In fact it is so noble, incredible and rare that one could say that he refers to intimacies between persons so great that contemporary culture would be inclined to describe such relations as being soul mates or kindred spirits. Spiritual friendship by aelred of rievaulx 323 ratings, 4. To aid in our understanding, we are developing and validating a new measure of sexual and religious congruence as well as validating an existing measure of religiosity. Spiritual friendship is today the best known and perhaps most influential of the thirteen surviving works of aelred, abbot of the great english cistercian abbey of rievaulx from 1147 1167. My pro posed answer for a spirituality at the junction of modernity and post modernity is a spirituality of mercy. Patricia carroll ocso draws our attention to aelred of rievaulx, a cistercian saint and spiritual writer who specialised in writing about friendship as an image of. Spiritual friendship aelred of rievaulx cistercian publications. Ivo asks aelred if we could say of friendship what john, the intimate friend of jesus, says of charity, that god is friendship. Mark yarhouse coauthors of costly obedience are interested in learning about the path of reconciling sexual and religious identity conflicts. Aelreds surviving works deal with either devotion or history. Spiritual friendship in 300 words spiritual friendship.
Alas, these literary works did not accord him the same recognition as bernard of clairvaux. Saint aelred of rievaulx is currently considered a single author. Spiritual friendship by aelred of rievaulx goodreads. Spiritual friendshipis today the best known and perhaps most influential of the thirteen surviving works of aelred, abbot of the great english cistercian abbey of rievaulx from 1147 1167. Mar 26, 2020 patricia carroll ocso draws our attention to aelred of rievaulx, a cistercian saint and spiritual writer who specialised in writing about friendship as an image of. Pdf aelred of rievaulx spiritual friendship cistercian. The treatise is a series of dialogues in which three monks join aelred to examine their ideas about. Aelred of rievaulx spiritual friendship john protevi. In the course of his life as a monk aelred wrote two treatises on that subject. Apr 01, 2010 spiritual friendship is today the best known and perhaps most influential of the thirteen surviving works of aelred, abbot of the great english cistercian abbey of rievaulx from 1147 1167. Download pdf spiritualfriends free online new books. During his abbacy he built rievaulx into a place of spiritual welcome and physical prosperity, desiring to make it a mother of mercy to those in need.
We can see the importance of those two works when we consider the contrast between the strict demeanor found in most monastic orders of that day, and that of st. As a cistercian monk in the middle ages, aelred of rievaulxs 11101167 life was likely filled with physical work and contemplative prayer. Aelred died in the winter of 11667, probably on 12 january 1167 at rievaulx. On spiritual friendship aelred of rievaulx download. Spiritual friendship musings on god, friendship, relationships. Aelred lived a millennium ago, his life and writings have a distinctively contemporary feel. Pdf download spiritual friendship free unquote books. The spiritual kiss is characteristically the kiss of friends who are bound by one law of friendship. Reading aelred of rievaulx s little treatise on spiritual friendship as an undergraduate was a lifechanging experience for me. Saint aelred of rievaulx, writer, historian, and outstanding cistercian abbot who influenced monasticism in medieval england, scotland, and france. In friendship are joined honor and charm, truth and joy, sweetness and goodwill, affection and action.
Aelred, who permitted holding hands and showing other. In a threebook ciceronian dialogue aelred defines human. Spiritual friendship by saint aelred of rievaulx librarything. An extremely competent administrator of rievaulx, a vast yorkshire abbey in northern england, yet even more a spiritual father to hundreds of men, had we met aelred we would identify him with pope john xxiii or carlo martini, the archbishop. Aelred was a monastic who wrote a guidebook about the selection and cultivation of spiritual friendships. Saint aelred of rievaulx cistercian monk britannica. What therefore is more pleasant than to unite oneself to the spirit of another and the two to form one the conversation at first seems to be slow. Please read our short guide how to send a book to kindle. Those familiar with aelred may be surprised that i intend to use. Aelred of rievaulx download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi.
Aelred was an anglosaxon, born in hexham, northumbria, in 1110. Among spiritual writers, i think that aelred of rievaulx has been largely overlooked. In the cross of christ there is death, and in the cross of christ there is life saturday, mar 31 2012. The book club that i am a part of recently read and discussed this work and i was surprised to hear that very few people felt that it was relevant to their relationships or even all that interesting. The classic text with a spiritual commentary by dennis billy, c. Patricia carroll ocso draws our attention to aelred of rievaulx, a cistercian saint and spiritual writer who specialised in writing about friendship as an image of the relationship between god and each person. Jan 12 st aelred of rievaulx 111067 catholicireland. But, perhaps, it is difficult to find this perfection with respect to all in.
