Category Archives: monasticism

Chants from the Benedictine Monks of Rostrevor

When I was in Northern Ireland, I stayed at a retreat center in Rostrevor, in County Down. Just four miles down the road is Holy Cross Monastery, which according to its website is the first new Benedictine monastery in Ireland … Continue reading

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Means of Liberation and Internal Conversion

Yesterday at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit’s lay associates gathering day, I attended a class in which we considered a document called Lay Cistercian Identity, drawn up at an international gathering of Cistercian lay associates in Spain two years … Continue reading

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Running with Expanding Heart

Running with Expanding Heart: Meeting God in Everyday Life By Mary Reuter, OSB Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2010 Review by Carl McColman Just in time for Lent: here is a wonderful new addition to the literature of Benedictine wisdom. Running … Continue reading

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iMonk

Michael Casey, a wonderful Trappist author from Australia, has begun a podcast on the Prologue of the Rule of St. Benedict. If you’re interested in checking out what contemporary monastics have to say about this ancient document, visit this page: … Continue reading

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The Two Faces of Restlessness

Yesterday at the Lay Cistercian Gathering Day we had a class on the monastic vow of stability (Cistercian monks have three vows: Stability, Obedience, and Conversion of Life). The brother who taught the class spoke at one point about restlessness … Continue reading

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Quote for the Day

There are times when good words are to be left unsaid out of esteem for silence. — St. Benedict, The Rule of St. Benedict

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Monks on Public Radio

I copied the following graphic, paragraph and link from the City Cafe page of the Public Broadcasting Atlanta website. It features a four-minute audio clip that has recently been broadcast on WABE, Atlanta’s public broadcasting radio station. Click on the … Continue reading

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Saint Rafael Arnáiz

This past Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI canonized six new saints. One of them, Saint Damien of Molokai, has received the lion’s share of the attention, because Father Damien (who served a leper’s colony in Hawaii in the 19th century until … Continue reading

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Finding the Monk Within

Finding the Monk Within: Great Monastic Values for Today By Edward C. Sellner Mahwah, NJ: HiddenSpring, 2008 Review by Carl McColman Ed Sellner is known primarily for his writing on various aspects of the Celtic Christian spiritual tradition (such as … Continue reading

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Cloister of the Heart

The other day I had a wonderful chat with a friend of mine who is a Lay Cistercian and who regularly makes retreats at the monastery where I work. As Lay Cistercians, we have a unique perspective on monastic spirituality … Continue reading

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Cloister Talks

Cloister Talks: Learning from My Friends the Monks By Jon M. Sweeney Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2009 Review by Carl McColman Monasteries are archetypal. Even for Protestants who live in a religious milieu that does not include monastic communities, monks … Continue reading

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Quote for the Day

A monastery can never be merely an escape from the world. Its very purpose is to enable us to face the problems of the world at their deepest level, that is to say, in relation to God and eternal life. … Continue reading

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Lay Cistercian Promises

Yesterday I made my simple promises as a Lay Cistercian, along with six of my friends. Three others, who already were junior Lay Cistercians renewed their promises. The promises are for one year, and need to be repeated annually for … Continue reading

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The Promises and Charisms of Lay-Cistercians

In May, God willing and with the permission of my community, I will make my first simple promises as a Lay Cistercian. The Lay Cistercians are an association of laymen and laywomen who have chosen to live their vocation as … Continue reading

Posted in Catholicism, Christianity, Contemplation, Lay Cistercians, Prayer, monasticism, spirituality | 10 Comments

The Beautiful Monastery

The Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia, is a beautiful place. It’s a peaceful environment, perfect for an hour, a day, or a weekend (or, if you’re a single Catholic man sensing a vocation to religious life, for … Continue reading

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Meg Funk

One of the most respected of contemporary Benedictine spiritual writers is Mary Margaret (Meg) Funk, OSB. Her books include Thoughts Matter: The Practice of the Spiritual Life and Tools Matter for Practicing the Spiritual Life. She writes not only about … Continue reading

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“…the Vision of Ultimate Reality as Unconditional Love…”

This little video will give you some insight into why I like to hang out with monks. It features Fr. Thomas Keating, OCSO, speaking at an Integral Contemplative Christianity Conference put on by Ken Wilber’s Integral Institute. If you have … Continue reading

Posted in Christian mysticism, Christianity, Contemplation, Mysticism, monasticism, spirituality | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Monk Habits for Everyday People

Monk Habits for Everyday People: Benedictine Spirituality for Protestants By Dennis Okholm Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2007 Review by Carl McColman Okay, so this book has a lame title. But the point of the book is neatly encapsulated in … Continue reading

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Monastic Evangelicals

Christianity Today has posted an article about the growing interest, particularly among young evangelicals, in various aspects of monastic and liturgical spirituality, including Celtic spirituality. Click here to read it. Dare we  hope that Christian mysticism could be the next … Continue reading

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Silence and Light

Blue Originally uploaded by TW Collins I just discovered that Flickr has a wonderful array of photographs (from a variety of photographers) shot at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia. Some of these photos are from a … Continue reading

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