During the Middle Ages the act of reading was experienced intensively in the monastic exercise of lectio divina 'the prayerful scrutiny of passages of Scripture, savored in meditation, memorized, recited, and rediscovered in the reader's own religious life. The rich literary tradition that arose from this culture includes theoretical writings from the Conferences of John Cassian (fifth century) through the twelfth-century treatises of Hugh of St. Victor and the Carthusian Guigo II; it also includes compilations, literary meditations, and scriptural commentary, notably on the Song of Songs. This study brings medievalist research together with modern theoretical reflections on the act of reading in a consolidation of historical scholarship, spirituality, and literary criticism. Duncan Robertson has taught French and Latin, language and literature, at Augusta State University since 1990. Previous publications include The Medieval Saints' Lives: Spiritual Renewal and Old French Literature (Lexington, KY: French Forum, 1995), and The Vernacular Spirit: Essays on Medieval Religious Literature, with Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski and Nancy Warren (New York: Palgrave, 2002). His articles have appeared in Romance Philology, French Forum, Cahiers de Civilisation Madiavale, and other journals in the United States and abroad.

Saint Bernard was born in 1090 near Dijon, France. He joined the fifteen-year-old monastery of Cîteaux in 1113. In 1115 he became the founding abbot of Clairvaux Abbey, whence his name, Bernard of Clairvaux. Saint Bernard was a gifted and prolific writer of theological treatises, Scriptural commentaries, letters, and many sermons. The sermons in the collection published here, styled Sermones de diversis (Sermons about Various Topics), lack the specific point of departure that characterizes his other sermons. That is, whereas the sermons on the Song of Songs are a verse-by-verse commentary on that biblical book and his Sermons for the Year follow the liturgical calendar, this collection of sermons deals with his various pastoral concerns. Since Scripture is always Bernard’s point of departure and inspiration, the sermons often read like a Scripture study, but what comes through equally is the voice of an understanding spiritual father who is a masterful student of Scripture, biblical language, and the needs of his monks.

Donkeys and dogs, foxes and lions, cats, crocodiles, cows and cranes, hares and horse, fleas and flies -- all make their appearance in these delightful, and often edifying, tales from the medieval religious literature of three traditions : Christian, Jewish, and Islamic. Most of the human beings who make their appearance in these tales represent the best of their kind, and Professor Bell warns that no animal who reads this book should unwarily assume that the majority of humankind resembles them.

For three decades, Monastic Practices has been a valued resource for English-speaking aspirants to monastic life. In this revised edition, updated and expanded, Charles Cummings, OCSO, explores the common practices of the monastic life in order to rediscover them as viable means of leading persons to a deeper encounter with God. How do monks and nuns occupy themselves throughout the day? Have they modernized their lifestyle or is it still cluttered with medieval customs? Could any of the monastic practices be of use to those outside the monastery? A certain wisdom is necessary to know how to use such practices and how to give oneself to them until they lead one to God. After long monastic experience, Cummings shows us how the ordinary things we do constitute our path to God. In the art of living life, he argues, we are always beginners, searching for God through our concrete circumstances and actions.

Gregory the Great was pope from 590 to 604, a time of great turmoil in Italy and in the western Roman Empire generally because of the barbarian invasions.Gregory s experience as prefect of the city of Rome and as apocrisarius of Pope Pelagius fitted him admirably for the new challenges of the papacy. "The Moral Reflections on the Book of Job" were first given to the monks who accompanied Gregory to the embassy in Constantinople. This first volume of the work contains books 1 5, accompanied by an introduction by Mark DelCogliano."

Frana§ois Petit's study of the spirituality of the medieval Premonstratensians (Norbertines), published in the aftermath of the Second World War, remains the definitive treatment of the early centuries of the order of canons founded by Norbert of Xanten in 1121. Petit's attention to the texts, community life, and devotional practice of this Order of Pramontra anticipates recent scholarship in emphasizing the nexus of theology and lived religious experience. It demonstrates both the grandeur of Philip of Harvengt and Adam Scot as spiritual authors and the distinctiveness they share with others in the Norbertine tradition. This English translation renders Petit's magisterial work, long out of print, accessible to a wide international audience.

An important addition to the Classics of Western Spirituality(tm) series is this volume of the writings of Nil Sorsky (+1508), an influential spiritual writer whose major contribution to Eastern Christianity was his bringing to ancient Russia the spirituality of the early Fathers and Mothers of the Desert. This is called the hesychasm spirituality of the heart, which finds the perfection of the human person in union with God through continuous prayer.This first-time translation from Russian into English of Nil's complete writings includes: The Tradition, The Rule, his letters (only four of which have actually been attributed to him) and his last will and testament. The Tradition is his earliest attempt to give his disciples a written but very simplified rule of skete monasticism, which he practiced on Mt. Athos. The Rule is an extended ascetical treatise on what Nil calls "mental activity" or, in today's terms, perpetual or continuous prayer.An informative introduction examines the significance of Nil's spirituality and places it within the historical setting of 15th century Russia.