Religious communities and monasticism Books

Book SynopsisMalcolm 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.Trade Review'… this detailed narrative of the last days of the Order of the Temple has deservedly established itself as the standard account in a major European language.' Journal of Ecclesiastical HistoryTable of ContentsPreface; Introduction; 1. The participants; 2. The arrests; 3. The papal intervention; 4. The papal and episcopal inquiries; 5. The defence of the Order; 6. The end of resistance; 7. The charges; 8. The trial in other countries; 9. The suppression; 10. Conclusion; Notes; Chronology of the trial; Recent historiography on the dissolution of the Temple; Bibliography; Index.

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Book SynopsisFor this 1916 work, Archdeacon E. H. Pearce searched through the extensive muniments of Westminster Abbey to provide a list of all the known members of the monastic community until the Dissolution. Over 700 individuals are included, with all the information about them available to the author. While the list is not complete, and the use of other sources would add additional names for the early period, Pearce completed a remarkable achievement. Westminster was a substantial foundation, with an average community of 47 for the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. About half of these, who held some office or function, are naturally better documented than ordinary monks. Scholarship was evidently valued by the abbey, although the majority of the writings evidenced were on the history of the community rather than theological or literary works. Some monks were supported at Oxford, but little is known of the education offered to the remainder.Table of Contents1. Preface; 2. Introduction; 3. Register of monks; 4. Lists of abbots, priors and obedientiaries; 5. Apendix; 6. Index of monks; 7. General index.

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Book SynopsisA revelatory account of how Christian monks identified distraction as a fundamental challenge—and how their efforts to defeat it can inform ours, more than a millennium laterTrade Review"A life of prayer and seclusion has never meant a life without distraction. As Jamie Kreiner puts it in her new book, [The Wandering Mind], the monks of late antiquity and the early Middle Ages (around A.D. 300 to 900) struggled mightily with attention...Charming...[Kreiner uses] the cultural obsession with distractibility to train our focus elsewhere, guiding us from the starting point of our own preoccupations to a greater understanding of how monks lived." -- Jennifer Szalai - The New York Times"A lucid and vivid examination of how early Christian monks created habits of contemplation to 'connect their minds to God,' opening 'panoramic vistas of the universe that transcended both space and time.' Ms. Kreiner, a professor of medieval history at th" -- Dominic Green - The Wall Street Journal"compelling, beautifully written and often amusing" -- Anna Katharina Schaffner - The Times Literary Supplement

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Book SynopsisThe Emergence of Monasticism offers a new approach to the subject, placing its development against the dynamic of both social and religious change. First study in any language to cover the formative period of medieval monasticism. Gives particular attention to the contribution of women to ascetic and monastic life. Trade Review‘An indispensable and valuable book.’ Times Literary Supplement ‘... the book succeeds admirably in making technical material accessible to the general reader.’ English Historical Review ‘The goal of this work, very successfully achieved, is a comprehensive view of monastic history ... throughout the book [Dunn] brings the reader quickly to understand a host of scholarly controversies without overburdening her text. Speculum '... a thorough reading of the major secondary studies of the past generation ... The extensive notes, substantial biliography and detailed index will be of great use.' Ecclesiastical History "This deserves to be widely recommended... a fascinating and thorough book" Morwenna Ludlow, MindTable of ContentsPreface. List of Abbreviations. 1. The Emergence of Christian Eremiticism. 2. The Development of Communal Life. 3. Women in Early Monasticism. 4. The Meaning of Asceticism. 5. The Evolution of Monasticism in the West. 6. The Rule of St Benedicts and its Italian Setting. 7. Britain and Ireland. 8. Irish peregrini and European Monasticism. 9. Monasticism and Society in the Seventh Century. Bibliography. Index.

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Book SynopsisThis bookshows how the kingdom of God has advanced through the progression of distinct covenants, collectively serving as the foundation for God's promise to bring redemption to his people.

