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The Meditations with a Monastic Commentary: (91 Cistercian Fathers Series)

The Meditations with a Monastic Commentary: (91 Cistercian Fathers Series)


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About the Book

The Meditations, written over a period from 1125 to 1137, are a personal account of William of Saint-Thierry’s ascent into Trinitarian intimacy. Writing to the monks of Mont Dieu sometime around 1144, he proposed the Meditations as helpful in forming minds in prayer. These Meditations, with their accompanying commentary, are now presented as helpful in forming an intimate relationship with the triune God.



Table of Contents:
Contents

Acknowledgments  xi
Abbreviations  xiii
Foreword, by David N. Bell xvii
The Meditations  1
   Preface  3
   The Meditations  5

The Beginning of William’s Contemplative Ascent into Intimacy
with the Triune Divinity as Presented in His Meditations:
A Monastic Commentary   89
   Two Protagonists: Meditation 1.1–6   91
   Foreknowledge and Predestination: Meditation 1.2–6   94
   Divine Foreknowledge as Eternal Wisdom: Meditation 1.7–10   96
   Bonding between Eternity and Time: Meditation 1.8   97
   Ascending vs Circling: Meditation 1.9   99
   Divine Predestination/Intimate Relationship: Meditation 1.11   100
   Pride: Meditation 1.12–13   102
   Go to Him and be Enlightened: Meditation 2.1–3   104
   A Remarkable Scriptural Image and Metaphor: Meditation 2.2–8   107  
   Divine and Human Darkness: Meditation 2.5–8   108
   Imagination in Respect to a Vision of God that Enlightens: Meditation 2.9–12   110
   Two Categories of Understanding: Meditation 2.13–15   113
   Enlightened Understanding Coming from Above: Meditation 2.14   113
   Face and Countenance: Meditation 3.1–5   116
   Meaning of the Face   117
   Meaning of the Countenance   117
   A Succinct Unfolding of the Meditations   118
   The Paradigm of Your Countenance   118
   Your Love: Meditation 3.6–7   120
   Divine Revelation: Meditation 3.7–8   123
   Understanding from Reason: Meditation 3.9–11   125
   Understanding God: Meditation 3.12–13   127
   Understanding the Trinity: Meditation 3.14   128
   Embracing the Trinity: Meditation 3.15–16   130
   Personal Change via the Lord’s Prayer: Meditation 4.1–5   132
   Nine Factors Bringing Personal Change: Meditation 4.6–19   133
   1. Opening Personal Inner Depths: Meditation 4.6   134
   2. Good Conscience: Meditation 4.10   135
   3. Reason in Its Proper Responsibility: Meditation 4.11   136
   4. Knowledge of One’s Personal God as the Fruit of Solitude: Meditation 4.12   136
   5. A Desire to Taste, See, and Delight in This Personal God: Meditation 4.13–14   137
   6. Pursuing the Place Where God Is: Meditation 4.15   138 
   7. Removing All Types of Idols Formerly Used to Comprehend God: Meditation 4.16   139
   8. Becoming Intelligent and Devoutly Knowledgeable: Meditation 4.17   140
   9. Authentic Listening to God: Meditation 4.18–19   141
   The Prayer of Jesus: Meditation 5.1–3   143
   Prayer as Being Crucified, Concrucifixus, with the Lord Jesus: Meditation 5.4   144
   Concrucifixus and Its Consequences: Meditation 5.5   145
   A Treacherous Problem: Meditation 5.6   147
   Christ’s Prayer on the Cross: Meditation 5.7–10   147
   Love and Truth: Meditation 5.10–12   149
   William’s Bonding to the Human and Divine Natures of Christ: Meditation 5.14–15   151
   Mutual Anointing and the Amplexus: Meditation 5.15–19   152
   Heaven’s Open Door: Meditation 6.1   155
   Earthly Heaviness and Human Pride: Meditation 6.2–5   155
   Jesus, Incarnate Merciful Love, Is the Open Door into Heaven: Meditation 6.6–7   157
   The Proper Way to Think Regarding Heaven and Earth: Meditation 6.8–9   158
   Further Thoughts on Heaven: Meditation 6.10–14   159
   Heaven Is Likeness to the Creating God: Meditation 6.15   161
   The Comprehensiveness of the Incarnation: Meditation 6.16–19   161
   The Obedience of Charity and the Charity of Obedience: Meditation 6.18   162
   The Pierced Heart of Jesus: Meditation 6.20–22   164  
   A Yearning to Rejoice with the Saints: Meditation 6.23–27   164
   Boldness in Seeking God’s Face: Meditation 7.1   167
   Two Aspects of Humility: Meditation 7.2–4   167
   Signs of the Divine Face: Meditation 7.6–8  169
   To Know by Not Knowing: Meditation 7.9–11   170
   The Implication of Being Illumined: Meditation 7.11   173
   Good Will, Good Zeal: Meditation 8.1–2   175
   The Kiss of Truth and Mercy: Meditation 8.3   176
   The Passion of Christ as a Contemplative Spousal Kiss: Meditation 8.4–5   177
   The Sacred Heart as Hiding Place: Meditation 8.6   179
   Ruminating on the Passion: Meditation 8.7   180
   Delightful Love: Meditation 8.8–9   184
   The Effects of Christ’s Face upon a Human Face: Meditation 8.10   184
   Torment of Hell: Meditation 8.11–14   185
   William Descends into His Inner Self: Meditation 9.1–2   187
   Rowdy Thoughts Hinder Inner Peace: Meditation 9.3–7   187
   Total Openness in God’s Presence: Meditation 9.8–9   189
   Experiences of Alternations: Meditation 9.10–11   190
   Truth, Accurate Self-knowledge, Comes from God’s Presence: Meditation 9.12–13   191
   The Fullness of Love Depends on the Fullness of Faith: Meditation 9.14–17   191
   An Intuitive Vision of God: Meditation 10.1–2   193
   The Bonding Role of This Wisdom: Meditation 10.3   195
   Prayer with Images: Meditation 10.4–10   196 
   The Incarnate Christ as the Open Door to Eternal Life: Meditation 10.9–12   200
   The Theme of Ascent: Meditation 11.1–3   203
   The Scriptural Image of Bartimeus of Jericho (Mark 10:46): Meditation 11.4–11   204
   Word of God, the Divine Protagonist: Meditation 11.12   206
   His Total Destiny, the Discovery of God’s Truth, Is in God’s Hands: Meditation 11.13–14   207
   Scrutinizing Intention, Thoughts, Soul, and Spirit: Meditation 11.15–33   208
   Intention: Meditation 11.15–20   208
   Joints: Meditation 11.21–24   210
   Marrow: Meditation 11.25–30   211
   A Dialogue between William’s Spirit and His Soul: Meditation 11.31–33   214
   Your Love: Meditation 12.1   217
   William Addresses His Past Life: Meditation 12.2–8   218
   Your Love as an Advocate: Meditation 12.9–10   219
   Your Love, an Experience of Love: Meditation 12.11   221
   The Life of the Trinity Working in William: Meditation 12.12–13   222
   Your Love Expands Conscience: Meditation 12.14–15   223
   Way of Ascent: A Will—Great, Enlightened, Ardent: Meditation 12.16–20   224
   Great Will 225 Enlightened and Ardent Will: Meditation 12.20–21   227
   Your Love Imparts Participation with the Saints: Meditation 12.22   228
   Your Love Reshaping Persons: Meditation 12.23–24   228 
   Your Love Forms Unpretentious Persons: Meditation 12.25–27   229
   Eucrasis and the Saints   230
   To Love Much: Meditation 12.28–30   231
   Meditation Thirteen   234
Bibliography   241

