SPCK
The Monastery Of The Heart - 14 Co-Creation
The Monastery Of The Heart - 14 Co-Creation
by SPCK - Joan Chittister
Co-Creation “Regard all utensils and goods of the monastery as sacred vessels of the altar.” Benedictine spirituality is a sacramental spirituality. It holds all things-the earth and all its goods-as sacred… Taken from The Monastery Of The Heart by Joan Chittister
The Monastery Of The Heart - 13 Good Work
The Monastery Of The Heart - 13 Good Work
by SPCK - Joan Chittister
Good Work “When they live by the labour of their hands, then they are really monastics.” Prayer and contemplation, Benedict is clear, are no substitute for work. Nor are they an excuse to detach ourselves from the holy act of human responsibility for making the world go round… Ta…
The Monastery Of The Heart - 12 Nourishment
The Monastery Of The Heart - 12 Nourishment
by SPCK - Joan Chittister
Nourishment “Nothing is so inconsistent with the life of the monastic as overindulgence.” The seeker’s ideal is to be “in the world but not of it”- to be like everyone else but different where it counts. For those who seek to define this other quality of life by membership in a M…
The Monastery Of The Heart - 11 Sufficiency and Sharing
The Monastery Of The Heart - 11 Sufficiency and Sharing
by SPCK - Joan Chittister
Sufficiency and Sharing “Do everything with moderation.” The purpose of the monastic life is never to amass wealth for the sake of the self. Instead, Benedict’s definition of the relationship between persons and things is sufficiency, not frugality… Taken from The Monastery Of Th…
The Monastery Of The Heart - 10 Direction and Counsel
The Monastery Of The Heart - 10 Direction and Counsel
by SPCK - Joan Chittister
Direction and Counsel “Do everything with counsel and you will not be sorry afterward.” Benedictine spirituality sets out to build communities that, together, seek the universal God, that hold the wounded of the world in one heart, and that serve the world by being for it oases o…
The Monastery Of The Heart - 9 Equality
The Monastery Of The Heart - 9 Equality
by SPCK - Joan Chittister
Equality “Monastics keep their rank in the monastery according to the date of their entry and the virtue of their lives.” We like to think that equality is the basic characteristic of this—our—period of history. Ironically, inequality is the great sign of our time. Today, everyon…
The Monastery Of The Heart - 8 Mutuality
The Monastery Of The Heart - 8 Mutuality
by SPCK - Joan Chittister
Mutuality “We intend to establish a school for God’s service. We hope to set down nothing harsh, nothing burdensome.” Community is a matter of the heart and the mind. It cannot be created by place alone, and it cannot be destroyed by distance alone… Taken from The Monastery Of Th…
The Monastery Of The Heart - 7 Retreat and Reflection
The Monastery Of The Heart - 7 Retreat and Reflection
by SPCK - Joan Chittister
Retreat and Reflection “The life of a monastic ought to be a continuous Lent.” There is a time in every life when the very act of looking back and taking stock becomes essential to going forward… Taken from The Monastery Of The Heart by Joan Chittister
The Monastery Of The Heart - 6 Prayerful Reading
The Monastery Of The Heart - 6 Prayerful Reading
by SPCK - Joan Chittister
Prayerful Reading “Listen readily to holy reading.” Benedictine spirituality is not an exercise in private devotion or personal pieties. Benedictine prayer is not simply ceaseless recitation of scripture passages and psalmic verse… Taken from The Monastery Of The Heart by Joan Ch…
The Monastery Of The Heart - 5 Silence
The Monastery Of The Heart - 5 Silence
by SPCK - Joan Chittister
Silence “Monastics should diligently cultivate silence at all times.” Silence is the mother of the Spirit. It births in us the cloister of the heart. It brings us beyond the noise of chaos and clutter and confusion of a spinning world to the cool, calm centre of the spiritual sel…
The Monastery Of The Heart - 4 Prayer
The Monastery Of The Heart - 4 Prayer
by SPCK - Joan Chittister
Prayer “[Let us] lay our petitions before the God of all with the utmost humility and sincere devotion.” Benedictine spirituality is rooted in the timelessness of scripture. It is the story of God’s way with the world… Taken from The Monastery Of The Heart by Joan Chittister
The Monastery Of The Heart - 3 A Single Vision
The Monastery Of The Heart - 3 A Single Vision
by SPCK - Joan Chittister
A Single Vision “Perform the Opus Dei where you are… Those on a journey are not to omit the prescribed hours but to observe them as best they can.” The Benedictine Rule is based on the notion that community life is the preeminent form of the spiritual journey, because it provides…
The Monastery Of The Heart - 2 A Seeker's Path
The Monastery Of The Heart - 2 A Seeker's Path
by SPCK - Joan Chittister
A Seeker’s Path OUR SEARCH “Your way of acting should be different from the world’s way.” The search for God is a very intimate enterprise. It is at the core of every longing in the human heart. It is the search for ultimate love, for total belonging, for the meaningful life… Tak…
The Monastery Of The Heart - Introduction
The Monastery Of The Heart - Introduction
by SPCK - Joan Chittister
Introduction To the Many Seekers, After more than fifty years of life in a monastery, I have begun to sift and sort the effects of it all, asking myself, what—if anything—of monastic life is worth passing on to others in this day and age? What of this life has any impact or impor…
Mere Apologetics - 8d Working the Angles: Applying the Case Studies