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Book SynopsisA journey from where we are to achieving true happiness.Sister Mary David Totah was a nun of the Benedictine contemplative community of St Cecilia''s Abbey on the Isle of Wight. American by birth, she was educated at Loyola University, the University of Virginia and Christ Church, Oxford. After a distinguished teaching career, she entered religious life in 1985. For 22 years until her early death from cancer she guided the young nuns of her abbey with enthusiasm, wisdom and wit.The spirituality to be found in the pages of this book demonstrates to the reader why her influence should have been so great and so deep. Her notes to the novices deal with issues of relevance to a world beyond the cloister: What is the meaning of suffering? How do we cope with living with people who annoy us? How do we relate to a God we cannot see? How do we make the big decisions of life?Sister Mary David''s teaching was both profound and intensely practical, suffused witTrade ReviewA corpus of spiritual sagacity * Catholic Herald *Sr Mary David had an exceptional gift for friendship. The Joy of God, drawn from her notes, letters, and talks to novices ... shows why. Her joy, which was her hallmark, was a gift but it was also a choice, the fruit of effort, of very great, consistent generosity and courage, and of suffering. She was a disciple of joy. * The Tablet *If ever a book title conveyed its content, this one certainly does … That theme of joy, rooted in Christ, runs throughout the chapters, which have been skilfully put together from talks and letters to her novices. They deal with subjects such as growth, freedom, and darkness, and, while written for enclosed nuns, show how such a life develops deep insights into universal subjects. Liberally sprinkled with useful quotations from saints great and small, the book is easy to read. The chapters address how we are to grow in our consecration to Christ, whether that be through baptism or religious profession. * Church Times *Table of ContentsForeword: Sister Mary David Totah - Father Erik Varden OCSO PART ONE: CALLED TO JOY PART TWO: JOURNEY TO JOY Search Decision Growth Freedom Endurance Mercy Darkness Light PART THREE: SURRENDER TO JOY Acceptance-with-Joy: Her Last Lesson Interview Recorded a Few Weeks Before She Died Acknowledgements

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Book SynopsisWith typical eloquence and wisdom, in The Way of St Benedict Rowan Williams explores the appeal of St Benedict's sixth-century Rule, showing it to be a document of great relevance to present day Christians and non-believers at our particular moment in history.For over a millennium the Rule a set of guidelines for monastic conduct has been influential on the life of Benedictine monks, but has also served in some sense as a background note' to almost all areas of civic experience: artistic, intellectual and institutional.The effects of this on society have been far-reaching and Benedictine communities and houses still attract countless visitors, testifying to the appeal and continuing relevance of Benedict's principles.As the author writes, the chapters of his book, which range from a discussion of Abbot Cuthbert Butler's mysticism to Benedict and the Future of Europe', are simply an invitation to look at various current questions through the lens of the Rule and to reflTrade ReviewThe mature and reflective thought here presented can be read with benefit by those of us with decades of stability under our belts no less than by those just beginning to examine the Benedictine manner of following the Gospel. -- James Flint * The American Benedictine Review *Table of ContentsPART ONE Introduction 1 'Shaping Holy Lives' 2 The Staying Power of Benedict 3 Monks and Mission: A Perspective from England 4 From Solitude to Communion: Monastic Virtues and Ecumenical Hopes 5 Benedict and the Future of Europe PART TWO 6 Reforming Monasticism: An Early Medieval Debate 7 A Benedictine on 'Mysticism': Abbot Cuthbert Butler Notes Acknowledgements Note on the Author

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Book SynopsisFranciscan priest Richard Rohr focuses his attention on all frames and doorways to the divine - the alternative way of Francis of Assisi.Trade ReviewA comprehensive examination of Frances and his egalitarian brotherhood. * Methodist Recorder *Anyone familiar with Rohr's innovative theology will recognise how this is firmly grounded in the teaching of St Francis and anyone who has not encountered Rohr before will, I am sure, be intrigued by what he has to say. * Reform *A book well worth reading and engaging with. * Together Magazine *

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Book SynopsisDuring the rise of Islam, Muslim fascination with Christian monastic life was articulated through a fluid, piety-centred movement. Bradley Bowman explores this confessional synthesis between like-minded religious groups in the medieval Near East.

