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Brill's Companion to Aelred of Rievaulx explores the life, works, and thought of Aelred, Cistercian abbot of Rievaulx Abbey from 1147 to 1167. As well as introducing the three genres of his works —sermons, spiritual teaching, and history— scholars survey such central topics as Marian devotion, love and friendship, the sacramental nature of community, lay spirituality, and saints’ lives. The work also includes the first supplement to the Bibliotheca aelrediana secunda, listing publications by and about Aelred from between 1996 and 2015. Aelred is rapidly becoming one of the best-known and most loved of the 12th-century Cistercians; this book provides welcome new insights into his contributions to the spiritual and political concerns of his place and time. Contributors are Damien Boquet, Pierre-André Burton, Marsha L. Dutton, Elizabeth Freeman, Daniel M. La Corte, Marie Anne Mayeski, Domenico Pezzini, John R. Sommerfeldt, and Katherine Yohe.
"Explores various concepts of Christian humility in late antiquity, looking closely at some of the ways humility has operated as a relational value in specific contexts involving ascetic women"--
"This book is an accessible discussion of humility for a general audience that aims to recover a lost virtue and to offer humility as a way forward for our divided society. It's a cultural history-the biography of an idea. Recovering humility might serve as an alternative to the diseases of hubris, arrogance, and narcissism that have infected us. The frightening alternative to a life of humility has been the death of civility. History demonstrates that when the virtue of humility is cast aside, hubris follows. This book explores treatments of humility in Greco-Roman history, philosophy, and literature; ancient and medieval Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scriptures and sermons; and Enlightenment and contemporary discussions on education in virtue and citizenship"--
Christian persons today might seek spiritual development and ponder the benefit of mindfulness exercises but also maintain concerns if they perceive such exercises to originate from other religious traditions. Such persons may not be aware of a long tradition of meditation practice in Christianity that promotes personal growth. This spiritual tradition receives a careful formulation by Christian monastic authors in the twelfth century. One such teaching on meditation is found in the treatise De consideratione written by St. Bernard of Clairvaux (d. 1153) to Pope Eugene III (d. 1153). In textual passages where St. Bernard exhibits a clear concern for the mental health of the Pope (due to nume...
"An extremely interesting and important book... makes an important contribution to the history of medieval monastic spirituality in a formative period, whilst also fitting into wider debates on the origins, development and impact of ideas on crusading and holy war." Dr William Purkis, University of Birmingham Monastic culture has generally been seen as set apart from the medieval battlefield, as "those who prayed" were set apart from "those who fought". However, in this first study of the place of war within medieval monastic culture, the author shows the limitations of this division. Through a wide reading of Latin sermons, letters, and hagiography, she identifies a monastic language of war...
Cover -- Half Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- CONTENTS -- Preface -- Introduction: What Is Neot Smadar? -- 1 A Search for Religious Experience -- 2 Washing Dishes -- 3 The Oasis of Neot Smadar: An Overview -- 4 A School for Self-Inquiry -- 5 The School after the Death of Yossef -- 6 The Art of Listening -- 7 Everyday Mysticism -- 8 Constructing the Art Center: Communal Project as Ascetic Practice -- 9 At Work in Neot Smadar: Making Wine, Milking Goats, Learning the Lesson of the Bolt -- 10 The Extended Family: Sociality in Neot Smadar -- 11 A Wedding Gift for Dani -- Conclusion: Looking Forward -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y -- Z
Selections from the written Rules of life of the major religious orders within the three traditions and supporting documents shed light on the spiritual aspects of the regulated life. After exploring general features, La Corte and McMillan set out Rules of early orders, then of later ones influenced by various reforms during the Middle Ages, including the military orders. The first edition was published in 1997. There is no index.
Seeking in Solitude examines select forms of contemporary Roman Catholic eremitic life and practice in the United States. Given the sustained presence of, and increased interest in, the eremitic life and practice, this book responds to the question of the place of the hermit in American Catholicism in a way that neither mystifies nor mythologizes it, but rather attempts to understand it.
Reform is one of the most significant themes, spiritual and intellectual, of the Middle Ages; and it has both institutional and individual dimensions. The Reformation crisis led to further variations on this crucial theme. This volume examines the theme of Reform from a variety of viewpoints while covering more than four centuries. Some contributions look at Apocalyptic dimensions in writings on reform. Another focuses on the influence of Gerhart Ladner on the study of reforming themes and reform movements. These articles will be useful for the study of intellectual history, ecclesiastical history, the history of spirituality and the study of Apocalypticism. Contributors include: Gregory S. ...
For the medieval Cistercian abbot Aelred of Rievaulx, human beings are capable of happiness because human nature is good-but the self-defeating choices of humans have led to their misery. A loving God leads humans to happiness by nudging their free wills toward choosing the good and then, if they respond positively, giving them the power to realize that good. The power, or virtue, which perfects the human intellect is humility, which is not meekness but self-knowledge, gained through introspection and meditation on and through nature and Scripture. The will is perfected through love, without which no human act is good. Love for oneself, for others, and for God are complementary, not competing acts of the will. A special way of loving is firiendship, on which Aelred's teaching is perhaps the most complete and most sophisticated in the history of Christian thought. Perfection is, for Aelred, attainable in this life, since he sees perfection as a process, not a static condition. That condition will be attained in the total fulfillment of the afterlife.