Ocso: 29 books
Come and See
The Monastic Way for Today
Language: English
Release Date: April 1, 2010
Come and See is look inside the mind of a monk. The Vision of monastic life proposed here is not new; it is a Vision going back to the Desert Fathers of the fourth century. And yet, it is new because it is rooted in a place in the soul that never grows old. Come and see where I live, Jesus said to...
An Invitation to Centering Prayer
Including an Introduction to Lectio Divina
Language: English
Release Date: October 4, 2001
At the urging of Pope Paul VI in 1971, the leaders of monastic communities throughout the world were encouraged to help the people of God rediscover an ancient way of prayer, centered in God and grounded in truth. This ancient method of prayer came to be known as "Centering Prayer." This book is for those who seek an enriched prayer life.
Paperback
by Andre Louf OCSO
Language: English
Release Date: July 21, 2015
Language: English
Release Date: July 21, 2015
Dom André Louf (+2010) was abbot of the Trappist-Cistercian monastery of Mont-des-Cats in northern France from 1963 to 1997. This book brings together talks given to a variety of audiences in which he shared his spiritual experience from both his life of prayer and his life in community.
Each...
The Life of the Vows
Initiation into the Monastic Tradition
Language: English
Release Date: September 1, 2012
As novice master of the Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani in Kentucky, Thomas Merton presented weekly conferences to familiarize his charges with the meaning and purpose of the vows they aspired to undertake. In this setting, he offered a thorough exposition of the theological, canonical,...
Monastic Observances
Initiation into the Monastic Tradition
Language: English
Release Date: December 1, 2010
In this set of novitiate conferences from the late 1950s, Thomas Merton provides a vivid and detailed introduction to the traditional pattern and practices of the monastic day during the period immediately preceding the momentous changes that would be introduced in the wake of the Second Vatican Council....
by Mary Clare Vincent, OSB; forewords by Esther de Waal and M. Basil Pennington, OCSO
Language: English
Release Date: December 15, 2009
Language: English
Release Date: December 15, 2009
A simple primer on prayer that gently focuses on the need of prayer in everyones life and offers some simple suggestions on getting to God
by Thomas Merton OCSO
Language: English
Release Date: July 27, 2017
Language: English
Release Date: July 27, 2017
Thomas Merton's lectures to the young monastics at the Abbey of Gethsemani provide a good look at Merton the scholar. A Course in Christian Mysticism gathers together, for the first time, the best of these talks into a spiritual, historical, and theological survey of Christian mysticism—from St....
Seventy-Four Tools for Good Living
Reflections on the Fourth Chapter of Benedict's Rule
Language: English
Release Date: May 7, 2014
There is more in Benedict’s Rule than meets the eye. Based on the rules of life of John Cassian and Saint Basil, Benedict invites us to go further back to the scriptural basis of all Christian and monastic living and pursue our spiritual journey by the guidance of the Gospel.
This book of...
The Cistercian Fathers and Their Monastic Theology
Initiation into the Monastic Tradition 8
Language: English
Release Date: May 12, 2016
These conferences, presented by Thomas Merton to the novices at the Abbey of Gethsemani in 1963–1964, focus mainly on the life and writings of his great Cistercian predecessor, St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153). Guiding his students through Bernard’s Marian sermons, his treatise On the Love...
Thomas Merton
Early Essays, 1947-1952
Language: English
Release Date: May 19, 2015
This volume gathers together twelve essays that Thomas Merton wrote for various journals between 1947 and 1952, the years that saw the publication of his best-selling autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain, his ordination to the priesthood, and his initial appointment as spiritual and intellectual...
The Sun at Midnight
Monastic Experience of the Christian Mystery
Language: English
Release Date: October 1, 2012
The Sun at Midnight offers a splendid, easily accessible summary of mystical theology in the Cistercian school. Bernardo Olivera, a master of both the theology and the practice of the spiritual life, analyzes this tradition first in its rich human, biblical, and doctrinal connotations, and then according...
A Course in Desert Spirituality
Fifteen Sessions with the Famous Trappist Monk
Language: English
Release Date: March 5, 2019
Thomas Merton’s sessions with the young monks at the Abbey of Gethsemani showcase Merton’s brilliant ability to survey the key figures and synthesize their writings, inspiring his listeners and readers with what it means for the spiritual life. Like its companion volume, A Course in Christian...
Medieval Cistercian History
Initiation into the Monastic Tradition 9
Language: English
Release Date: March 28, 2019
Thomas Merton’s deep roots in his own Cistercian tradition are on display in the two sets of conferences on the early days of the Order included in the present volume. The first surveys the relevant monastic background that led up to the foundation of the Abbey of Cîteaux in 1098 and goes on to...
Discernment Matters
Listening with the Ear of the Heart
Language: English
Release Date: February 1, 2013
After fifty years of monastic life, prayer, and spiritual direction, Meg Funk knows what it means to listen with the ear of one's heart to the Holy Spirit. InDiscernment Matters, she shares what she has learned. This book is a resource for those who want to learn and practice discernment as taught...