Cistercians

considers Silence as the only effective means of neutralizing the tendency towards sins of the tongue. There is an ongoing dialogue between the Benedictines and the Cistercians which juxtaposes a "monastic archetype" characterized by peace and Silence 11. A spring of water does not bubble out first with fresh water and then with bitter water. 12. One cannot pick olives from a fig tree or figs from a grape vine. Similarly one cannot draw fresh water from a salty pool. Although speech is morally…

Throughout history the technological advancements made by mankind gradually forms a gap with nature, separating us from our ancestors. These products of society pull us away from nature, making it harder to appreciate what is truly is. William Wordsworth was a romantic poet who witnessed this lack of appreciation during his lifetime. Wordsworth’s poetry aims to inform those people who are too engulfed in the material world to pause and witness the miracles that come with the beauty of nature.…

The Middle Ages. It was a time known as the dark ages in European history. Just like today, the people living in this time period loved to be able to party, have fun, and go a little crazy, and that’s just what they had done. At these fun festivities that most of the village attended, there was drinking, games, and many professional performances. With the amazing variety of clothing and the weird ways to present food, the people living in the Middle Ages attempted to have the time of their lives…

And France was the pioneer in monasticism. Two new orders were borned in the 12th century: the Carthusians (Chartreuse) and the Cistercians (Citeaux). Schools were also attached to monasteries. In 1231, Sorbonne became an independent university by the license given by Pope Gregory IX. France was the heart of education in Europe as it attracted many theology students. In 1257, St. Thomas…

Introduction A century ago, at the beginning of the Great War, which Pope Benedict XV termed a “pointless slaughter,” another notable American was born: the Cistercian monk Thomas Merton. He remains a source of spiritual inspiration and a guide for many people… Merton was above all a man of prayer, a thinker who challenged the certitudes of his time and opened new horizons for souls and for the Church. He was also a man of dialogue, a promoter of peace between peoples and religions. The…

real to the Latin Christian intellectuals who charged many souls to being heretics. Indeed, heresy needed to be real to them in order to define their very existence. “The fact that it was an invention,” writes Pegg, “makes it no less real for a Cistercian preacher or Dominican inquisitor, but it was not real for those they accused or persecuted.”…

Dante voyages through paradise in nine spheres, there order is the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Fixed Stars. This is a trip through heaven's journey towards the vision of God in the Empyrean, a realm of pure light (The World of Dante). The sun is the home for the theologians and wise men (Digital Dante). At this time, the sun was seen as a symbol of intellectual power and illumination, it could even represent God. This “planet” was perfect for the theologians and wise men…

Christianity is referred to as a belief and reverence of God, Jesus Christ and The Holy Spirit lined to a set of dogmas, sacraments and moral principles as captured in the stories of the Bible. Within Biblical gospels, one find descriptions of the many miracles Jesus Christ bestowed upon mankind, stories of which have become foundational to Christian belief, where the faithful profess their genuine nature and factual truths. For Christian’s miracles, expressions of divine intervention and the…

People are always changing. Our ideas and theology of the world is ever evolving. Some periods had more development than others. Buildings are often a continuum of the change. It makes sense considering for many they make the physical boundaries of our world. Churches in medieval times changed dramatically between 1150 and 1550, the style changed from Romanesque to Gothic. The reasons for this can be divided into three categories, Social, Technological, and Theological. Churches needed to be…

Christian religious tradition (or Christianity) has long been thought of as a set of dogmas, sacraments and moral attitudes linked with a belief and reverence in God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit as captured in the stores of the Bible. Within Biblical gospels one find descriptions of the many miracles Jesus Christ bestowed upon mankind, stories that became fundamental to Christian belief, where the faithful profess to the genuine nature of these stories as factual truths. Given the…