Spiritual Exercises: Volume 49
The remarkable monastery of Helfta was a 'place where learning and art, courtesy and holiness flowered in a dark season' of interregnal warfare.*  The nuns drew their inspiration from the twin roots of Citeaux: the Rule of Saint Benedict and the constitutions of Citeaux; their spirituality, liturgy, customs, and habits were modelled on those of the White Monks, even though juridically they were not part of the Cistercian Order. 

Under the guidance of the thirteenth-century abbess Gertrud of Hackeborn, the nuns of Helfta steadfastly pursued learning and holiness. Among them were three outstanding women whose works have come down through the centuries: Mechtilde of Hackeborn, Mechtilde of Magdeburg, and the scholarly Gertrud the Great. 

Having entered monastic life at the age of five, Gertrud combined a deep knowledge of the Church Fathers and earlier medieval writers, an intimate familiarity with Scripture, and innate common sense. Her Spiritual Exercises—prayers, litanies, meditations, and hymns—articulate a spirituality that is both traditionally monastic and authentically, but unself-consciously, feminine. 

Hers is a mysticism of light and love, of humility and commitment, of freedom and discipline and—most of all—of joy. 

*M. Jeremy Finnegan OP, 'The Women of Helfta', Peace Weavers, Medieval Religious Women, 2:212.

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Spiritual Exercises: Volume 49
The remarkable monastery of Helfta was a 'place where learning and art, courtesy and holiness flowered in a dark season' of interregnal warfare.*  The nuns drew their inspiration from the twin roots of Citeaux: the Rule of Saint Benedict and the constitutions of Citeaux; their spirituality, liturgy, customs, and habits were modelled on those of the White Monks, even though juridically they were not part of the Cistercian Order. 

Under the guidance of the thirteenth-century abbess Gertrud of Hackeborn, the nuns of Helfta steadfastly pursued learning and holiness. Among them were three outstanding women whose works have come down through the centuries: Mechtilde of Hackeborn, Mechtilde of Magdeburg, and the scholarly Gertrud the Great. 

Having entered monastic life at the age of five, Gertrud combined a deep knowledge of the Church Fathers and earlier medieval writers, an intimate familiarity with Scripture, and innate common sense. Her Spiritual Exercises—prayers, litanies, meditations, and hymns—articulate a spirituality that is both traditionally monastic and authentically, but unself-consciously, feminine. 

Hers is a mysticism of light and love, of humility and commitment, of freedom and discipline and—most of all—of joy. 

*M. Jeremy Finnegan OP, 'The Women of Helfta', Peace Weavers, Medieval Religious Women, 2:212.

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Spiritual Exercises: Volume 49

Spiritual Exercises: Volume 49

Spiritual Exercises: Volume 49

Spiritual Exercises: Volume 49

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Overview

The remarkable monastery of Helfta was a 'place where learning and art, courtesy and holiness flowered in a dark season' of interregnal warfare.*  The nuns drew their inspiration from the twin roots of Citeaux: the Rule of Saint Benedict and the constitutions of Citeaux; their spirituality, liturgy, customs, and habits were modelled on those of the White Monks, even though juridically they were not part of the Cistercian Order. 

Under the guidance of the thirteenth-century abbess Gertrud of Hackeborn, the nuns of Helfta steadfastly pursued learning and holiness. Among them were three outstanding women whose works have come down through the centuries: Mechtilde of Hackeborn, Mechtilde of Magdeburg, and the scholarly Gertrud the Great. 

Having entered monastic life at the age of five, Gertrud combined a deep knowledge of the Church Fathers and earlier medieval writers, an intimate familiarity with Scripture, and innate common sense. Her Spiritual Exercises—prayers, litanies, meditations, and hymns—articulate a spirituality that is both traditionally monastic and authentically, but unself-consciously, feminine. 

Hers is a mysticism of light and love, of humility and commitment, of freedom and discipline and—most of all—of joy. 

*M. Jeremy Finnegan OP, 'The Women of Helfta', Peace Weavers, Medieval Religious Women, 2:212.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780879074494
Publisher: Liturgical Press
Publication date: 11/01/1989
Series: Cistercian Fathers , #49
Pages: 180
Product dimensions: 5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.40(d)

Table of Contents

Table of Contents
Abbreviations   ix
Introduction   1
Spiritual Exercises
   I.   Rebirth   21
  II.   Spiritual Conversion   34
 III.   Dedication of the Self   40
 IV.   Following Christ   57
  V.   Mystical Union   73
 VI.   Jubilus   93
VII.   Life in Death   122
Index of Scriptural Citations   147
Word Index   152
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