OF SMELLY MONKS AND ANNOYING NEIGHBOURS

From Comment-

As a high school student, I went through a brief and rather misguided period of fascination with the spiritual disciplines. In practice, my discipline of choice was most often that of silence. Being naturally a quiet sort of student, holding my tongue was no great burden to me, and as I fancied myself following in the footsteps of ancient Christians, my shyness and tendency to retreat inside myself seemed to take on a weighty and pleasing spiritual significance.

Thinking back on this high school practice while reading Kyle Bennett's Practices of Love: Spiritual Disciplines for the Life of the World, I realized with an embarrassed sort of horror that throughout all those stretches of pious silence I had never really paid any special attention to listening. If anything, the weightiness of my own discipline cultivated a disdain for the shallow conversation around me, and I'm sure I barely paid attention to the day's petty lessons on differential equations and the Meech Lake Accord that had, no doubt, been carefully prepared. In this way, I think it is safe to say that I was doing the spiritual disciplines wrong.

More here-

https://www.cardus.ca/comment/article/5121/of-smelly-monks-and-annoying-neighbours/

Ask an Anglican: What is Anglican Monasticism?

From Conciliar Anglican-

A Very Brief History of Anglican Religious Communities

The history of Anglican monasticism is both long and rich. In some ways, it is also rather complex—not because of anything unique to monasticism, but because of the historical complexities of the medieval west. Most simply stated, by the fifteenth century there were a large number of unofficial monastic movements. The most famous of these is the Devotio Moderna (literally ‘the Modern Devotion’, but also translatable as ‘the Modern-Day Devout’). The Devotio Moderna was primarily expressed in the Brethren of the Common Life. This group produced Thomas à Kempis, whose great work The Imitation of Christ was the most popular devotional in Europe for two hundred years, from the early-fifteenth through the early-seventeenth centuries. The Brethren also educated Erasmus of Rotterdam, the greatest humanist of the sixteenth century; Erasmus was a Catholic reformer who, despite his sympathies with Luther, remained within the Catholic church. He taught in England when Henry VIII was a young king, and Erasmus’s New Testament Paraphrases were among the official texts of the English reformations (right alongside the Book of Common Prayer, the English translation of the Bible, and the Homilies). The Devotio Moderna is thus important not just as a reform movement which inspired other reform movements, but as a reform movement which directly influenced Anglicanism.

More here-

https://conciliaranglican.com/2013/07/08/ask-an-anglican-what-is-anglican-monasticism/

Fetters & freedom (Thomas Merton)

From New Criterion-

Every year, thousands of people travel, as I did recently, to the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, a monastery set in the rolling hills of Kentucky, to immerse themselves in a world wholly at odds with modern life. The visitors are not all Christians, nor even religiously inclined, but many come and stay for days hoping to adopt, if only for a brief stretch of time, the contemplative way of life that has attracted monks to monasteries for thousands of years—a life defined by silence, constraint, and meditation.

The monks at Gethsemani belong to the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, a monastic community known for the rigor of its contemplative way of life. Trappists, as they are called, remain silent, speaking only when necessary. They fast regularly and are constantly engaged in prayer and meditation, whether in church where they pray the seven offices of the Liturgy of the Hours each day, or in their cells reading scripture, or in the fields where they work.

More here-

http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/Fetters---freedom-8504

Keeping Quiet at the Monastery

From The Wall Street Journal-

The room I booked for my Hudson Valley getaway last week had its share of peculiarities. It was tiny, cooled by a plastic fan and decorated with a portrait of Jesus. I had to change my own sheets and share a bathroom. And I wasn't allowed to talk.

But all that was to be expected. This wasn't a $300-a-night room at some swanky Rhinebeck inn. This was a $70-a-night room at an upstate monastery.

It isn't for everyone, but one of the best—and cheapest—ways to enjoy a relaxing, bucolic retreat from the city is to book a stay at one of the many area monasteries that welcome guests.

You don't need to be a believer; these places accept devotees and heathens alike. I've stayed with Zen monastics in the Catskills, New Jersey nuns and Staten Island Jesuits. I've seldom paid more than $80 a night, meals included, and always leave feeling a bit less crazy.