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Book SynopsisDuring the rise of Islam, Muslim fascination with Christian monastic life was articulated through a fluid, piety-centred movement. Bradley Bowman explores this confessional synthesis between like-minded religious groups in the medieval Near East.Trade Review"Bowman's work is thought provoking besides being of great value and interest; it will be extremely useful to those seeking insights into the complexity of monasticism, early Islam, and interconfessional contacts, interaction, religious affiliation, and political allegiance between Muslims and Christians in Late Antiquity and beyond." -Basema Hamarneh, University of Vienna

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Book SynopsisShannen Dee Williams provides a comprehensive history of Black Catholic nuns in the United States, tracing how Black sisters’ struggles were central to the long African American freedom movement.Trade Review“Deeply researched, elegantly written, and boldly argued, Subversive Habits is a brilliant excavation of the long political history of Black nuns. This is extraordinary scholarship that is as accessible as it is groundbreaking and illuminating. This timely and essential book widens the frames of Black women’s history, of religion and activism, and of Black Catholicism.” -- Barbara D. Savage, author of * Your Spirits Walk beside Us: The Politics of Black Religion *“Sweeping in its scope, exhaustively researched, and balanced in presentation,Subversive Habits is a seminal history of Black Catholic Nuns and their struggle for equality and justice in the Catholic Church.” -- Bettye Collier-Thomas, author of * Jesus, Jobs, and Justice: African American Women and Religion *"An awe-inspiring history book about Black nuns who fought for freedom and equality. . . . Subversive Habits is a stirring history text about the remarkable faith and conviction of Black nuns in America." -- Melissa Wuske * Foreword *(Starred Review) "Informative and often surprising, this should be required reading for scholars of Catholic and African American religious history and will undoubtedly become the standard text on its subject." * Publishers Weekly *"The 'uncommon faithfulness' of the nuns in Subversive Habits—taking the church at its word when it teaches that we are all one body—is a model of discipleship from which all Catholics can learn." -- Kathleen Manning * U.S. Catholic *"Shannen Williams's book chronicles the bold steps and persistence African-American sisters took to debunk their rejection by white orders that insisted Black women lacked souls and/or virtue suitable to be admitted to them. . . . This outstanding book, Subversive Habits, is well-researched, quite revealing and a set of history and reality lessons of how Black sisters kept the faith and made the Catholic Church change." -- Ralph E. Moore, Jr. * The AFRO *"This eye-opening, inspiring and thoroughly researched book unearths a history that few Americans know: the challenges and triumphs of Black Catholic nuns in the United States. It’s one of the most exciting new books in Black women’s history and powerfully captures the interconnections between race, religion and politics." -- Keisha Blain * Politico *"Subversive Habits demands a committed reader. However, it will reward the resilient and open-minded reader with apokalupsis—tremendous learning about the scope of racism throughout the American Catholic Church as well as the witness of these Black Catholic women and their contributions to the church and the world. Please take up the reading and stick with it. Draw some perseverance from the women the book depicts and take heart in their commitment to justice." -- Kevin Spinale * America *"Subversive Habits brings a very necessary balance to histories published in recent decades that focus on civil rights work by Catholics. It seems these historians were writing about the exception and not the norm. This is the story of courageous nuns, including those who felt they couldn't remain any longer, who are the true gems of American Catholic history. Every woman religious must read this book." -- Laura Swan * Magistra *"In Subversive Habits, historian Williams has given us a remarkable work of scholarship, one that may be distressing for many readers because she clears away any shred of doubt about the U.S. Catholic Church being racist from its very beginnings." -- Kathleen Finley * The Tablet *"I have never read a more thoughtful account of the Black Catholic experience than Shannen Dee Williams’ Subversive Habits. Williams’ book is a revelatory history of the experiences of Black religious women in understanding race, faith, and change in the Catholic church from the antebellum period through the various waves of civil-rights struggle to the contemporary era." -- Marcia Chatelain * Chronicle of Higher Education * "Williams seeks to tell the story of these women and of the Black and majority white sisterhoods in which they participated. The account is well documented, and Williams includes a look at the current departures of Black sisters from religious life and considers the likely future of Black female religious communities. Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty, and professionals." -- L. H. Hoyle * Choice *"Williams's book is the go-to work on Black women religious in the United States during and in the afterlife of slavery. Future scholars, practitioners, and interlocutors are indebted to this brilliant author for the treasure trove she has gifted us." -- Ahmad Greene-Hayes * Journal of Southern History *Table of ContentsAbbreviations ix Note on Terminology xiii Preface: Bearing Witness to a Silenced Past xv Acknowledgments xix Introduction. America’s Forgotten Black Freedom Fighters 1 1. Our Sole Wish Is to Do the Will of God: The Early Struggles of Black Catholic Sisters in the United States 23 2. Nothing Is Too Good for the Youth of Our Race: The Fight for Black-Administered Catholic Education during Jim Crow 61 3. Is the Order Catholic Enough? The Struggle to Desegregate White Sisterhoods after World War II 103 4. I Was Fired Up to Go to Selma: Black Sisters, the Second Vatican Council, and the Fight for Civil Rights 134 5. Liberation Is Our First Priority: Black Nuns and Black Power 167 6. No Schools, No Churches! The Fight to Save Black Catholic Education in the 1970s 200 7. The Future of the Black Catholic Nun Is Dubious: African American Sisters in the Age of Church Decline 231 Conclusion. The Catholic Church Wouldn't Be Catholic If It Wasn’t for Us 259 Glossary 271 Notes 273 Bibliography 345 Index 371

