Monastic Spirituality Research Articles

My Friend the Cross: Cross-Directed Prayer in Seventh-Century Monastic Communities and New Media Studies

While scholars have long recognized the central importance of the cross within Syriac-speaking Christian communities in late antique Mesopotamia, the question of how physical crosses functioned as aids for prayer has only recently begun to be explored. The present article addresses this question with respect to East Syrian monastic communities in seventh-century Mesopotamia, focusing on the context of the monastic cell. Bringing together accounts of cross-directed prayer in Syriac monastic literature with archaeological evidence for crosses from the region, the article concludes that physical crosses played an important role as mediating devices of divine presence that were both always at hand and the frequent objects of monastics’ sensorial attention. These conclusions are subsequently discussed through the lens of recent research from the field of new media studies toward the goal of understanding how cross-directed prayer may have served to bridge monastic spirituality and sociality in Mesopotamia.

Naufrage du mouvement liturgique contre les Alpes bernoises. Regard sur l’architecture sacrée en Valais

In Hegel’s view, questioning the sacred seamlessly intertwines with the very essence of architecture – namely “that which binds together a multitude of souls”. The Church assumes a fundamentally spiritual significance, predominantly and comprehensively conveyed through its architectural space. Meanwhile, its surroundings, the way it is expressed externally, encompasses another layer of meaning that falls outside the realm of the liturgical movement. The exterior is a source of light that structures movement in space, but also the place where another meaning is materialised, more clerical than spiritual, a meaning encapsulated by the political dimension of its form. This dimension is a question of scale, expressed through the monumentality of a singular object, but also through the multiplication of this object across a territory. During the 20th century, just over a hundred churches and one hundred and fifty chapels were built in Valais. These projects fulfilled their political role because they gave the ecclesiastical institution a territorial dimension, but did they respond to the spiritual mission as professed by the community gathered around Romano Guardini in Rothenfels, Germany, during the second quarter of the 20th century? Among countless projects that reverently extol the materials, form, and technical potential of reinforced concrete, some leverage the formal potential of space in connection with a liturgical renewal, aiming to rediscover monastic spirituality against the triumphant Church (Ecclesia triumphans).

Western Monastic Spirituality: Cassian, Caesarius of Arles, and Benedict ed. by Roger Haight, SJ, Alfred Pach III, and Amanda Avila Kaminski (review)

Western Monastic Spirituality: Cassian, Caesarius of Arles, and Benedict ed. by Roger Haight, SJ, Alfred Pach III, and Amanda Avila Kaminski (review)

Gaya Kepemimpinan Religius Katolik pada Yayasan Pendidikan Katolik Keuskupan Amboina (Suatu Kajian Multi Situs)

Abstrak
 This research examines the Catholic religious leadership style at Siwa Lima Vocational School, Tourism Vocational School and Sanata Karya High School located in Langgur, Southeast Maluku, to reveal and know four things: Style, spirituality, characteristics and the impact of Catholic religious leadership implemented in the three educational units mentioned above. The research was carried out using observation, interview and documentation techniques as well as the symbols that appeared on the research subjects. The results of the study show that Catholic religious who lead educational institutions, in addition to following Jesus' leadership model, are also imbued with monastic spirituality which is lived and lived by every religious in the monastic community. The leadership that is carried is believed to be a gift from God and not merely a trust given by the Foundation. Leadership style as a servant, shepherd and caretaker is a leadership model that influences and inspires members with life examples and spiritual authority, which builds an educational unit into a community of love or school of love. The spirituality of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and John Maria Vianey greatly influences the way of thinking, feeling and acting of religious leadership in three educational units; a spirituality lived and lived by Catholic religious based on an intimate relationship with Jesus through prayer and the Eucharist. The quality of Catholic religious leadership based on this relationship has a concrete impact on: exemplary, discipline, selfless work, spirit of service, respect for each person, cooperation are the values that are fought for.

