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Books > Religion & Spirituality > Aspects of religions (non-Christian) > Religious institutions & organizations > Religious communities & monasticism
Activist, nun and spiritual guide Joan Chittister invites us to
create a monastery within ourselves: to cultivate wisdom and
resilience, so we can live more easily and give of ourselves more
fully, no matter our circumstances. 'In every beating heart is a
silent undercurrent that calls each of us to a place unknown, to
the vision of a wiser life, to become what we feel we must be - but
cannot name.' So begins Sister Joan Chittister's words on
monasticism, offering a way of living and seeing life that brings
deep human satisfaction. Amid the recent global disruptions, Sister
Joan calls readers to cultivate the spiritual seeker within all of
us, however that may look across our diverse journeys. The Monastic
Heart carries the weight and wisdom of the Benedictine spiritual
tradition into the twenty-first century. Sister Joan draws deeply
from Saint Benedict, a young man who sought moral integrity in the
face of an empire in the sixth century, not by conquering or
overpowering the empire, but by simply living an ordinary life
extraordinarily well. This same monastic mindset can help us grow
in wisdom, equanimity and strength of soul as we seek restoration
and renewal both at home and in the world. At a time when people
around the world are bearing witness to human frailty - and,
simultaneously, the endurance of the human spirit - The Monastic
Heart invites readers to embrace a new beginning of faith. Without
stepping foot in a monastery, we can become, like those before us,
a deeper, freer self, a richer soul - and, as a result, a true
monastic. 'Essential reading for anyone wishing to find the compass
of their heart and the wellspring from which to live fully.'
Gregory Boyle, New York Times bestselling author of Tattoos on the
Heart
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Little Lost Nun
(Paperback)
Melinda Johnson; Illustrated by David Moses
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In this study of the manner in which medieval nuns lived, Penelope
Johnson challenges facile stereotypes of nuns living passively
under monastic rule, finding instead that collectively they were
empowered by their communal privileges and status to think and act
without many of the subordinate attitudes of secular women. In the
words of one abbess comparing nuns with monks, they were "different
as to their sex but equal in their monastic profession."
Johnson researched more than two dozen nunneries in northern France
from the eleventh century through the thirteenth century, balancing
a qualitative reading of medieval monastic documents with a
quantitative analysis of a lengthy thirteenth-century visitation
record which allows an important comparison of nuns and monks. A
fascinating look at the world of medieval spirituality, this work
enriches our understanding of women's role in premodern Europe and
in church history.
"A Monastery in Time" is the first book to describe the life of a
Mongolian Buddhist monastery - the Mergen Monastery in Inner
Mongolia - from inside its walls. From the Qing occupation of the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries through the Cultural
Revolution, Caroline Humphrey and Hurelbaatar Ujeed tell a story of
religious formation, suppression, and survival over a history that
spans three centuries. Often overlooked in Buddhist studies,
Mongolian Buddhism is an impressively self-sustaining tradition
whose founding lama, the Third Mergen Gegen, transformed Tibetan
Buddhism into an authentic counterpart using the Mongolian
language. Drawing on fifteen years of fieldwork, Humphrey and Ujeed
show how lamas have struggled to keep Mergen Gegen's vision alive
through tremendous political upheaval, and how such upheaval has
inextricably fastened politics to religion for many of today's
practicing monks. Exploring the various ways Mongolian Buddhists
have attempted to link the past, present, and future, Humphrey and
Ujeed offer a compelling study of the interplay between the
individual and the state, tradition and history.
"Almost a prerequisite for any serious study of Sufism in European
languages": this was the verdict of Seyyed Hossein Nasr in his
review of the first edition of "A Sufi Saint of the Twentieth
Century: Shaikh Ahmad al-Alawi his Spiritual Heritage and
Legacy".---In this work, the author, Dr Martin Lings, presents a
vivid picture of the unforgettable figure of the Algerian Shaykh
Ahmad al-Alawi through a short biography by his French doctor and
the translation of the Shaykh al-Alawi's own autobiography. These
are followed by expositions of the Shaykh al-Alawi's teachings
which are based on pure metaphysics and gnosis. Finally, Dr Martin
Lings translates selections from Shaykh al-Alawi's aphorisms and
mystical poetry. The whole work immerses the reader in the world of
North African Sufism both as an intellectual tradition and a living
reality.