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Book SynopsisShannen Dee Williams provides a comprehensive history of Black Catholic nuns in the United States, tracing how Black sisters' struggles were central to the long African American freedom movement.Trade Review“Deeply researched, elegantly written, and boldly argued, Subversive Habits is a brilliant excavation of the long political history of Black nuns. This is extraordinary scholarship that is as accessible as it is groundbreaking and illuminating. This timely and essential book widens the frames of Black women’s history, of religion and activism, and of Black Catholicism.” -- Barbara D. Savage, author of * Your Spirits Walk beside Us: The Politics of Black Religion *“Sweeping in its scope, exhaustively researched, and balanced in presentation,Subversive Habits is a seminal history of Black Catholic Nuns and their struggle for equality and justice in the Catholic Church.” -- Bettye Collier-Thomas, author of * Jesus, Jobs, and Justice: African American Women and Religion *"An awe-inspiring history book about Black nuns who fought for freedom and equality. . . . Subversive Habits is a stirring history text about the remarkable faith and conviction of Black nuns in America." -- Melissa Wuske * Foreword *(Starred Review) "Informative and often surprising, this should be required reading for scholars of Catholic and African American religious history and will undoubtedly become the standard text on its subject." * Publishers Weekly *"The 'uncommon faithfulness' of the nuns in Subversive Habits—taking the church at its word when it teaches that we are all one body—is a model of discipleship from which all Catholics can learn." -- Kathleen Manning * U.S. Catholic *"Shannen Williams's book chronicles the bold steps and persistence African-American sisters took to debunk their rejection by white orders that insisted Black women lacked souls and/or virtue suitable to be admitted to them. . . . This outstanding book, Subversive Habits, is well-researched, quite revealing and a set of history and reality lessons of how Black sisters kept the faith and made the Catholic Church change." -- Ralph E. Moore, Jr. * The AFRO *"This eye-opening, inspiring and thoroughly researched book unearths a history that few Americans know: the challenges and triumphs of Black Catholic nuns in the United States. It’s one of the most exciting new books in Black women’s history and powerfully captures the interconnections between race, religion and politics." -- Keisha Blain * Politico *"Subversive Habits demands a committed reader. However, it will reward the resilient and open-minded reader with apokalupsis—tremendous learning about the scope of racism throughout the American Catholic Church as well as the witness of these Black Catholic women and their contributions to the church and the world. Please take up the reading and stick with it. Draw some perseverance from the women the book depicts and take heart in their commitment to justice." -- Kevin Spinale * America *"Subversive Habits brings a very necessary balance to histories published in recent decades that focus on civil rights work by Catholics. It seems these historians were writing about the exception and not the norm. This is the story of courageous nuns, including those who felt they couldn't remain any longer, who are the true gems of American Catholic history. Every woman religious must read this book." -- Laura Swan * Magistra *"In Subversive Habits, historian Williams has given us a remarkable work of scholarship, one that may be distressing for many readers because she clears away any shred of doubt about the U.S. Catholic Church being racist from its very beginnings." -- Kathleen Finley * The Tablet *"I have never read a more thoughtful account of the Black Catholic experience than Shannen Dee Williams’ Subversive Habits. Williams’ book is a revelatory history of the experiences of Black religious women in understanding race, faith, and change in the Catholic church from the antebellum period through the various waves of civil-rights struggle to the contemporary era." -- Marcia Chatelain * Chronicle of Higher Education * "Williams seeks to tell the story of these women and of the Black and majority white sisterhoods in which they participated. The account is well documented, and Williams includes a look at the current departures of Black sisters from religious life and considers the likely future of Black female religious communities. Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty, and professionals." -- L. H. Hoyle * Choice *"Williams's book is the go-to work on Black women religious in the United States during and in the afterlife of slavery. Future scholars, practitioners, and interlocutors are indebted to this brilliant author for the treasure trove she has gifted us." -- Ahmad Greene-Hayes * Journal of Southern History *Table of ContentsAbbreviations ix Note on Terminology xiii Preface: Bearing Witness to a Silenced Past xv Acknowledgments xix Introduction. America’s Forgotten Black Freedom Fighters 1 1. Our Sole Wish Is to Do the Will of God: The Early Struggles of Black Catholic Sisters in the United States 23 2. Nothing Is Too Good for the Youth of Our Race: The Fight for Black-Administered Catholic Education during Jim Crow 61 3. Is the Order Catholic Enough? The Struggle to Desegregate White Sisterhoods after World War II 103 4. I Was Fired Up to Go to Selma: Black Sisters, the Second Vatican Council, and the Fight for Civil Rights 134 5. Liberation Is Our First Priority: Black Nuns and Black Power 167 6. No Schools, No Churches! The Fight to Save Black Catholic Education in the 1970s 200 7. The Future of the Black Catholic Nun Is Dubious: African American Sisters in the Age of Church Decline 231 Conclusion. The Catholic Church Wouldn't Be Catholic If It Wasn’t for Us 259 Glossary 271 Notes 273 Bibliography 345 Index 371

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Book SynopsisIn Dark Age Nunneries, Steven Vanderputten dismantles the common view of women religious between 800 and 1050 as disempowered or even disinterested witnesses to their own lives. It is based on a study of primary sources from forty female monastic communities in Lotharingiaa politically and culturally diverse region that boasted an extraordinarily high number of such institutions. Vanderputten highlights the attempts by women religious and their leaders, as well as the clerics and the laymen and -women sympathetic to their cause, to construct localized narratives of self, preserve or expand their agency as religious communities, and remain involved in shaping the attitudes and behaviors of the laity amid changing contexts and expectations on the part of the Church and secular authorities.Rather than a dark age in which female monasticism withered under such factors as the assertion of male religious authority, the secularization of its institutions, and the precipitous Trade ReviewThe book illuminates the little-explored landscape of female monasticism. Vanderputten demonstrates that the current narratives remain oversimplified, and opens up possibilities for its revision. * Sehepunkte *Previous generations of modern historians describe Lotharingian female monasticism as inadequate, lax, and unobservant. In Dark Age Nunneries, Steven Vanderputten puts us right by offering a compelling alternative analysis. -- Elisabeth Van Houts, Emmanuel College * SPECULUM *An impressive volume [that] will be useful to all scholars of monasticism, particularly in its nuanced analysis of communities' interaction with normative texts. * EARLY MEDIEVAL EUROPE *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Setting the Boundaries for Legitimate Experimentation 2. Holy Vessels, Brides of Christ: Ambiguous Ninth-Century Realities 3. Transitions, Continuities, and the Struggle for Monastic Lordship 4. Reforms, Semi-reforms, and the Silencing of Women Religious in the Tenth Century 5. New Beginnings 6. Monastic Ambiguities in the New Millennium Conclusion

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Book SynopsisIn Dark Age Nunneries, Steven Vanderputten dismantles the common view of women religious between 800 and 1050 as disempowered or even disinterested witnesses to their own lives. It is based on a study of primary sources from forty female monastic communities in Lotharingiaa politically and culturally diverse region that boasted an extraordinarily high number of such institutions. Vanderputten highlights the attempts by women religious and their leaders, as well as the clerics and the laymen and -women sympathetic to their cause, to construct localized narratives of self, preserve or expand their agency as religious communities, and remain involved in shaping the attitudes and behaviors of the laity amid changing contexts and expectations on the part of the Church and secular authorities.Rather than a dark age in which female monasticism withered under such factors as the assertion of male religious authority, the secularization of its institutions, and the precipitous Trade ReviewThe book illuminates the little-explored landscape of female monasticism. Vanderputten demonstrates that the current narratives remain oversimplified, and opens up possibilities for its revision. * Sehepunkte *Previous generations of modern historians describe Lotharingian female monasticism as inadequate, lax, and unobservant. In Dark Age Nunneries, Steven Vanderputten puts us right by offering a compelling alternative analysis. -- Elisabeth Van Houts, Emmanuel College * SPECULUM *An impressive volume [that] will be useful to all scholars of monasticism, particularly in its nuanced analysis of communities' interaction with normative texts. * EARLY MEDIEVAL EUROPE *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Setting the Boundaries for Legitimate Experimentation 2. Holy Vessels, Brides of Christ: Ambiguous Ninth-Century Realities 3. Transitions, Continuities, and the Struggle for Monastic Lordship 4. Reforms, Semi-reforms, and the Silencing of Women Religious in the Tenth Century 5. New Beginnings 6. Monastic Ambiguities in the New Millennium Conclusion