Aspects of Monastic Formation, Probation, and Education in Saint Gregory Palamas

"The theology of Saint Gregory Palamas is of crucial importance for monastic spirituality. In his writings as well as in his Vita, composed by Philotheos Kokkinos, there are several instances which deal with aspects of a novitiate, that is, the process of becoming a monk. These elements will be examined in the context of Byzantine monastic rules (typika) and the earlier monastic tradition, both in East and West. In the sixth century, St. Benedict of Nursia adopted these early Eastern traditions for Western monasticism. Therefore, they constitute a strong common ground until today. This article attempts to show some traits of St. Gregory Palamas’ own monastic “career,” what he himself considered important, and what could be considered important for today. Keywords: St. Gregory Palamas, St. Benedict of Nursia, monasticism, monastic spirituality, novitiate "

Loneliness, Solitude, Community: Insights from the Apophthegmata Patrum

The present article provides an urban reading of the Apophthegmata Patrum, in the broader context of the rediscovery and re-evaluation of monastic spirituality by and for the laity. On the one hand, the 21st century is considered to be the age of loneliness; on the other hand, loneliness defined the lives of the desert fathers, albeit its nuance was different. The wisdom of these elders could be a cure for contemporary loneliness, or, at least give us a set of models to navigate our loneliness.

Under the Virgin's Veil: Monastic Spirituality, Gender and Power in Stefan Iavors'kyi's Sermon to the Nuns of the Ascension Convent in Kyiv

The article offers a detailed analysis of a sermon on the Intercession of the Theotokos preached in 1694 by Stefan Iavor'skyi to the nuns of the prestigious Ascension Convent in Kyiv, the sister house of the male Monastery of the Caves. The sermon places exceptional emphasis on clothing metaphors: because nuns wore special clothes that defined their identity, and textile production was considered emblematic of female and monastic virtue, I will use this observation to embark on an examination of the identity, intentions and anxieties of the audience, clarifying how gender and power relations motivated the production of a text that emphasized monastic values while negotiating clerical expectations for the nuns' lives and self-reflection.

Western Monastic Spirituality: Cassian, Caesarius of Arles, and Benedict ed. by Roger Haight, Alfred Pach III, and Amanda Avila Kaminski (review)

Western Monastic Spirituality: Cassian, Caesarius of Arles, and Benedict ed. by Roger Haight, Alfred Pach III, and Amanda Avila Kaminski (review)

"The social and theological context of Saint Gregory Palamas's approach to defending the hesychastic prayer"

At the heart of the monastic spirituality is the development of hesychasm as a means toward achieving an experience of the divine (theosis), and this development proved to be of immense importance in the history of the Orthodox Church. This development of hesychasm, focused on the necessity of ceaseless inner prayer, greatly influenced later Orthodox Church history, spirituality and pastoral counseling. For reasons which will be discussed within this paper, hesychastic spirituality came to the forefront in the fourteenth century, especially through the substantial contribution of Saint Gregory Palamas (1296-1359), and since that time it has played a key role as a renewal movement within Eastern Christianity up to the present day. In his defense of hesychasm prayer, Saint Gregory Palamas formulated a solid theological justification based on the writings of the past Church Fathers, which means that he was in full conformity with the Orthodox Christian tradition.