Aelred of rievaulx, monk and abbot of a monastic house in northern england, was a member of the contempiative cistercian order, whose most famous. Certain readings of the symposium would also assert that to ascend the sublimation ladder from physical to spiritual mean you have to physically love before you can ascend. Read book pdf online here 1589660234pdf download aelred of rievaulx spiritual. Aelred was a twelfth century english cistercian monk, who.
Throughout his life, aelred took great joy in his friends and he believed that by loving and being loved by them, we learn to accept and return gods infinitely. During his abbacy he built rievaulx into a place of spiritual welcome and physical prosperity, desiring to make it a mother of mercy to those. On spiritual friendship aelred of rievaulx download bok. Spiritual friendship, cistercian pubns 27 copy quote. Spiritual friendship is today the best known and perhaps most influential of the thirteen surviving works of aelred, abbot of the great english cistercian abbey of rievaulx from 11471167. Brills companion to aelred of rievaulx explores the life, works, and thought of aelred, cistercian abbot of rievaulx abbey from 1147 to 1167. To explore this answer, i will draw extensively from the works of aelred of rievaulx. In a threebook ciceronian dialogue aelred defines human friendship as sacramental, beginning in creation, as god sought to place his own love. The visit turned out to be the life, for aelred never returned to scotland. Feb 14, 2019 aelred of rievaulx spiritual friendship pdf by admin in education patricia carroll ocso draws our attention to aelred of rievaulx, a cistercian saint and spiritual writer who specialised in writing about friendship as an image of. Of noble birth, aelred was reared at the court of king david i of scotland, whose life.
His own experience of human weakness in a worldly life at the court of king david of scotland made him sensitive to the doctrine of charity which he found among cistercian monks. Shortly after aelreds death in 1167 an account of his life was written by his pupil, walter daniel. In a threebook ciceronian dialogue aelred defines human friendship as sacramental, beginning in creation, as god sought to place his own love of society in all. Recovering male samesex friendships in the modern era introduction human beings are fundamentally social creatures, with complex rules and guidelines for social behavior and interactions. Aelred of rievaulx possessed a personal charm which drew friends and disciples naturally to him. Aelred of rievaulx spiritual friendship pdf what is the. Reading aelred of rievaulxs little treatise on spiritual friendship as an undergraduate was a lifechanging experience for me. If one or more works are by a distinct, homonymous authors, go ahead and split the author.
Tlc stands for to love christ and is a twoyear certificate training that kristi and i lead for pastors and ministry leaderscaregivers in. One of the most essential aspects of what it means to be fully human is to have friends. A companion to aelred of rievaulx 11101167 marsha l. These include his treatises on spiritual friendship and the mirror of charity, his rule for the recluse, various sermons and a life of edward the confessor. Aelred of rievaulxs doctrine on the mirror of charity. This sample reading log on spiritual friendship by aelred of rievaulx is like the ones that participants complete in our soul shepherding tlc program.
Here is my reading log from aelred of rievaulxs classic devotional book on spiritual friendship. Aelred had a charism for chaste spiritual friendships. Traditions of spiritual guidance aelred of rievaulx brendan callaghan 375 c istercian spirituality and christian friendship have each fea tured in traditions of spiritual guidance, 1 so for aelred to be treated in his own right might seem unnecessary. Aelred of rievaulx, a twelfth century cistercian abbot who lived in the north of england, wrote spiritual friendship to explore the deeper meanings of this form of love particularly as it could and should exist among the monks of his order. Aelred, a 12thcentury cistercian abbot, insists that we need to test our beliefs about friendship with scripture. His feast day is celebrated by the cistercians on february 3.
May 17, 2019 aelred of rievaulx spiritual friendship pdf may 17, 2019 by admin to send this article to your kindle, first ensure email protected is added to your approved personal document email list under your personal document settings on the manage your content and. Friendship is that virtue by which spirits are bound by ties of love and sweetness and out of many are made one. When he was abbot at rievaulx there were over three hundred monks there. Spiritual friendship, historical writings, and collections of sermons.
Jan 12 st aelred of rievaulx 111067 12 january, 2012. This short book was written in the form of a dialog between the author, aelred he saw that his reluctance to part from. The mirror of charity gives us a solid theology of the cistercian life. Spiritual friendship by aelred of rievaulx is one of the all time classic books of devotion to christ. A reading log is a simple and helpful tool for studying a book and recording your favorite quotes. Speculum caritatis the mirror of charity, which aelred wrote at bernards insistence, is a. Aelred completes a large number of his famous writings, including on the soul and spiritual friendship 1167.
460 514 317 1377 584 1107 540 23 883 216 923 467 50 1450 1033 947 1401 977 99 1532 1502 722 1068 901 340 915 127 929 113 1086 428 915 1258 28 30 1184 593 507 1286 1432 708 1242 610 644