More here-

http://online.wsj.com/articles/keeping-quiet-at-the-monastery-1406936983

Syria refugees swell Christian community in Turkey

From The BBC-

Syria's Christians belong to one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, but chased away by the threat of violence some are heading for neighbouring Turkey, where they have been greeted with considerable enthusiasm.

Driven by a deep and humble faith, Father Joaqim is a young man with a sense of destiny. He has returned from 11 years in Holland to revive his dying community, high on a remote escarpment in eastern Turkey.

We are standing together on the terrace of his newly restored monastery, high on a remote escarpment near Nusaybin, looking south over the Mesopotamian Plain.

"Thank God our community is alive again," he says, his face radiating out from the distinctive black cap of his Syriac Orthodox habit. "On Sundays our church is full with worshippers from the village."

More here-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23614968

21st Century Monks: Cambridge Monastery Reopens to Public After $11 Million Renovation

From Boston-

Seventy-five years worth of candle wax, incense smoke, and general wear and tear left quite a mark on the Society of St. John the Evangelist monastery in Cambridge. But after an 18-month, $11 million renovation and restoration of its chapel, guesthouse, and monastery buildings, the society’s monks are ready to welcome guests and worshippers again.

Originally built during the Great Depression, the Episcopal monastery just steps from the Kennedy School on Memorial Drive is currently home to nine monks. The guesthouse hosts visitors who come for spiritual retreat, including Harvard students, faculty, and affiliates.’

As part of the restoration, a specialist carefully cleaned each of the chapel’s stained glass windows—depicting the lives of monastic saints—with a solution of ammonia and water.

“We’re seeing colors we’ve never seen before,” said Brother Kevin Hackett, a resident monk and director of communications at the monastery.

Contractors installed new wiring and plumbing and reinsulated the complex for temperature and sound. Guest rooms were refurbished and outfitted with energy-efficient heating and cooling systems, and a handicap-accessible was bathroom added. The renovation also repaired leaks in the chapel tower, roof, and walls, and replaced the bell that calls the brothers to prayer five times a day.

More here-

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2011/9/26/monastery-chapel-hackett-brothers/

New monastic group growing strong: Celtic “Soul Friends”

From Delaware-

The Wilmington, DE based religious community “Anamchara Fellowship” is meeting this week for their annual gathering. Founded in 2003 by just 2 women, and canonically recognized by the Episcopal House of Bishops in 2008, this “new monastic” group has been growing yearly and already has 27 members plus external companions.

We strive to be an inclusive community, welcoming men and women, clergy and lay, married, single, or partners in a committed relationship. Members of the fellowship may live in their own homes or in groups as the ability for that arises. Each member must be self supporting, and we are bound to each other by common ideals and a commitment to prayer and service. Our primary ministries focus on catechesis, pastoral care and spiritual direction. (Anamchara Fellowship, home page)

The fellowship follows a Celtic tradition where each new member is assigned by the Formation Guardian, Sister Julian, a one-on-one Anamchara. This “soul friend” according to Abbess Barbara Jean Brown (Sister BJ), “seeks to walk with the seeker and may act as a guide, mentor, and confessor.” Although initially a guiding role, Sister BJ relates that often these relationships develop to the spiritual benefit of both “soul friends.”


http://www.examiner.com/christian-living-in-wilmington/new-monastic-group-growing-strong-celtic-soul-friends#ixzz1PXRkxeQm

Monks' morals defended in wine row

From England-

THE makers of Buckfast Tonic Wine have defended South Devon monks after their morals were publicly attacked by a bishop.

The Right Rev Bob Gillies, Bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney in the Scottish Episcopal Church, accused the Devon-based Benedictine monks of going against Christian values.

The comments were made after a Freedom of Information request revealed Buckfast Tonic Wine has been mentioned in 5,000 crime reports in Scotland in the last three years.

Speaking on BBC Scotland Investigates last night Bishop Gillies said: "What sort of moral double-take is there that these monks can be so closely associated with that product and knowingly aware of the social damage as well as the medical damage it is doing to the kids who take it in such vast volumes?"

He added: "The monks at Buckfast are in a Benedictine monastery, which is founded upon the rule of St Benedict. Benedict urged his monks to live a simple life following a rule which leads them into closer discipleship with the Lord."

More here-

http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/news/Monks-morals-defended-wine-row/article-1727581-detail/article.html