Coenobium: Reflections on Monastic Community by Michael Casey

Reviewed by: Coenobium: Reflections on Monastic Community by Michael Casey Rev. John Bayer, O. Cist. Coenobium: Reflections on Monastic Community. Michael Casey, OCSO. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2021. Pp. viii+ 212. $19.95 (paper), $14.99 (ebook). In eleven thoroughly engaging chapters, Rev. Michael Casey, OCSO aims to supplement the books on monastic spirituality addressed to individuals by "approaching matters from the viewpoint of community life" (1). His approach is important, for life in community is intrinsic to the Christian vocation: "Our corporate identity is not something accidental added to our personal vocation. We become most fully what God intends us to be by becoming most fully and deeply united with those around us" (2). The importance of community in monastic life is rooted in the specifically Christian identity of the monastery as an expression of the Church: "a monastic community is not merely a gathering of individuals concerned with spiritual advancement but an expression of the ecclesial mystery" (47). In Chapter 1, C. offers a theological justification for his approach by "approaching the [monastic] community as expressive of the mystery of Christ's church" (8). Central to his thesis is the claim that monks and nuns belong to their communities by a specific call of God, analogous to the way the Church is constituted by persons who have been called to baptism (10–11). The centrality of vocation leads him to affirm the centrality of fostering the specific call of each person who makes up the community: "the community exists to service the vocations of those who are its members" (13). In addition, he argues that the ecclesial identity of the monastery means that liturgy, Scripture and attention to "the spiritual flourishing of the members" are "three aspects" of a "mandate" for community life (19). These three topics seem to correspond roughly to chapter 2 (liturgy), chapters 3 and 4 (lectio divina and prayer), and chapters 5–11 (the spiritual flourishing of the community). A great merit of this book is the practical sense C. brings to so many common questions in monastic life. Through his work as a scholar and retreat director, he has undoubtedly read much about the monastic tradition and seen many communities at different stages in their development. In Coenobium, he successfully weaves together erudition and personal experience to articulate his wisdom. He frequently quotes ancient monastic authors, contemporary scholars (of various disciplines) and personal anecdotes to illustrate his points with accessibility, depth and concrete applicability. [End Page 207] Anyone interested in community life can read this book fruitfully, though it appears written especially for monks and nuns. I can imagine it serving as table reading for a community. One could certainly read it fruitfully by oneself, but it reads like a series of retreat talks addressed to a diverse audience and designed to serve as a catalyst for community reflection and conversion. I learned a lot from Coenobium. It is a great book and merits engagement. One thesis that struck me as a bit curious is the contention "we have […] to seek to be content to allow others to be what they are, to rejoice because they are different from us" (89). To be sure, as C. says, we must cherish "each as a particular manifestation of the glory of God" (73). Still, I was struck by how different is St. Paul's claim, at least in a superficial sense, when he says to Agrippa, "I would pray to God that sooner or later not only you but all who listen to me today might become as I am except for these chains" (Acts 26:29). As I read this book, I thought I saw a tension between the blessing of difference and the clarion call to conversion. For example, C. defends the right of monks and nuns to grow idiosyncratic in the name of spiritual fulfillment. Healthy monasteries, he says, will "generate one or two or more characters who may be termed 'eccentric'" (5). To generate is much more than to tolerate lovingly. Is this an unwitting defense of what one author has decried as the "Mertonization" of religious life, or the refocusing of the spiritual life onto self-indulgence or self-actualization...

Saint Benedict's Wisdom: Monastic Spirituality and the Life of the Church. By Luigi Gioia OSB. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2020. vii + 223 pages. $24.95 (paper).

Saint Benedict's Wisdom: Monastic Spirituality and the Life of the Church. By Luigi Gioia OSB. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2020. vii + 223 pages. $24.95 (paper).

MONASTIC SPIRITUALITY IN THE TEACHING OF SAINT BASIL THE GREAT

The spiritual training of the exceptional beacon of the Cappadocian Fathers, Saint Basil the Great, influenced the subsequent ecclesial life, but especially the monastic one, by the divinely inspired rules, which became essential for all the subsequent monastic settlements, the fruits of the monastic spirituality according to his teaching being substantiated in the principles governing the life of the monastic community by love, obedience, teaching, knowledge, asceticism, without despising the hermitic (skete) life, trying to combine the most useful principles of both of these forms of monastic asceticism.

Saint Benedict’s Wisdom: Monastic Spirituality and the Life of the Church by Luigi Gioia, O.S.B. (review)

Saint Benedict’s Wisdom: Monastic Spirituality and the Life of the Church by Luigi Gioia, O.S.B. (review)

Shaped by the End You Live For: Thomas Merton’s Monastic Spirituality by Bonnie B. Thurston (review)

Shaped by the End You Live For: Thomas Merton’s Monastic Spirituality by Bonnie B. Thurston (review)

Reading the Way to the Heavenly Jerusalem in the Book of Armagh

This paper examines the series of text-image devices found in the Book of Armagh (Dublin, Trinity College Library, MS 52), at the explicit to the Gospel of John (fol. 103r), the tituli to the Book of Revelation (fol. 159v), and the Revelation explicit (fol. 170r), to suggest how the manuscript might originally have been used in meditative reading. By setting them in the context of early medieval monastic spirituality and contemplative practices, it explores how these devices might present the reading of scripture as a path to salvation.