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Book SynopsisMonastic experience in twelfth-century Germany provides a rare window on to monastery life in the tumultuous world of twelfth-century Swabia. From its founding in 992 through the great fire that ravaged it in 1159 and beyond, Petershausen weathered countless external attacks and internal divisions. Supra-regional clashes between emperors and popes played out at the most local level. Monks struggled against overreaching bishops. Reformers introduced new and unfamiliar customs. Tensions erupted into violence within the community. Through it all the anonymous chronicler struggled to find meaning amid conflict and forge connections to a shared past, enlivening his narrative with colorful anecdotes – sometimes amusing, sometimes disturbing. Translated into English for the first time, this fascinating text is an essential source for the lived experience of medieval monasticism.Trade Review'Monastic Experience in Twelfth-Century Germany provides a skillfully annotated and translated text of the Petershausen Chronicles. The Chronicles not only provide a glimpse into twelfth-century German monasticism and society, they are a fascinating read: a saint who refuses to give up his relics, a cruel murderer who boils his victim, battle scenes, visions, miracles, and delightfully detailed descriptions make the Chronicles anything but a dry historical account.'The American Benedictine Review -- .Table of ContentsIntroductionThe Chronicle of PetershausenPrologueBook OneBook TwoBook ThreeBook FourTranslation of the Relics of St. GebhardAdditional EntriesBook FiveBook SixAppendix 1: The Life of St. GebhardAppendix 2: Concordance of book and chapter numberingBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisThis volume brings together texts of the twelfth-century Hildegard of Bingen and the early-thirteenth-century Francis of Assisi to represent religious spirituality after the Gregorian Reform and just prior to or simultaneous with the formation of universities in Western Europe. In an extraordinary way, Hildegard embodies monastic theology and spirituality and provides a contrast to the new thing that would be created with the study of theology in the new Aristotelian idiom of the universities. But equally in contrast to the Benedictine Hildegard, the thirteenth century witnessed a renewed enthusiasm for a more literal following of Christ in a life of penitence and poverty. This is a life of dependence, not on a superior and enclosed community but on the compassion of society at large. Francis would join this movement on his own terms, attract a following, and gradually formulate a spirituality that sent signals of the need to reform individual lives and the institutions of the Church. These two authors, then, are not joined here because of any shared similarity but to help illustrate two quite different spiritualities that animated the lively European twelfth and thirteenth centuries.Table of ContentsHILDEGARD OF BINGEN I – Introduction to Hildegard and the Texts | 3 II – The Texts | 15 Hildegard on the Prologue Selection from Part I, Vision 4 of The Divine Works | 17 Hildegard on Creation Selection from Part II, Vision 1 of The Divine Works | 39 III – Retrieving Hildegard for Christian Life Today | 59 FRANCIS OF ASSISI I – Introduction to Francis and the Texts | 73 II – Foundational Texts of Francis | 85 The Earlier Rule | 87 Later Admonition and Exhortation to the Brothers and Sisters of Penance | 118 The Canticle of Creatures | 129 A Letter to the Entire Order | 133 The Testament | 141 III – Retrieving Francis for Christian Life Today | 147 Further Reading | 161 About the Series | 163 About the Editors | 169

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Book SynopsisIn Keeping the Faith, Jennifer Jean Wynot presents a clear and concise history of the trials and evolution of Russian Orthodox monasteries and convents and the important roles they have played in Russian culture, both spiritually and politically, from the abortive reforms of 1905 to the Stallnist purges of the 1930s. She shows how, throughout the Soviet period, Orthodox monks and nuns continued to provide spiritual strength to the people, in spite of severe persecution, and despite the ambivalent relationship the Russian state has had toward the Russian church since the reign of Ivan the Terrible. Focusing her study on two provinces, Smolensk and Moscow, Wynot describes the Soviet oppression and the clandestine struggles of the monks and nuns to uphold the traditions of monasticism and Orthodoxy. Their success against heavy odds enabled them to provide a counterculture to the Soviet regime. Indeed, of all the pre-1917 institutions, the Orthodox Church proved the most resilient. Based on previously unavailable Russian archival sources as well as written memoirs and interviews with surviving monks and nuns, Wynot analyzes the monasteries' adaptation to the Bolshevik regime. She challenges standard Western assumptions that Communism effectively killed the Orthodox Church in Russia. She shows that in fact, the role of monks and nuns in Orthodox monasteries and convents is crucial, and that they are largely responsible for the continuation of Orthodoxy in Russia following the Bolshevik revolution.

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Book SynopsisIn 1960, five young men arrived at the imposing gates of Parkminster, the largest centre of the most rigorous and ascetic monastic order in the Western world: the Carthusians. This is the story of their five-year journey into a society virtually unchanged in its behaviour and lifestyle since its foundation in 1084. An Infinity of Little Hours is a uniquely intimate portrait of the customs and practices of a monastic order almost entirely unknown until now. It is also a drama of the men's struggle as they avoid the 1960s,the decade of hedonism, music, fashion, and amorality,and enter an entirely different era and a spiritual world of their own making. After five years each must face a choice: to make "solemn profession" and never leave Parkminster or to turn his back on his life's ambition to find God in solitude. A remarkable investigative work, the book combines first-hand testimony with unique source material to describe the Carthusian life. And in the final chapter, which recounts a reunion forty years after the events described elsewhere in the book, Nancy Klein Maguire reveals which of the five succeeded in their quest, and which did not.Trade Review"Maguire has produced a vivid, gripping and deeply touching picture of a world that is now lost. For an outsider to enter such a closed society and to capture its essence is an astonishing achievement: this is a work of history, but it has all the best qualities of a psychological novel." Diarmiud MacCullogh "It is fascinating to enter, if only for a few hours, into this way of life, where extreme devotion forms at last a bit of a bulwark against humanity's digressions." Los Angeles Times"

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Book SynopsisIn the late eighteenth century, the French Republic evicted religious orders from their monasteries and forced them back into secular life. "Regulars and the Secular Realm" is a detailed account of the monks' plight, chronicling the injustices perpetrated by government officials as well as the general antagonism towards the Catholic Church. As Mary Kathryn Robinson reveals, this fraught period of history offered a promise of 'liberty for all' - except Catholics. This vivid recounting of Benedictines and the French Revolution will interest scholars and history buffs alike.

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Book SynopsisIn the late eighteenth century, the French Republic evicted religious orders from their monasteries and forced them back into secular life. "Regulars and the Secular Realm" is a detailed account of the monks' plight, chronicling the injustices perpetrated by government officials as well as the general antagonism towards the Catholic Church. As Mary Kathryn Robinson reveals, this fraught period of history offered a promise of 'liberty for all' - except Catholics. This vivid recounting of Benedictines and the French Revolution will interest scholars and history buffs alike.

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Book SynopsisIncludes Old French text and English translation of the life of Saint Eufrosine, who dressed as a man to become a monk in a monastery. Mixing hagiography, romance, epic, and theology, this work from around 1200 CE raises questions about sexuality and identity, family relationships, and spiritual and secular values.Trade ReviewA welcome addition to the growing corpus of medieval hagiographic works in translation designed for upper-division classroom use." —Nancy Vine Durling, Independent Scholar"Ogden's Eufrosine fills a need for saints' lives in translation." —Maureen Boulton, University of Notre Dame

