In Contemplative Nuns: are they wasting their lives?, Maria Boulding, a highly-respected spiritual writer and translator, gave her testimony as contemplative nun, in a way both eloquent and forceful. The second text Why Enclosed Nuns? written by Bruno Webb a generation earlier is more theoretical, though written with a robust sense of the reality of enclosed life. The third text written by Jean Daniélou as Nuns – what is special about them? came in the immediate aftermath of the Conciliar ...

Founder of a monastery at Monte Cassino, between Rome and Naples, in the sixth century, St Benedict intended his Rule to be a practical guide to Christian monastic life. Based on the key precepts of humility, obedience and love, its aim is to create a harmonious and efficient religious community in which individuals can make progress in the Christian virtues and gain eternal life. Here, Benedict sets out ideal monastery routines and regulations, from the qualities of a good abbot, the twel...

'An inspiring book of simple spirituality' Galway AdvertiserOriginally published a decade ago, the number one bestseller Calm the Soul: A Book of Simple Wisdom and Prayer was written by the Poor Clares, Galway with the intention of showing us how prayer and moments of quiet contemplation can help us find solace and calm in today's busy world.Now, this specially updated edition brings the original reflections on familiar prayers such as the...

The forgotten truths of Celtic Christianity provide a portal into a spiritual way of experiencing the world.The Celtic Christians beheld the world around them and perceived the divine life of God as upholding every aspect of the material universe. Their prayers and poems, their liturgies and theological interpretations give Christians a sense of faith that is confident in a merciful and infinitely creative, healing God.In this introduction to Celtic Christi...

While many of us are familiar with such famous words as, "Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here. . ." or "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust," we may not know that they originated with The Book of Common Prayer, which first appeared in 1549. Like the words of the King James Bible and Shakespeare, the language of this prayer book has saturated English culture and letters. Here Alan Jacobs tells its story. Jacobs shows how The Book of Common Prayer--from its beginnings as...

Gnosticism is the name given to various religious schools that proliferated in the first centuries after Christ, nearly becoming the dominant form of Christianity, but was eventually branded as heretical by the emerging Christian church. The long and diverse history of Gnosticism is recounted here, as well as reasons for its continued relevance today. Although some Gnostic beliefs are close to mainstream Christianity, others examined here include that the world is imperfect because it was ...

"A threshold is a sacred thing," goes the traditional saying of ancient wisdom. In some corners of the earth, in some traditional cultures, and in monastic life, this is still remembered. But in our fast-paced modern world, this wisdom is often lost on us. It is important for us to remember the significance of the threshold. While it is certainly true that thresholds mark the end of one thing and the beginning of another, they also act as borders-the places in between, the points of transi...

"O Blessed Confidence, O Safe Refuge, Mother of God and Our Mother!"St. Anselm of Canterbury (1033?1109), Doctor of the Church"What is not generally known and only infrequently studied is the role of Our Lady over the centuries as a catechist: teacher of the faith, in a very real sense, primary teacher because she is Mother of God and Mother of the Church and faithful If any one factor might be singled out for the very high level of faith and religious practice in medieval '...

The Jesus Prayer is the most popular devotional prayer in the Orthodox Church and increasingly popular in the West. A simple and direct method of invoking the mercy of Jesus Christ by repeating his Holy Name, it is a way of obeying St Paul’s instruction to “pray always”. In an increasingly noisy and frenetic world, the Jesus Prayer offers us an oasis of inner peace and a lifeline back to God.

‘Throughout his long life Lloyd Geering has wrestled with ‘God’, the deepest fundamental questions of human identity and making sense of living in this world in relationship with others.’ Allan K. DavidsonThe events surrounding the ‘trial’ of Lloyd Geering for heresy in the late 1960s were unprecedented in New Zealand. Charged with ‘doctrinal error’ and ‘disturbing the peace and unity of the church’, Geering was thrust into the heat of public debate. Sourced from his autobiography Wrestlin...

What is Christian Spirituality? How does it relate to non-Christian traditions? Where does it arise from and where is it going? These are some of the key questions addressed in this innovative new guide from Bloomsbury. The Bloomsbury Guide to Christian Spirituality is written by foremost academics in their fields who distill their knowledge for a wide intelligent audience. They do this with huge skill and attention to the needs of modern readers. Appealing equally to those studyi...

This book brings together stories of new monasticism in the UK. Totally Devoted: the challenge of the New Monasticism by Simon Cross shows us communities and groups which all, in widely different ways, live as new monastics, seeking God and carrying on the traditions of their forebears in a way fitting for twenty-first century living.The book features interviews with members of various communities, including among others: The Northumbria Community; Saf...