Monasticism and Ecumenism: the Monastic Community of Bose

Abstract The paper outlines the history and the spirituality of the Monastic Community of Bose, founded in 1968 in Italy by fr. Enzo Bianchi (b. 1943), in the broader context of the ecumenical movement and of the monastic renewal of the twentieth century, when monasticism rediscovered its vocation to unity, as an epiclesis to the Holy Spirit so that all may be one (Jn 17,22). In particular, the article considers the monastic spirituality of Bose, its roots in the tradition of the monastic Fathers both Eastern and Western, its peculiar ecumenical vocation and ecumenical service.

La meditación según Anselmo de Canterbury

Con el tema de la meditación somos introducidos directamente en el ámbito de la espiritualidad monástica, de la cual San Anselmo de Canterbury es uno de los representantes más significativos de la Alta Edad Media. Como monje benedictino, él reconoce y vive plenamente la reflexión sobre sí mismo entendida como introspección: se trata del ejercicio del retiro para, en silencio, buscar a Dios. El distanciarse del mundo (un tipo de contemptus mundi) y el amor del reino de Dios constituyen los signos más indicativos de la felicidad que puede ser experimentada por un monje del siglo XI. Uno de los primeros aspectos de la meditación es la conquista del yo interior como auto reconocimiento del alma para la búsqueda de Dios a través de la fe. Este trabajo se centrará en la discusión sobre la meditación en el contexto de la espiritualidad monástica de la época de Anselmo de Canterbury y en el modelo de oración meditativa elaborado sobre (1) el Proslogion, un tratado conocido por ser una meditación de la razón de la fe; y (2) la Tercera Meditación, que considera la redención de la condición humana. El objetivo del trabajo es mostrar que la meditación y la contemplación, según San Anselmo, alcanzan su completo significado por medio del misterio de la salvación.

Charged Moments: Landscape and the Experience of the Sacred among Catholic Monks in North America

In light of calls to ‘re-enchant’ the world in the face of our ecological crisis, where do Christians stand on the question of land being sacred? I put this question to monks living at four monastic communities in the American West. For monks living on the land, the world is sacramental of God’s presence. However, this sacramental character was not universally recognized as being sacred, or divine. The monastic presence on the land can give places a sacred character through their work and prayer. Far fewer monks admitted that land was intrinsically sacred. However, during what one monk called “charged moments” the sacredness of God was seen as manifesting through the land. Thus, while there is no consensus among monks as to the sacredness of land, there is a deep reverence for place and landscape at the heart of monastic spirituality.

A Guide to Christian Spiritual Formation: How Scripture, Spirit, Community, and Mission Shape our Souls by Evan B. Howard

