Symbolism, Sacred Art, Metaphysics

Monkscript Two: Surprising Saints Literature, Arts & Spirituality

Michael Bever, Paul Quenon

$15.95

Intended as a literary-monastic miscellany, this ecletic mix of writings, sketches, stories and interviews offers the reader a breviary uniquely suited to our times. The writings sound chords we hear struck far too infrequently outside of monastic settings: on the similarities of poetry and prayer; on the power of pregnant spiritual silence; on the importance of meditation in the art of living intentionally and well; on the importance of not wishing to be wise too soon.

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  • 9781891785948
  • 164

Product Description

Without intending to find a specific theme for this second volume, it so happened that a large number of items had to do with saints, of one type or another. None here included, except St. Benedict and St. Scholastica, would be considered saints in the official sense of the word, but they are unique and holy individuals in their own way. As most monks and nuns in general.

Reviews

A long-awaited sequel to the highly praised Monkscript, this collection again presents a wide variety of poets and writers, who all draw inspiration from "monasteries, monastic life, and any contemplative style of living. While some write from the perspective of western monasticism, the east is not ignored. One highlight of this issue is an interview with Coleman Barks, translator of 13th century Persian mystic and poet Rumi, and a renowned poet in his own right. And Br. Paul Quenon, more than 50 years a monk, served his novitiate under famed writer and contemplative Thomas Merton, who died in 1968. No doubt Merton would have appreciated both the content of Monkscript Two and the promise such a publication holds for inter-religious dialogue among those who appreciate that literature truly can be prayer.
-John Alexander, attorney, publisher, past president of San Diego Thomas Merton Society
Perhaps it is only in a monastery that one can see such intense Christian commitment married so effortlessly and so gracefully to the very broadest and inclusive kind of ecumenical humanism. That is the ultimate gift these editors have given us: a vision of the sheer outrageousness of divine love, and the surprising sanctity of the everyday.
-Louis A. Ruprecht Jr. William M. Suttles Chair of Religious Studies, Georgia State University
This generous gathering of spiritual voices offers us fresh ideas that help deepen our sense of how creative spiritual minds see God's light shining through even the so-called mundane. A wonderful meditative compendium
-Marsha Sinetar, author of Sometimes, Enough is Enough
Thomas Merton once observed that "the monastery's chief product is persons." But the present volume is evidence that it also creates beauty and inspiration, not only iwthin its community, but also among those outside who are touched by its life and work. The reader will find here privileged entry into that world.
-W. Jack Coogan, Professor of Religion and the Arts, Claremont School of Theology, Lincoln University
"I am amazed and delighted. Monkscript Two serves as a wellspring, not just for me, but for thirsting pilgrimsand mendicants alike. The poetry offers inspiration and testimony for leading a spiritual life. I have taught poetry and literature for many years and have often despaired at the lack of spiritual subject matter in poetry today, have wondered why it's unfashionable for a modern American to write about the soul's relationship to experience of God and the Divine. Yet we translate Rume and Hafiz - and even 20th century European poets like Czeslaw Milosz who speak on the subject - without embarrassment. Monkscript and Monkscript Two are an antidote, a welcome oasis in the landscape of modern living."
~Kathryn Kruger