Crossing 2nd Edition: Reclaiming the Landscape of Our Lives - Softcover

Barrett, Mark

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0819222909 ISBN 13: 9780819222909

Publisher: Morehouse Publishing, 2008

Synopsis

Illuminates the spiritual journey we all take and the choices we all take and the choices we make by focusing on five of the monastic hours, from Vigils which reflect on the edges of the day and our own difficulty in choosing to begin the journey, through Compline or night prayer, the time for letting go and remembering the reality of death. 

Full of humor and eloquently written, Crossing shows Christians how to bring faith and human experience together.

About this title

About the Author:

is a Roman Catholic Priest in England and a monk of the Order of St. Benedict. He was involved in founding the Centre for Spirituality at the Worth Abbey, and has taught in the theology and English departments of the Worth Abbey School for many years. He was one of the monks in the BBC series, The Monastery.

From Publishers Weekly:

This beautiful book on the Benedictine tradition of praying the Divine Hours presents the daily office as a regular cycle of birth and death. The pre-dawn office of vigils, for which monks stumble to find their places in the dark, represents both the miracle of resurrection and the mundane reality that fixed-hour prayer is work. British monk Barrett prays that he might "want to want to pray," acknowledging that at some core part of his being he does not want God in his life at all particularly before dawn. The rest of the book is peppered with the same frankness and theological insight. As Barrett walks readers through the cycle of a monastic day, he draws upon writers such as W.H. Auden, Dante Alighieri, William Blake, James Joyce and, of course, St. Benedict. He also culls fascinating examples from commercial art films such as American Beauty and The Talented Mr. Ripley. He's not afraid to venture into shadow; he compares midday prayer, for example, to a labyrinth a place where experiences repeat, patterns are formed and things can go awry. The closing chapters beautifully address the traditions of vespers and compline (night prayer), which he calls a service of "dispossession." Far from being a sentimental or relaxing nightcap before slipping off into sleep, compline is at its heart "a reminder of the mystery of death that awaits us all." Bold, intelligent and uncompromising, this sensual primer on monastic spirituality should have broad appeal.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Morehouse Publishing
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0819222909
• ISBN 13: 9780819222909
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 120