Asceticism in Modern Times

Abstract

In this paper I examine how ascetic practices – consubstantial with monastic life of every kind and in every age – have been reinterpreted in the context of New Monasticism, a phenomenon which emerged at the end of the 1970s at the heart of contemporary Catholic monasticism. Starting from empirical research carried out in the most important Italian neo-monastic community, I aim to show how, in its efforts to respond to accusations of “being out of date” and “trivial” which have been levelled at contemporary monasticism, this community has become the interpreter of a process of “invention of monastic tradition” which restores a particular reinterpretation of the grammar of monastic asceticism. An analysis of these changes allows us to throw light on a transformed religious universe in which if, on one hand, traditional concepts of Catholic doctrine have been emptied of their original meanings, on the other they are taking on new ones, sometimes far from, or out of tune with, orthodox guidelines.