{"title":"Paul Quenon","description":"\u003cp\u003eExplore the contemplative world of Paul Quenon, a Trappist monk and accomplished poet. Delve into themes of spirituality, nature, and mindful living through his insightful collections. Perfect for readers seeking peace and reflection.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"in-praise-of-the-useless-life-book-paul-quenon-9781594717598","title":"In Praise of the Useless Life","description":"\u003cb\u003eWinner of two 2019 Catholic Press Association Awards: Memoir (First Place) and Cover Design (Second Place).\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Monastic life and its counter-cultural wisdom come alive in the stories and lessons of Br. Paul Quenon, O.C.S.O., during his more than five decades as a Trappist at the Abbey of Gethsemani. He served as a novice under Thomas Merton and he also welcomed some of the monastery's more well-known visitors, including Sr. Helen Prejean and Seamus Heaney, to Merton's hermitage. \u003ci\u003eIn Praise of the Useless Life\u003c\/i\u003e includes Quenon's quiet reflections on what it means to live each day with careful attentiveness. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The humble peace and simplicity of the monastery and of Quenon's daily life are beautifully portrayed in this memoir. Whether it be through the daily routine of the monastery, his love of the outdoors no matter the season, or his lively and interesting conversations with visitors (reciting Emily Dickinson with Pico Iyer, discussing Merton and poetry with Czeslaw Milosz), Quenon's gentle musings display his love for the beauty in his vocation and the people he's encountered along the way. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Inspired by his novice master Merton, the poet and photographer's stories remind us that the beauty of life can best be seen in the uselessness of daily life--having a quiet chat with a friend, spending time in contemplation--in our vocations, and in the memories we make along the way.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49547664752913,"sku":"GOR009902631","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49802678501649,"sku":"CIN1594717591G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51252200210705,"sku":"NIN9781594717598","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51852259655953,"sku":"CIN1594717591VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51882345529617,"sku":"GOR013465395","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1594717591.jpg?v=1751023922"},{"product_id":"how-to-be-book-judith-valente-9781642970340","title":"How to Be","description":"“Readers will want to savor these wise and lyrical offerings.”—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)    The spiritual seeker’s guide to living with authenticity and integrity in troubled times by a lauded journalist and monk mentored by Thomas Merton.   This book is a dialogue between two spiritual seekers—one a Trappist monk and the other a married professional woman. It is two people “stuttering to articulate life’s universal questions from diverse contexts and perspectives.” Brother Paul writes as one steeped in silence and the daily rhythms of the ancient prayer practices of monasticism. Judith Valente writes as a professional woman attempting to bring a sense of prayer and contemplation to a scattered life in the secular world.  Valente uses the story of Brother Paul’s interview for a PBS documentary as a jumping-off point: When asked the purpose of the Trappist life in the modern world, he said that it is “to show you don’t need a purpose.” The purpose of life, he said, is life. “You’re to live your life.”  How to Be offers a window into two people living their lives on purpose (or not) and struggling to come to terms with the big issues everyone faces: faith, mortality, mystery, prayer, work. It is a book that provides insight and inspiration for those walking the spiritual path—particularly for those interested in the contemplative path.   Includes a 16-page study guide—for individuals and group use.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50176033980689,"sku":"CIN1642970344G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50681356058897,"sku":"GOR014033353","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50700160106769,"sku":"CIN1642970344VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51042869903633,"sku":"NIN9781642970340","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51254556426513,"sku":"GOR014209367","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":53429425242385,"sku":"CIN1642970344A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1642970344.jpg?v=1751376812"},{"product_id":"unquiet-vigil-book-paul-quenon-9781612615608","title":"Unquiet Vigil","description":"What might briefly tumble through a monks mind, or be hard chiseled over a span of years, what might be gleaned while ranging high along the Kentucky knobs, or what quietly emerges while sitting in the dark before dawn-these are the inner and outer landscapes of the religious poems found in Unquiet Vigils. From nocturnal Vigils to close listening to the liturgy of crickets, these are litanies of love and life, work, patience, and prayer. These poems are collected from over two decades of writing, and seasoned with the savor of five decades of living a monastic life.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":50468699177233,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50468701470993,"sku":"CIN1612615600G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1612615600.jpg?v=1750763606"},{"product_id":"matter-of-the-heart-book-paul-quenon-9781958972410","title":"A Matter of the Heart","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"This book is a treasure-chest of wisdom and beauty and fun. Brother Paul's delight in the world, and his gift for putting words to wonder, would make his old novice master Thomas Merton beam. Best of all, a deep sense of contentment and peace arises from these pages that can remind the monk in every one of us how we might choose to live.\" --Pico Iyer, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Half Known Life: In Search of Paradise\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eA contemplative monk's musings on living a \"useless life.\"\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"Brother Paul bears witness of being keenly aware that every aspect of his monastic vocation has been carefully crafted to nurture and protect the contemplative way of life in which one is called to seek and to find and give oneself to God who is wholly poured out and given to us in the gift of life itself.\" --James Finley, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Healing Path\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn the spirit of Thomas Merton's \u003ci\u003eThe Sign of Jonas\u003c\/i\u003e come five decades of life at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky from the private journals of one of Merton's former novices, Brother Paul Quenon.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eReaders are introduced to multiple aspects--the inwards and outwards--of a monk's life. Reflections, meditations, insights, and wanderings are mingled with outward experiences in nature, community, and sketches of monks--saintly, comical, or strange--poetic moments. Remarks are made on world events, seen from a local and momentary perspective, such as the war in Iraq, or the end of the war in Vietnam. Private discoveries of animal behavior, and magical locations for prayer are experienced with wonder. No daily chronology is followed, but entries are arranged from the 1970s to the 2000s according to the decade they occurred in, including the visit of the Dalai Lama and other occasions when this contemplative's life has intersected with spiritual teachers outside the monastery. Overall, a multi-colored, diverse, and surprising display of what it is like to live \"an enclosed life.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51059025805585,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51059028787473,"sku":"NIN9781958972410","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51741890019601,"sku":"GOR014386977","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51838619189521,"sku":"CIN195897241XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":52111463219473,"sku":"NGR9781958972410","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52589871169809,"sku":"NLS9781958972410","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/195897241X.jpg?v=1750966198"},{"product_id":"monkswear-book-paul-quenon-9781891785153","title":"Monkswear","description":"Poems containing the memories, reflections, and whimsy of a monk long practiced in the stark details of the monastic life open up the interior world of the monks and give insight into its importance. The religious habit, the hood, and the scapular are viewed from within by one who moves about in a habit and makes sense of it in some individual and unpredictable ways.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51323565801745,"sku":"CIN189178515XVG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/189178515X.jpg?v=1751457770"},{"product_id":"carved-in-stone-book-paul-quenon-9780877931959","title":"Carved in Stone","description":"Gwen Kellerman is an heiress to the infamous Blackstone family, whose history of scandal nearly destroyed her. She now lives a quiet life at the idyllic college founded with her family's fortune and hopes to keep the tragedies of her past safely behind her.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePatrick O'Neill survived a hardscrabble youth to become a lawyer for the downtrodden Irish immigrants in his community. He's proud of his work, even though he struggles to afford his ramshackle law office. All that changes when he accepts a case to challenge the Blackstones' legacy of greed and corruption by resurrecting a thirty-year-old mystery. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLittle does Patrick suspect that the Blackstones will launch their most sympathetic family member to derail him. Gwen is tasked with getting Patrick to drop the case, but the old mystery takes a shocking twist neither of them saw coming. Now, as they navigate a burgeoning attraction, Patrick is the only one who can save Gwen from new danger on the horizon.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53143858151697,"sku":"GOR014773037","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53145311576337,"sku":"GOR005312715","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780877931959.jpg?v=1771593387"},{"product_id":"where-time-its-silence-keeps-book-paul-quenon-ocso-9781966608295","title":"Where Time Its Silence Keeps","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eIn the spirit of monk-poets Hanshan, Thomas Merton, and Philip Wallen\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTrappist monk Paul Quenon spends his days in prayer, contemplation, and the monastery kitchen. These poems reflect those places and those moments. The Kentucky knobs play a role, as do the creatures and birds that live there. Nocturnal vigils, too, are important to the poems, and some of them were written like hymns to be sung rather than spoken. This is the work of a poet at the height of his powers, in his ninth decade of a life well-lived.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe book also includes a rare interview with the poet, which includes this: \"I want a poem to be a poem. It is more than descriptive prose, more than an account of the state of my soul, a record of what I've experienced, information about my spiritual life. A poem steps into a space of its own. It nudges along with a spirit of its own, and is best when it surprises me. If I know ahead of time what I want to write, that is a drag and will bore the reader. Best to be free of pre-conceived ideas, and best when I'm obedient to the poem, to whatever it wants.\" (Brother Paul Quenon)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":53241122783505,"sku":"NGR9781966608295","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":53645191905553,"sku":"NLS9781966608295","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":53657094914321,"sku":"NIN9781966608295","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781966608295.jpg?v=1773271575"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-paul-quenon.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}