X. List of Sources for Further Reading

(#28) Monastery Library Facade with St. Benedict statue sanctuary

CONVENTIONAL LIST OF SOURCES for FURTHER READING:

Benedict of Nursia.The Rule of St. Benedict.
Numerous editions of St. Benedict's program for the monastic life exist. A readily available and inexpensive English translation is published by Doubleday Image. The most valuable edition for English readers is theRB 1980: The Rule of St. Benedict. In Latin and English with Notes, Collegeville, Minn: The Liturgical Press, 1981. In addition to the original Latin text and a new English translation, the volume provides excellent commentary on the origins and history of monasticism, on key concepts and problems of theRule and of monasticism, and concludes with a thematic index of key words and concepts of the Latin text.

Knowles, David.Christian Monasticism. New York/Toronto: World University Library, McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1972.
Knowles, one of the foremost scholars of monasticism, provides a good summary of the history of the institution of monasticism and of the origins and development into the present era of the major orders of Western Christianity.

Lekai, Louis.The Cistercians. Ideal and Reality. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1977.
Lekai's is the most thorough study of the Cistercian Order from its origins to the present. This copiously documented history will be of value to those seeking detailed and comprehensive information on the Order.

Merton, Thomas.The Silent Life. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1981 (6th printing).
Merton's account of monasticism focuses on its contemplative dimension. Written by a man who was both Cistercian monk and artist, his study offers an insider's view of the essence of the life, as do other works by the same author (e.g. the monastic journalThe Sign of Jonas ).

For more books on monasticism, visit our monastery’s e-store.