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The Monastery Of The Heart - 6 Prayerful Reading
The Monastery Of The Heart - 6 Prayerful Reading
by SPCK - Joan Chittister
Prayerful Reading “Listen readily to holy reading.” Benedictine spirituality is not an exercise in private devotion or personal pieties. Benedictine prayer is not simply ceaseless recitation of scripture passages and psalmic verse… Taken from The Monastery Of The Heart by Joan Ch…
The Monastery Of The Heart - 9 Equality
The Monastery Of The Heart - 9 Equality
by SPCK - Joan Chittister
Equality “Monastics keep their rank in the monastery according to the date of their entry and the virtue of their lives.” We like to think that equality is the basic characteristic of this—our—period of history. Ironically, inequality is the great sign of our time. Today, everyon…
The Monastery Of The Heart - 21 Humility
The Monastery Of The Heart - 21 Humility
by SPCK - Joan Chittister
Humility “After ascending all these steps of humility, we will quickly arrive at the ‘perfect love’ of God which ‘casts out fear.’” In Benedictine spirituality, there is a twelve-runged ladder that leads to God… Taken from The Monastery Of The Heart by Joan Chittister
Great Christian Thinkers - 1 St Clement, Bishop of Rome
Great Christian Thinkers - 1 St Clement, Bishop of Rome
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
St Clement, Bishop of Rome After the first witnesses of the Christian faith, mentioned in the New Testament writings, we find the Apostolic Fathers, that is, to the first and second generations in the Church subsequent to the Apostles. And thus, we can see where the Church’s jour…
The Monastery Of The Heart - 23 Sacred Art
The Monastery Of The Heart - 23 Sacred Art
by SPCK - Joan Chittister
Sacred Art “They are to practice their craft with all humility.” The bond between Benedictine spirituality and art goes deep. Medieval monasteries were centres of the arts and patrons of the arts because art, as a reflection of beauty- which is itself an attribute of God- came to…
The Monastery Of The Heart - 24 Good Zeal
The Monastery Of The Heart - 24 Good Zeal
by SPCK - Joan Chittister
Good Zeal “Just as there is a wicked zeal of bitterness which separates from God, so there is a good zeal which leads to God.” The Rule of Benedict was written in the sixth century, in an ascetical climate more given to personal self-denial than to the discipline of community bui…
The Monastery Of The Heart - 26 Epilogue
The Monastery Of The Heart - 26 Epilogue
by SPCK - Joan Chittister
Epilogue As we progress in this way of life and in faith, we shall run on the path of God’s commandments, our hearts overflowing with the inexpressible delight of love.” Benedictine spirituality is not a spiritual practice that waxes and wanes, comes and goes, as we grow and chan…
Great Christian Thinkers - 18 St. Eusebius of Vercelli
Great Christian Thinkers - 18 St. Eusebius of Vercelli
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
St. Eusebius of Vercelli I invite you to reflect on St. Eusebius of Vercelli, the first bishop of northern Italy of whom we have reliable information. Born in Sardinia at the beginning of the fourth century, he moved to Rome with his family at a tender age. Later, he was institut…
Great Christian Thinkers - 31 St. Gregory The Great
Great Christian Thinkers - 31 St. Gregory The Great
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
St. Gregory The Great A Life during Crisis One of the greatest Fathers in the history of the Church, one of four Doctors of the West, Pope St. Gregory was bishop of Rome from 590 to 604. He earned the traditional title of Magnus, the Great… Taken from Great Christian Thinkers by …
Great Christian Thinkers - 30 St. Romanus The Melodist
Great Christian Thinkers - 30 St. Romanus The Melodist
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
St. Romanus The Melodist A little-known figure, Romanus the Melodist, was born in about 490 in Emesa (today Homs), in Syria. Theologian, poet, and composer, he belonged to the great ranks of theologians who transformed theology into poetry. Let us think of his compatriot, St. Eph…
Great Christian Thinkers - 40 St Theodore The Studite
Great Christian Thinkers - 40 St Theodore The Studite
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
St Theodore The Studite The saint we meet now, St. Theodore the Studite, brings us to the middle of the medieval Byzantine period, in a somewhat turbulent period from the religious and political perspectives… Taken from Great Christian Thinkers by Pope Benedict XVI
Great Christian Thinkers - 45 St. Peter Damian
Great Christian Thinkers - 45 St. Peter Damian
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
St. Peter Damian One of the most significant figures of the eleventh century, St. Peter Damian, was a monk, a lover of solitude, and at the same time a fearless man of the Church. He was also committed personally to the task of reform, initiated by the popes of the time… Taken fr…
Great Christian Thinkers - 50 Bernard and Peter Abelard: Two Contrasting Theological Models
Great Christian Thinkers - 50 Bernard and Peter Abelard: Two Contrasting Theological Models
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
Bernard and Peter Abelard:Two Contrasting Theological Models In my last chapter, I presented the main features of twelfth-century monastic theology and scholastic theology which, in a certain sense, we might call respectively “theology of the heart” and “theology of reason.” Amon…
Great Christian Thinkers - 65 St. Thomas Aquinas
Great Christian Thinkers - 65 St. Thomas Aquinas
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
St. Thomas Aquinas His Life and Context We continue our meditation on some of the great thinkers of the Middle Ages. We recently looked at the great figure of St. Bonaventure, a Franciscan, and here I discuss the one whom the Church calls the Doctor Communis, namely, St. Thomas A…
Parallel Lives of Jesus - 1e What are the Gospels?
Parallel Lives of Jesus - 1e What are the Gospels?
by SPCK - Edward Adams
What are the Gospels? We have not yet addressed the question, What kind of texts are the Gospels? To what genre do they belong? A genre is a specific category or type of literature, such as romance, science fiction, or detective story. Knowing the genre of a piece of literature c…
Parallel Lives of Jesus - 2c The Shared Story in the Four Gospels
Parallel Lives of Jesus - 2c The Shared Story in the Four Gospels
by SPCK - Edward Adams
The Shared Story in the Four Gospels Using the elements of story listed earlier, we can identify a core story embodied in all four Gospels. There is a common series of events: the appearance and ministry of John the Baptist, the descent of the Spirit upon Jesus, the call of the f…
Parallel Lives of Jesus - 3 The Gospel according to Mark
Parallel Lives of Jesus - 3 The Gospel according to Mark
by SPCK - Edward Adams
The Gospel according to Mark Of the four New Testament Gospels, Mark is the one that most obviously manifests the shared story we have identified. It is also the Gospel that most closely corresponds to the outline of the gospel message given in Acts 10:36–43:1 Mark’s Gospel begin…
Parallel Lives of Jesus - 3d The Characterization of the Disciples