About the Author :

William of Saint-Thierry (ca. 1080–1148) was a Benedictine abbot of the Abbey of Saint-Thierry and a close friend of Bernard of Clairvaux. Because of this friendship, toward the end of his life he became a Cistercian monk at Signy l’Abbaye in the Ardenne forest. Twenty-one of his writings extant today establish his enduring legacy as a distinguished theologian of Trinitarian doctrine, Christology, and contemplative prayer.

Thomas X. Davis, OCSO, has translated two works of William—The Mirror of Faith (1979) and The Nature and Dignity of Love (1981)—and published several articles on William and monastic subjects. He is the abbot emeritus of the Trappist-Cistercian Abbey of New Clairvaux.



Review :
"Thomas Davis makes an invaluable contribution in his fresh translation of the Meditations and his insightful commentary on William’s account of the contemplative ascent into God, situating the abbot of Saint-Thierry’s spiritual itinerary in his broader theological vision. That ascent is motivated by ardent love and longing to see God’s face, yet paradoxically necessitates a descent into the truth of a person’s deepest self where one comes face to face with one’s utter brokenness and the need to die to self. There one also discovers the truth of one’s unimaginable beloved-ness in the eternal Word. Ascending then through the Incarnation, one’s will is united with God’s love—the Holy Spirit—in the unitas spiritus where one’s life is transformed and one’s spirit is enfolded the ineffable embrace of the Divine Persons of the Trinity."
Glenn E. Myers, PhD, Professor of Church History and Theological Studies, Crown College
  "Father Thomas Davis takes his readers on an extraordinary journey through the depths and heights of William of Saint–Thierry’s spirituality. The revised translation and commentary illuminate the complexity of early Cistercian thought through the lens of William’s poetic imagery. Offering a guided tour through the metaphorical landscape of William’s meditations, Father Davis provides intellectually rich insight, as well as a personal appreciation of Cistercian spiritual practice. This book is a source both for future Cistercian scholarship and for anyone who is drawn to the experiential, authentic nature of monastic prayer.“
Dr. des. theol. ​Delphine Conzelmann, University of Basel, Switzerland
  “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” So wrote St. Augustine at the beginning of his Confessions, one of the most remarkable prayer-texts in the Christian tradition. Some 700 years later, a closely related insight drove William of St. Thierry to pen the meditative prayers of this book. Blessed with an intimate knowledge of the Bible and the medieval interpretive tradition, a poetic sense of imagery, a refined Christian metaphysics, and an ardent personal faith, William delivered a remarkable text to guide thoughts to God. This new volume gives us a precious new portal into one of Christian history’s outstanding minds."
Fr. Joseph Van House, O Cist, Our Lady of Dallas Abbey, University of Dallas
  "This volume is highly recommended for all who want to deepen their appreciation of medieval monastic spirituality."
Catholic Books Review

"This translation and commentary offer readers a thoroughly Cistercian and deeply prayerful experience of seeking and understanding God."
Theological Studies


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Product Details
  • ISBN-13: 9780879071646
  • Publisher: Liturgical Press
  • Publisher Imprint: Liturgical Press
  • Height: 216 mm
  • No of Pages: 272
  • Returnable: Y
  • Returnable: Y
  • Spine Width: 16 mm
  • Width: 140 mm
  • ISBN-10: 0879071648
  • Publisher Date: 16 Dec 2022
  • Binding: Paperback
  • Language: English
  • Returnable: Y
  • Returnable: Y
  • Series Title: 91 Cistercian Fathers Series
  • Weight: 399 gr


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