Reviewed by: A Guide to Christian Spiritual Formation: How Scripture, Spirit, Community, and Mission Shape our Souls by Evan B. Howard Douglas S. Hardy (bio) A Guide to Christian Spiritual Formation: How Scripture, Spirit, Community, and Mission Shape our Souls. By Evan B. Howard. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2018. 288 pp. $16.99. Ten years after the publication of The Brazos Introduction to Christian Spirituality (Brazos 2008), Evan Howard has again produced a comprehensive, substantive, and accessible textbook, only shorter, more practical, and with a narrower audience in mind. Writing from an "evangelical-yet-ecumenical" confessional stance, he provides a friendly voice inviting students into an experience (as well as an understanding) of lived Christian faith, directed toward those committed to the Christian faith who want to grow in it and help others to "mature or grow in their relationship with God" (vii). Hence, the explicit focus on Christian spiritual formation (hereafter abbreviated as Csf). Howard postures himself as a guide or spiritual director, modeling for his readers what he hopes they will become, regardless of their context. The means he uses to accomplish this aim include instruction in the biblical story, glimpses into church history and theology, definitions of spiritual formation processes and content, and illustrations and case studies for personal and communal application, each chapter containing these elements as well as other typical textbook features: frequent summaries, tables/figures, and a list of discussion/reflection questions. The book is organized into four parts with twelve chapters, indicating the logic and flow of Howard's teaching about Csf. Part one, "The Basics," includes chapters on (1) the contemporary context for and definition of Csf, and (2) the biblical narrative informing Csf. Part two, "The Elements," includes chapters on (3) the breadth and depth of human experience, and the aims of Csf, (4) differing contexts within which Csf occurs and agents contributing to it, (5) the process of change/transformation/maturation in human development, and (6) means of grace for [End Page 172] spiritual growth. Part three, "The Practice," is made up of chapters on (7) prayer as primary relational practice, (8) differing communities as loci for formation, (9) formation of the whole person: thinking, feeling, and acting, (10) Csf and mission, and (11) the need for practicing discernment. Finally, Part four, "The Ministry" is a chapter (12) calling for commitment to ministries of Csf. Other books can suitably serve as readings for an introductory course in Csf, but few are as comprehensive and substantive as Howard's Guide. It reflects and embodies the author's breadth of experience, education, and ministry detailed in the epilogue aptly titled "My Personal History of Spiritual Formation," but also referenced throughout the book. For example, we learn that Howard was converted to Christian faith as a young person in the context of the Jesus People Movement, participated in evangelical parachurch organizations, and became a part of church communities as diverse as Vineyard and Anglican. His formal education (and theological formation) began in conservative evangelical institutions but eventually led to more liberal and ecumenical settings, including training as a spiritual director in the Ignatian discernment tradition. Evangelicals and Pentecostals reading this book in a college or seminary course, or even a serious local church adult study group, will recognize and perhaps appreciate references to elements typical of more conservative church cultures such as Bible study, evangelistic witnessing, emphasis on orthodox doctrine, and spiritual warfare. They will also be challenged and stretched with elements perhaps not so familiar, but just as important for integration into a big-picture understanding of Csf such as contemplative prayer, the lives of the saints, social justice, and monastic spirituality. Mainline Protestant, Roman Catholic, or Orthodox readers who have not had much exposure to Evangelical spirituality will similarly be challenged and stretched, while also being affirmed in elements of their own traditions. In this regard, I commend the book to students of Csf regardless of their location along the spectrum of Christian ecclesial traditions, with one caveat: the language, examples, and illustration in chapter one have a strong Evangelical (and male) flavor, as if this were a target audience the author wants to get safely on board. Other readers...

The Reception of Evagrian Psychology in the Ladder of Divine Ascent: John Cassian and Gregory Nazianzen as Sources and Conversation Partners1

Greek monastic spirituality owes much to Evagrios Pontikos (d. 399), despite his implication in the Second Origenist Controversy. Perhaps his most influential and best-received contribution was the system of eight ‘thoughts’ or ‘demons’ that could attack monastics, and to which a whole range of sinful behaviours was traceable. Evagrian psychology finds a particularly important reception in the Ladder of Divine Ascent, a seventh-century work of spiritual direction by John (c.579–649), abbot of St Catherine’s Monastery in the Sinai. The Ladder is a synthetic work which weaves Evagrian ideas together with various patristic and monastic literature to present a unique, and highly influential, portrait of monastic spiritual life. Among John’s sources are reputed to be John Cassian and Pope Gregory I. This essay will demonstrate that John read only the Greek epitomes of Cassian; that these, and not Evagrios, were his primary source for ‘Evagrian’ psychology; and that the Gregory in question is not the Great, but the Theologian—Gregory Nazianzen. It will further demonstrate how John develops his own position as one of creative fidelity to tradition, by exploring the specific dynamics of his engagement with traditional authorities like Cassian and Nazianzen.