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Book SynopsisFour translations of major accounts of the life of the fourth-century Egyptian desert father St. Bishoi, in one volume Saint Bishoi of Scetis (d. ca. 417) enjoys tremendous popularity throughout the Christian east, particularly among the Copts. He lived during a remarkable era in which a litany of larger-than-life monastics lived and interacted with one another. Even then, Bishoi stood out as the founder of one of the four great monasteries of Scetis (Wadi al-Natrun): those of Macarius, John the Little, Bishoi, and the Baramus. Yet in spite of Bishoi’s prominence, the various recensions of his hagio-biography have received sporadic, scattered attention.The Life of Bishoi joins other Lives of eminent monastics of early-Egyptian monasticism: the Lives of Antony, Daniel, John the Little, Macarius, Paphnutius, Shenoute, and Syncletica. These Lives are vital for what they tell us about monastic politeia (way of life), spirituality, and theology, both of the early monastics and of those who later wrote, translated, and revised the Lives. They appeared first in Greek and Coptic, and later generations translated and revised them into Syriac, Arabic and Ge‘ez (Ethiopic).This definitive volume contains the first English translation of the Greek, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic Lives of Bishoi, each translation accompanied by an introduction that focuses on certain aspects of the source text. It also has the first transcription and English translation of an important Greek text. The General Introduction provides rich context about the texts and textual traditions in the various languages, and thoroughly revises our knowledge about the Syriac tradition, the translation of the Syriac text here now consequently providing what is the best translation in any modern language. CONTRIBUTORSTim Vivian, California State University, BakersfieldMaged S.A. Mikhail, California State University, FullertonRowan Allen Greer III (1935–2014), an Episcopal priest and Walter H. Gray Professor of Anglican Studies at Yale Divinity School, was author of Broken Lights and Mended Lives: Theology and Common Life in the Early Church and Anglican Approaches to Scripture: From the Reformation to the Present. Robert Kitchen is a retired minister of the United Church of Canada, living in Regina, Saskatchewan. He read for the D.Phil. (Oxford) in Syriac Language and Literature and has taught Syriac studies in Sweden and Austria. Apostolos N. Athanassakis was Argyropoulos Chair in Hellenic Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.Trade Review"A work of seminal and ground-breaking scholarship"—Midwest Book Review"This volume is undoubtedly both a milestone in the study of early Christian spirituality and a tremendous achievement. Joining the various receptions and revisions of a fascinating biography of a great desert father, it reveals how great literature shapes and is shaped by its reception."—Samuel Rubenson, Lund University"The editors and translators of this superb edition of the major Vitae of the fourth-century Egyptian desert father Abba Bishoi (Greek: Paisios of Scete) have put us greatly in their debt by collating sources never brought together in this way before. The translations are 'firsts' for English readers; the texts important for scholars. Bedjan's publication of the Syriac Vita in 1892 was a pioneering work, but suffered many deficiencies in terms of its sources and therefore in its editorial conclusions: here it has been remedied by manuscripts he did not know. The other Vitae have gone direct to the most important extant manuscripts. In this set of elegant fresh translations, the combined work of several of the world's most eminent scholars of monasticism, we now possess the definitive account of one of the great figures at Scete. The introduction and notes generously contextualize the life of its protagonist, offering a fascinating window into day to day monastic life around an important (and visionary) charismatic leader."—John A. McGuckin, Oxford University Faculty of Theology“For those fascinated by the curious world of Christian saints, and especially by the circuitous histories of how their tales were transmitted, this volume on the vita(e) of St. Bishoi in Greek, Ethiopic, Syriac, and Arabic fits the bill on multiple levels. The attention its authors and editors pay to the intricate processes of storytelling, translation, and the cultivation of moral virtue brings the history and legacy of an important Egyptian monastic saint to life. The collective labor that went into the production of this volume was undoubtedly large. I suspect the benefits accruing to interested readers will be even larger.” —Stephen J. Davis, Yale University"The value of the present collection is to be found not only in the translations themselves but in the unstintingly generous offering of research provided by the meticulous tables, appendixes, indexes, endnotes, and introductions that provide the reader a means of enjoying every element unique to each major vita-retelling in the convenience of one synthesized volume."—St Vladimir's Theological QuarterlyTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsForeword by Mark N. SwansonGeneral Introduction Chapter One: The Greek Life of Paḯsios in TranslationIntroductionAppendix: Four Key Terms in the Life of PaΐsiosThe Greek Life of Paΐsios: English TranslationIndex to Some Key Monastic Terms in the Life of PaΐsiosTranslationChapter Two: The Greek Life of PaΐsiosThe Greek Text: BnF Grec 1093Chapter Three: The Ge‘ez (Ethiopic) Life of Abba Bsoy in TranslationIntroductionEnglish TranslationChapter Four: The Syriac Life of Bishoi in TranslationIntroduction English TranslationChapter Five: The Arabic Life of Bishoi in TranslationIntroductionEnglish TranslationAppendix: Carrying Christ BibliographyIndex

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