Fairacres Publications 155 Essentially a shy person, Sister Jane was nonetheless a born leader with a great gift for spiritual accompaniment. This selection of her writings reveals not only her spiritual wisdom but also her great capacity for friendship and understanding, her down-to-earth sense of humour and fun, and her ability to meet people where they were, making them feel special.
Fairacres Publication 193 This is a book about the practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving as we meet them in the teaching of St Augustine of Hippo. He is generally acclaimed as someone who has had enormous influence on Christian theology and much has been written about him by scholars. However, apart from a number of translations of the Confessions, few of his writings are accessible to the ordinary reader, even though, as Bishop of Hippo, he constantly wrote and preached for his people. The first part of this book presents Augustine’s teaching on three central practices of Christian living—prayer, fasting and almsgiving—with reference to his sermons and his commentaries on the Psalms. The second part places it alongside some recent authors who demonstrate how this triad continues to be of value to Christians today. Although it has been conceived as a Lent book, this text provides a reflective introduction to these ways of Christian living in whatever season of the Church’s year a reader picks it up.
Through writing gathered over a lifetime of meditation on doors as ways into the understanding and fulfilment of a Christian life, Sr Raphael slg guides us gently to an understanding that every aspect of life can be a door into the Love of God, and an opportunity for prayer, reflection and spiritual growth. This is a collection of thoughts and quotations for every situation, for everyone who is looking for a sympathetic and thoughtful support for their daily spiritual life, or for a series of meditations to use on retreat.
For those who study St Anselm, his prayers provide an intimate personal introduction to his thinking and his spirituality. For Anselm, who never considered himself a teacher of prayer, his prayers were simply personal devotions that he occasionally shared with others to encourage them to develop their own devotional style. Anselm would probably have been surprised to discover not only how widely his words were disseminated, but also the ways in which their translation and interpretation changed over the centuries. This brief study, by one of the leading scholars of early monastic life and thought, examines Anselm’s prayers as models and inspiration for mystics, saints and writers up to the present day.
Fairacres Publications 179 The way of life of the fourth-century Desert Fathers, with its emphasis on solitude, silence and unceasing prayer, has inspired many modern spiritual writers. Why do the Desert Fathers have so much to say to us? To answer this question, Sister Benedicta presents some of the best and most illuminating stories and sayings from the desert. Readers will find spiritual wisdom, along with sharp humour and startling insight into human nature.
Fairacres Publications 178 The heart of monastic prayer is based in the psalms. In these essays, Sister Benedicta Ward examines the origin and development of the use of the Psalter in the daily worship of monks. She demonstrates that the traditional description of this activity as Opus Dei should be understood as God’s work in us, not our ‘work’ of prayer. The Psalter offers both monk and non-monk prayers of great intimacy and, in the context of the Offices, a way to reorder our understanding of time. She presents ‘an example of the possibility of a unity of life and prayer here and now in time’. This study makes a noteworthy contribution to the literature on monastic history and spirituality and the Christian life of prayer.
Fairacres Publications 151 Sister Benedicta gives an illuminating account of the Synod of Whitby 664 AD, held to discuss the date on which Easter should be celebrated. The Synod has been presented as a clash between Irish and Roman missionaries representing two different kinds of Christianity, yet the two traditions mingled with no clear-cut nationalistic divisions. All participants were agreed upon the centrality of Easter as the feast of the Resurrection, and through looking together towards Jesus as the risen Lord, they resolved their difficulties.
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