The great city of Alexandria is undoubtedly the cradle of Egyptian
Christianity, where the Catechetical School was established in the
second century and became a leading center in the study of biblical
exegesis and theology. According to tradition, St. Mark the
Evangelist brought Christianity to Alexandria in the middle of the
first century and was martyred in that city, which was to become
the residence of Egypt's Coptic patriarchs for nearly eleven
centuries. By the fourth century Egyptian monasticism had began to
flourish in the Egyptian deserts and countryside. The contributors
to this volume, international specialists in Coptology from around
the world, examine the various aspects of Coptic civilization in
Alexandria and its environs, and in the Egyptian deserts, over the
past two millennia. The contributions explore Coptic art,
archaeology, architecture, language, and literature. The impact of
Alexandrian theology and its cultural heritage as well as the
archaeology of its 'university' are highlighted. Christian
epigraphy in the Kharga Oasis, the art and architecture of the
Bagawat cemetery, and the archaeological site of Kellis (Ismant
al-Kharab) with its Manichaean texts are also discussed.
A survey of women's experiences in the American communitarian
movement from the 19th century to the present. This volume covers a
wide range of religious, secular and modern interactive-psychology
communities, focusing on women in the complexity and multiplicity
of their roles.
Was Jesus a wisdom sage or an apocalyptic prophet? Did later
followers view him as the Danielic "Son of Man" or did he use this
expression for himself? These are familiar questions among
historical Jesus scholars, and there has been much debate over
Jesus' eschatological outlook since the controversial work of the
Jesus Seminar. This book asks what is at stake in these debates and
explores how scholarly constructions of Christian origins
participate in contemporary efforts to confirm or challenge
particular understandings of the essence of Christianity. Proposing
that a Jesus-centered perspective has overly shaped our
interpretation of the sayings source Q, Johnson-DeBaufre offers
alternative readings to key Q texts, readings that place an
interest in the community that shaped Jesus at the center of
inquiry.
The manuscript contains the 259 documents in Latin and medieval
Danish which made up the economical foundations for the monastery's
400 year-old history. This first collected translation of the papal
and royal privileges, the court roll and the many deeds of gifts
gives an extraordinary insight into a Danish monastery's national
and international relations.
In 16th and 17th century Ireland religion and nationality fused
together in a people’s struggle to survive. In that
struggle the country’s links with Europe provided a life
line. Members of religious orders, with their international
roots, played an important role. Among them were the Irish Jesuits,
who adapted to a variety of situations – from quiet work in Irish
towns to serving as an emissary for Hugh O’Neill in the south of
Ireland and in the courts of Rome and Spain, and then founding
seminary colleges in Spain and Portugal from which young Irishmen
returned to keep faith and hope alive. In the seventeenth century
persecution was more haphazard. There were opportunities for
preaching and teaching and, at time, especially during the
Confederation of Kilkenny in the 1640s, for the open celebration of
one’s religion. This freedom gave way to the savage persecution
under Cromwell, which resulted in the killing of some Jesuits and
others being forced to find shelter in caves, sepulchres, and bogs,
the Jesuit superior dying alone in a shepherd’s hut on an island
off Galway. There followed a time of more relaxed laws during which
Irish Jesuits publicly ran schools in New Ross and, for Oliver
Plunkett, in Drogheda, but persecution soon resumed and Oliver
Plunkett was arrested and martyred. At the end of the century, as
the forces of King James II were finally defeated, some Jesuits
lived and worked through the sieges of Limerick and then nerved
themselves to face the Penal Laws in the new century.
2021 Association of Catholic Publishers third place award in
inspirational How do you encounter the mystery of the other? This
is the central question at the heart of spiritual direction and
central to the human quest. Hineni-presence-is not an answer to the
mystery but a response to the challenge. At a time when people on
the edges of religion increasingly seek out spiritual direction as
a way of confronting life's unanswerable questions, hineni
indicates a fundamental reality beyond labels. And in an age that
seems to suffer from disconnection, hineni indicates a way in. A
helpful resource for anyone interested in spirituality beyond easy
answers or (in)convenient labels, Hineni: In Imitation of Abraham
is a stark exploration of what it truly means to be present-to
yourself, to the one before you, and to the one we call God.
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