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THE WISDOM OF THE DESERT FATHERS SYSTEMATIC SAYINGS from the ANONYMOUS SERIES OF THE APOPHTHEGMATA PATRUM
Fairacres Publications 48 Sister Benedicta notes in her Introduction that ‘the virtues and obligations inherent in the gospel for all are presented in the literature of the desert in stark and vivid colours, like a poster in their clarity’. In this collection of Sayings from the desert tradition arranged under subject headings, the monks and nuns of fourth-century Egypt show us that the spirituality of the desert is for everyone. Their teaching speaks to any who follow the way of Christ; it is concerned more with action and behaviour than with mystical experience, with compassion, forbearance, self-knowledge and facing inner conflict.
Julian Reconsidered
Fairacres Publications 106 Sometimes the message of optimism and hope of the fourteenth-century writer Julian of Norwich is understood rather superficially. Two lectures, given at her Shrine in Norwich, which can assist our understanding of her theology are reproduced here. Kenneth Leech shows how Julian can help us to recover a sense of the goodness of creation, and he challenges superficial interpretations of her saying that ‘all shall be well’. Sister Benedicta reconsiders Julian in the light of the solitary tradition and contemporary medieval documents, suggesting that Julian may have been a widow who had borne a child.
Bede and the Psalter
Fairacres Publications 141 The Psalter has always held a central place in Christian worship, and most especially in the monastic tradition. Sister Benedicta shows how the Venerable Bede made an innovative contribution to the devotional use of the psalms with his ‘Abbreviated Psalter’ (included in her text). Bede knew the psalms not only as a monk, but also as scholar and historian, and he was concerned with the application of the psalms to the whole range of human experience. Through his use of the psalms, he helps us to express our own inarticulate experiences and to discover that hope which is beyond our understanding.
Prayer and Thought in Monastic Tradition
Prayer and Thought in Monastic Tradition presents a chronological picture of the development of monastic thought and prayer from the early English Church (Bede, Adomnan) through to the 17th Century and William Law's religious community at King's Cliffe. Essays interact with different facets of monastic life, assessing the development and contribution of figures such as Boniface, the Venerable Bede, Anselm of Canterbury and Bernard of Clairvaux. The varying modes and outputs of the monastic life of prayer are considered, with focus on the use of different literary techniques in the creation of monastic documents, the interaction between monks and the laity, the creation of prayers and the purpose and structure of prayer in different contexts. The volume also discusses the nature of translation of classic monastic works, and the difficulties the translator faces. The highly distinguished contributors include; G.R. Evans, Sarah Foot, Henry Mayr-Harting, Brian McGuire, Henry Wansbrough and Rowan Williams.
The Sayings of the Desert Fathers
`Give me a word, Father', visitors to early desert monks asked. The responses of these pioneer ascetics were remembered and in the fourth century written down in Coptic, Syriac, Greek, and later Latin. TheirSayings were collected, in this case in the alphabetical order of the monks and nuns who uttered them, and read by generations of Christians as life-giving words that would help readers along the path to salvation.
The Hidden Joy
Fairacres Publications 122 The Rule of the Community of the Sisters of the Love of God declares that ‘when the whole being is set on God, the hidden joy which is beyond all natural attainment will be found.’ Written by Sister Jane, who died in 1995, during her years as Reverend Mother, to introduce issues of the ‘Fairacres Chronicle’ (1973-88), these reflections on things which shaped her life tell something of what it means to be set wholly on God.
The Spirituality of Saint Cuthbert
Fairacres Publications 117 Sister Benedicta bases this essay upon the life of one of the Celtic saints who first lived the Christian faith in the British isles, namely Cuthbert of Lindisfarne (634-87 AD). Using two early hagiographies, she explores the meaning of ‘spirituality’ in the life of Cuthbert with reference to the gospel. We are given a picture of the compelling and enduring power of love and holiness.
Two Medieval English Saints: Cuthbert and Alban
Fairacres Publications 217 In his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, the Venerable Bede (673–735) recorded not simply the biographies of the early saints of Britain, but the stories and myths about them, deliberately passed down from those who knew them, describing the impact they had on those close to them. Bede gave a very full account of Alban, despite the chronological distance separating them, but his sources for information about St Cuthbert were those who had known the saint personally, giving Bede’s account considerable authority. His texts are first-rate hagiographies, providing us with compelling prose images of the enduring power of genuine, selfless holiness in the early church. From Bede and other sources, Sister Benedicta is able to paint a picture of the spirituality of these two saints who are so crucial to understanding early Christianity in Britain.
A True Easter: The Synod of Whitby 664 AD
Fairacres Publications 151 Sister Benedicta gives an illuminating account of the Synod of Whitby 664 AD, held to discuss the date on which Easter should be celebrated. The Synod has been presented as a clash between Irish and Roman missionaries representing two different kinds of Christianity, yet the two traditions mingled with no clear-cut nationalistic divisions. All participants were agreed upon the centrality of Easter as the feast of the Resurrection, and through looking together towards Jesus as the risen Lord, they resolved their difficulties.
