Conversations in a Monastery

Abstract

Monasticism is one of the key institutions of western civilization, and yet contemporary monastic communities, popularly regarded as faded relics of medieval religiosity or as marginal places of retreat or escape, have not figured heavily in recent research. Traditional historical studies of monasticism of course abound (Decarreaux 1964, Wynne 1988), as do monographs devoted to the architecture, art, or library holdings of the great monasteries (Butler and Given-Wilson 1979, Fermor 1957, Hobson 1970, McCrank 1983). There are also some sociological studies of the phenomenon of religious life in modern society (Beha 1970, Clarke 1973, Cunningham et al. 1983, Ford 1964, Greeley 1977, Hall and Schneider 1973, Levi 1987, Wombacher 1984). Such studies, conducted largely through the use of surveys, present a portrait of general trends in religious organizations, and of attitudes about church renewal, vocations, ministries, and such controversies as celibacy or the ordination of women. What is lacking in this literature is a sense of what it is like to live in a monastic community, and how insiders perceive the relevance of such a community in a changing world. As Levi (1987:171) puts it: