Charter, Customs, and Constitutions of the Cistercians
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Charter, Customs, and Constitutions of the Cistercians by Thomas Merton Ocso
As master of novices for ten years (1955–1965) at the Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani in Kentucky, Thomas Merton was responsible for the spiritual formation of young men preparing for monastic profession. In this volume, three related sets of Merton’s conferences on ancient and contemporary documents governing the lives of the monks are published for the first time: • on the Carta Caritatis, or Charter of Charity, the foundational document of the Order of Cîteaux • on the Consuetudines, the twelfth-century collection of customs and regulations of the Order • on the twentieth-century Constitutions of the Order, the basic rules by which Merton and his students actually lived at the time These conferences form an essential part of the overall picture of Cistercian monastic life that Merton provided as part of his project of “initiation into the monastic tradition” that is evident in the broad variety of courses that he put together and taught over the period of his mastership. As Abbot John Eudes Bamberger, ocso, himself a former student of Merton, notes in his preface to this volume, “The texts presented in this present book eventually gave rise to the Cistercian way of spiritual living that continues to contribute to the Church’s witness in this new millennium. This publication is a witness to the process of transformation that ensures the continuity of the Catholic monastic tradition that witnesses to the God who, as Saint Augustine observed is ‘ever old and ever new.’”
"Exceptionally well written, organized, and presented, Charter, Customs, and Constitutions of the Cistercians will prove to be of immense interest to those with an interest in the life and thought of Thomas Merton, as well as philosophy and practice of the Cistercian monastic lifeVery highly recommended for church, community, and academic library collections."The Midwest Book Review
Thomas Merton (1915-1968), Catholic convert, Cistercian monk and hermit, poet, contemplative, social critic, and pioneer of interreligious dialogue, was a seminal figure of twentieth-century American Christianity. Patrick F. O’Connell is professor of English and theology at Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania. A founding member and former president of the International Thomas Merton Society, he edits The Merton Seasonal and is coauthor of The Thomas Merton Encyclopedia. He has edited eight previous volumes of Thomas Merton’s monastic conferences for the Monastic Wisdom Series, most recently The Cistercian Fathers and Their Monastic Theology (2016), and he is also editor of Merton’s Selected Essays (2013) and Early Essays: 1947–1952 (2015). John Eudes Bamberger (1926-2020), entered Gethsemani Abbey in 1950, having earned an MD from the University of Cincinnati the previous year and done his internship at Georgetown University Hospital. A student of Thomas Merton from 1952-1955, he worked with Merton, after his ordination in 1956, in screening applicants to the abbey. He served as abbot of the Abbey of the Genesee, in New York state, from 1971 until 2001. After returning from a term as superior in the Philippines, he lived in a hermitage at Genesee.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780879070410 |
| ISBN 10 | 0879070412 |
| Title | Charter, Customs, and Constitutions of the Cistercians |
| Author | Thomas Merton Ocso |
| Series | Monastic Wisdom Series |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Liturgical Press |
| Year published | 2015-06-09 |
| Number of pages | 326 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |