Listen with Your Heart: Spiritual Living with the Rule of St. Benedict

by M Basil Pennington Ocso

Overview

For today's hungry Christians, teachings on the Rule of Saint Benedict by one of the twentieth century's best-loved Catholic writers. "Benedict is saying, 'Wake up! Open your eyes! Open your ears! Let the divine life and light invade you so that your life is filled with aspiration, joy and hope.'" -M. Basil Pennington At Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Monastery in Conyers, Georgia, Abbot Basil Pennington gave weekly talks to the monks on the Rule of Saint Benedict. Now, readers and listeners are able to sit and learn from one of the most important spiritual teachers of the last century. The talks have been lovingly transcribed and organized into book form, and they have also been exquisitely preserved on a single compact disk. This ancient Rule, written in the sixth century, continues to be a guide for men and women wishing to live a Christian life. Beginning with the prologue, Abbot Basil reads and comments on selected passages, providing the monks with insights into applying them in daily living. He takes the Latin phrases from the Rule and translates them into wisdom for the journey. Using his own monastic experiences, Basil illustrates how the Rule is more than a guide - it is a way of life to be lived in love for Jesus Christ and in service to others. The Listen With Your Heart Compact Disc (double CD) is the recorded version of M. Basil Pennington giving nine of the talks from which the book is transcribed.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781557255488
Publisher:	Paraclete Press
Publication date:	09/01/2007
Series:	Voices from the Monastery
Pages:	207
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 7.92(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

M. Basil Pennington, OCSO, was one of the most-loved spiritual writers of the 20th century. His classic, Centering Prayer, has sold more than one million copies. A Trappist monk for more than 50 years, he died in 2005.

Table of Contents

Foreword     v
Introduction     ix
Beloved Children of God     1
Listen to the Master     12
Freely Receive and Effectively Fulfill     21
Turning to Jesus Christ     29
Everything Begins with God     40
Now Is the Time to Let God Speak to You     50
Seeking and Pursuing Peace     63
Parallelism in the Rule     75
One with Christ     83
The Kinds of Monks     96
Lovers of Brethren and Place     110
Jesus Christ in the Abbot and Community     119
The Responsibilities of the Abbot     125
The Glory of Work     139
All of Life Should Be a Lent     149
The Burial of Alleluia     165
Joy in the Holy Spirit     173
Incline the Ear of Your Heart     177
The Good Zeal of Monks     184
Notes     195

Editorial Reviews

Before he died in 2005, Pennington, a Cistercian monk and abbot, had talked of writing a commentary on the sixth-century guide for monastic life known as the Rule of Benedict. Though Pennington never achieved his goal, his secretary saw that the abbot's talks to monks at Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Monastery in Conyers, Ga., formed a partial commentary on the rule. He subsequently transcribed and posted the talks on the community's Web site, leading to this publication in book form. Those who take up this collection of reflections will need to consider that they were designed not for readers but for listeners, and read them as if they were being spoken. Readers who can thus "hear" the talks, which also are available on CD, will discover in them the rule's enduring wisdom. Although these talks are directed at monks, their content is readily applicable outside monasteries, especially in the areas of prayer and living in harmony with others. Pennington, for example, observes that even when Benedict is describing the four different types of monks, he is merely identifying human tendencies found in all people, such as instability, singularity and self-will. This is recommended reading for disciples of Benedict and newcomers to the Rule. (Sept.)

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