone is not academic or austere but rather a loving call for believers to grow closer to God through meditation and prayer. If you desire to experience God in your heart, and yourself in God's heart, The Cloud of Unknowing will be a book to read and reread for a lifetime.

On February 2, 2006, two intrepid women set off from Portland, Oregon via Greyhound bus for Limon, Colon, Honduras. There they would establish a new thing, a small monastery and medical mission using sustainable living, voluntary poverty, and religious practice as nuns following Methodist and Quaker traditions of worship and governance. Soon La Doctora, Pediatrician Beth Blodgett, and La muchacha, her assistant, Prairie Naoma Cutting, would be deeply involved helping in nearby clinics. Reading like a frontier women's story, this adventure (still continuing in 2010) has fire, hurricanes, and a robbery as well as other exciting accounts. These gringas become, by the close of the collection of letters home, true hermanas, religious sisters to the neighbors in their rural community. Now professed nuns, they invite other courageous women to join them in a life of service.

"Overall, this is a powerful work that touches, delights, and amazes." --Judge: Writer's Digest 21st Annual Book Awards. "In This Forest of Monks" was selected as a finalist in both the Poetry and the Spirituality categories of the 2013 Next Generation Indie Book Awards (judge in Poetry: Kenneth Salzmann. Judge in Spirituality: Richard Cook). It also received the following review/statement from the judge of the 21st Annual Writer's Digest Book Awards: "In This Forest of Monks" examines inner and outer worlds--the poet's life as a Trappist monk and his return visit to the forest surrounding the abbey from which he was expelled years earlier; and the monks' spiritual world and its connection to the physical world. The poet accomplishes this with great skill and art. The writing is excellent; the Han Shan-inspired pieces are simple, clean, and direct. The longer poems are crafted with utmost care and clarity, always with lovely texture and sound. Even when recounting the pain of the poet's expulsion from monastic life, the poems create a serenity in the reader, as if reading were part meditation. There are some stunning, fresh metaphors, such as '...incense rising out/of the puffing thurible of my body' in 'Hiking the Hill That Overlooks the Trappist Abbey Prior to First Vespers of Christmas, 1990.' The poet aids the success of such images and other references by providing a glossary/notes section that defines terms and identifies points of geography; this thoughtful inclusion adds greatly to the reader's enjoyment of these poems. Often religious icons and imagery are grafted to aspects of nature, as in 'Portal' where an old monk's 'fingers and the twigs of trees' pray 'their rosary beads of rain.' The poet, though, also describes an agonized yearning and sense of mourning as he stands on the outside looking in at the setting of his previous life. An exquisite example of this is 'Through the Cloister Fence' as the poet weeps counting the cemetery crosses that have appeared since his departure; monks have died and the trees he planted are green, but 'Which ones, or how many, who can say?' The material is organized in sections that create a narrative, starting with nine poems addressing the poet's expulsion in 1992; then a section of poems about his years in monastic life; and finally, poems of return. Physically, the volume is nicely done, with an enhanced photo of a forest path that's both colorful and appropriately mystical...Overall, this is a powerful work that touches, delights, and amazes."

There are many guides and books that give excellent wisdom for those who would seek to make an offering of their lives to God. Still there is little practical information about how about how to go about the day to day business of being a Benedictine Oblate. This little book is an attempt to give practical suggestions to the beginner and the "expert." However, if what you do, gets you closer to God every day, then don't change a thing. But if you need new materials, new practices, new ideas or attitudes; then just consider reading this booklet. This little book is a collection of suggestions and who knows maybe one will turn out to be just the thing that makes all the difference. These are strictly my experiences and opinions. I hope that they will be of some assistance to you as you try get closer to God.

A fascinating glimpse into the world of Medieval Monasticism. Durham Cathedral is one of the most complete sets of monastic buildings in Europe, housing clues to the life of a prominent and thriving medieval Benedictine community. Through its buildings, and the books, treasures and records housed within, the world of Durham's monastic past comes alive once more, offering clues to the history of this vital Norman stronghold, and providing a critical exemplar of the medieval monastic life. "In republishing this excellent little book, we hope that the monastic tradition that was lived at Durham for nearly five centuries will come alive for contemporary readers. Today, Benedictine values continue to undergird our life as a Christian community in Durham ...so I hope that this book will help people of all ages to understand more about this cherished aspect of our history and heritage, and that through its insights into the past, it will add to visitors' enjoyment of the Cathedral and its precincts today." - The Very Revd Michael Sadgrove, Dean of Durham from the foreword

Edited By R. F. Serenus Cressy And Right Reverend Abbot Sweeney. Extracted out of more than Forty Treatises.