In the Coracle

Perhaps

April 22nd, 2009, 2 Comments

In the Introduction to their translation of the Rule of St. Benedict published as “The Rule of St Benedict” (Anthony C Meisel and M L Del Mastro), the authors describe the single-minded pursuit of union with God that a monk displays.

Since his primary goal was union with God, the material results of his work were [...]

The Attraction of Monasticism: Urban Iona Quotes, Part 2

November 21st, 2008, No Comments

Continuing the series of digging into Kurt Neilson’s book, Urban Iona.
In Chapter 5, Neilson writes about his experience as a Catholic anda former member of the Claretian missionary order.

As I sought community, the ideal of a common project of life, a common vision, and living it out day to day together with others spoke to [...]

Being and doing (Learning from the Monks)

October 10th, 2008, Comments Off

I found a really nice blog entry today in my ongoing technorati search for all things monastic.
Check out http://loudandclear87.wordpress.com/2008/10/09/learning-from-monks/, a college student who writes:
So, I have Church History at 7:50 in the morning on Tuesdays and Thursdays and sometimes its a real bear to get up and go to a lecture that early to just [...]

An Orthodox Doctor/Priest/Monk speaks

September 23rd, 2008, No Comments

Great tidbits from an interview with Anthony Bloom, a Russian Orthodox doctor/priest/monk in Great Britain and Ireland. This comes from page 11-12 of “Beginning to Pray” (Anthony Bloom) (bold/emphasized items by me):
Timothy Wilson (Interviewer): When were you ordained?
Archbishop Anthony Bloom: I was ordained in 1948 but before that I took monastic vows. This was done [...]

Dial-up too slow for monks’ patience

September 22nd, 2008, No Comments

You have probably seen this one by now, but just in case you haven’t:
A group of Cistercian monks off the coast of Wales made international news headlines last month when they upgraded their slow dial-up Internet access to broadband Internet upgraded. Sounds like a joke or a broadband company’s ad campaign, but it’s not.
Their reasoning [...]

Final problem statement

September 21st, 2008, 2 Comments

I’ve gotten approval for this final version of my problem statement (I earlier posted works in progress):
I am studying Celtic, Benedictine and Orthodox monasticism because I want to discover what frameworks these spiritualities provide so that my reader may understand how spiritual formation serves God’s mission.

Presentation: “Learning from the New Monastics”

August 27th, 2008, No Comments

The folks at Safespace community in the UK have posted a YouTube video with the above title, given at Greenbelt 08, a gathering of European emerging Christians. Unfortunately it looks like YouTube has broken the video, but if you go directly to their blog entry you can download the Quicktime video.

Wikipedia on Irish monasticism

August 14th, 2008, No Comments

The Wikipedia entry on Christian monasticism is quite detailed.
I’m posting here the full entry (current as of Aug 14, 2008) on the Irish expression of monasticism.

Ireland
The first non-Roman area to adopt monasticism was Ireland, which developed a unique form closely linked to traditional clan relations, a system that later spread to other parts of Europe, [...]

Laser Monks: Printer Toner and Contemplative Prayer

July 24th, 2008, 2 Comments

Ahh, those of us in the web-driven world and those of us in who practice contemplative prayer should all check out this blog post about the Laser Monks.
Monasteries all over the world have been self-supporting for centuries, and the practice of monks running a small business is nothing new. Most of them, however, don’t end [...]

Creating the Future, One Mustard Seed at a Time (The New Conspirators)

July 13th, 2008, 1 Comment

“The New Conspirators: Creating the Future One Mustard Seed at a Time” (Tom Sine)
I’ve just finished reading Tom Sine’s newest book, “The New Conspirators: Creating the Future One Mustard Seed at a Time” (Tom Sine). It’s one that I’ve meant to read for a few months. However, having now finished it, I highly recommend it [...]