The dialogue structure of spiritual friendship immediately shows the importance of others in the spiritual life. Given that i was on vacation, i was able to dive in for long stretches of road time and finished the book off quickly. From line of married priests in north of england in late 11th century. 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. He may have been partially educated by lawrence of durham, who sent him a hagiography. During this period, aelred wrote his best known work, spiritual friendship. Among spiritual writers, i think that aelred of rievaulx has been largely overlooked.
And aelred takes a further significant step when he moves from affirming that god is love to. He had a life of his own outside of the canonisers. St aelred of rievaulx and friendship the dominican friars order. Can we stop trying to push a retrospective religious agenda onto historical fact. Given that i was on vacation, i was able to dive in for. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading spiritual friendship cistercian fathers book 5. Saint aelred of rievaulx cistercian monk britannica. In the cross of christ there is death, and in the cross of christ there is life saturday, mar 31 2012. Spiritual friendship by saint aelred of rievaulx librarything. 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. Mindy caliguire is the founder of soul care, a spiritual formation ministry that exists to increase soul health in the body of christ.
The spiritual status of samesex attraction governed paradoxically by a rule of celibacy is a fascinating concept. Spiritual friendship by aelred of rievaulx 9780879079703. Friendship as spiritual encouragement geralyn july 1, 20 at 8. In short, monastic theology, like monastic friendship according to the exemplary account of aelred of rievaulx, is ideally a balanced activity of reason and will, profoundly christcentered, existentially grounded in both sensible and spiritual experience, and quintessentially expressed in. I was intrigued by a couple of the names that endorsed the book and felt i needed to read it immediately. Aelred writes in the prologue to his best known work, the treatise on spiritual friendship, that. My pro posed answer for a spirituality at the junction of modernity and post modernity is a spirituality of mercy. Aelred of rievaulx as far as we know was a real person. Finding love in the church as a celibate gay christian. The first clairvaux collection, adventall saints, translated by theodore berkeley and m. Weekly spiritual guidance tarot reading for november 2026.
The classic text with a spiritual commentary by dennis billy, c. This sample reading log on spiritual friendship by aelred of rievaulx is like the ones that participants complete in our soul shepherding tlc program. Of noble birth, aelred was reared at the court of king david i of scotland, whose life. Over the years aelred rose to considerable prominence in england, and his counsel was sought out by church. Written in dialogue form, aelred of rievaulx offers wise counsel on many aspects of friendship. Spiritual friendship cistercian fathers book 5 kindle edition by aelred of rievaulx, dutton, marsha l. In 1095, the council of claremont had forbidden the ordination of the sons of priests. Aelred was born in hexham, northumbria, in 1110, one of three sons of eilaf, priest of st andrews at. Weekly spiritual guidance tarot reading april 19 2020.
Carnal friendship is a mutual harmony in vice which begins when lustful eyes allow into the mind images of beautiful bodies. I have written my share of essays which use friendship as models for discussion, and in time, i too, will post them online. He is regarded by anglicans and catholics as a saint. In a threebook ciceronian dialogue aelred defines human friendship as sacramental, beginning. Spiritual friendship in 300 words spiritual friendship.
Those familiar with aelred may be surprised that i. Spiritual friendship cistercian fathers book 5 kindle. If you would like to participate, you can visit the project page, where you can join the project, see a list of open tasks, and join in discussions on the projects talk page. C this article has been rated as cclass on the projects. The end result of this mutually nurturing relationship is a spiritual transformation that honors god. In his writings on friendship, aelred distinguished three kinds. Giacomo is one of the editors at orthodoxy in dialogue and asked if id contribute.
His most famous work is perhaps his spiritual friendship, a treatise. True spiritual friendship, friendship that incarnates christ among us, perfects love. Spiritual friendship by aelred of rievaulx goodreads. Aelred relates the three traditional levels of spiritual consolation to the three sabbaths of the book of leviticus xxiii and xxv to which he specifically refers in book iii 80. The dnb notes that as a child, aelred prophesied the death of a bad archbishop of york. Aelred of rievalux work on spiritual friendship presents the most noble presentation of friendship i have ever read.
Life in the medieval cloister, continuum publishing 2009 leyser, henrietta. Aelred of rievaulx 11091167 early showed signs of promise. 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. 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.
When the friendship has these characteristics, it can be said to be a true friendship, a spiritual friendship, one which builds up both parties and helps them journey towards god. Writing in the style of a platonic dialog aelred builds off of the insights of cicero, the writings of the church fathers, his own experience of life in common as well as his experience of the depths of friendship in order to present this series of dialogs on the joys of friendship. Close friends ground us and keep us from thinking that what we have is our own accomplishment. Aelred of rievaulx asks us to carry on the everdynamic mission of the incarnation. At first sight, much of the book seems to consist of a tapestry of biblical texts.
The man who hopes for anything else does not understand what true friendship is. Friendship as spiritual encouragement peace theology. 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. His feast day is celebrated by the cistercians on february 3. If one or more works are by a distinct, homonymous authors, go ahead and split the author. The dnb notes that as a child, aelred prophesied the death of a bad archbishop of. Saint aelred of rievaulx is currently considered a single author. Certain readings of the symposium would also assert that to ascend the sublimation ladder from physical to spiritual mean you have. When i was still just a lad at school, and the charm of my companions pleased me very much, i gave my whole soul to affection and devoted myself to love amid the ways and vices with which that age is wont to be threatened, so that nothing seemed to me more. Ive written about his typology of friendship, as well as the distinction between true and false friendship. The creator god of genesis is johns god who is love. Tlc stands for to love christ and is a twoyear certificate training that kristi and i lead for pastors and ministry leaderscaregivers in. Reading aelred of rievaulx s little treatise on spiritual friendship as an undergraduate was a lifechanging experience for me.
This eloquent book reminds us that scripture and tradition have a high view of. Friendship, aelred teaches, is both a gift from god and a creation of human effort. Aelred s ideas are a challenge to many modern concepts of the spiritual life. Pour into our hearts, o god, the holy spirits gift of love, that we, clasping each the others hand, may share the joy of friendship, human and divine, and with your servant aelred draw many to your community of love. Formerly a retreat director in gloucester, massachusetts. Aelred, of rievaulx, saint,11101167, friendshipreligious aspectschristianity, england, history, great britain, importance. His name was not, however, saint aelred it was aelred. To explore this answer, i will draw extensively from the works of aelred of rievaulx. Ignatian spirituality serves the contemporary world as people strive to develop a friendship with god.
A reading log is a simple and helpful tool for studying a book and recording your favorite quotes. Now this new edition opens up the riches of this spiritual masterpiece to a wide audience of contemporary readers who see the spiritual life not as a solitary enterprise, but one intimately connected to relationships. The interaction between spiritual friends is a mutual love and desire to see each other become all that god intends for them to become. This was done in part to end the inheritance of benefices. He references cicero and his treatise on friendship which i picked up for later reading, but presents his thoughts on friendship, sharing his experiencemostly from his aelred was a. One of their recent posts, transgenderism isnt a thing is in the same vein of subjects weve written about here on spiritual friendship. Those familiar with aelred may be surprised that i intend to use. 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. It starts as a dialogue between aelred and ivo, with a third, christ, present with them. I recently received a copy of wesley hills spiritual friendship. Weekly spiritual guidance tarot reading for november 2026, 2017. 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.
Aelred of rievaulx was an heir of saxons living under norman rule, a native speaker of english daily speaking french and latin, a descendant of generations of married priests in an age when priests were forbidden to wed, an english monk in a french order, an abbot bred to service in the church but trained for service in the court. Spiritual friendship, by aelred of rievaulx, alban books. While love is universal, freely given to all, friendship is a particular love between individuals, of which the example is jesus and john the beloved disciple. He is regarded by anglicans, catholics, and other christians as a saint. The idea suggests knocking on the door of a cell which will forever remain closed. Medieval women, orion 1995 and with thanks to paul fogarty. Saint aelred of rievaulx, writer, historian, and outstanding cistercian abbot who influenced monasticism in medieval england, scotland, and france. Aelred of rievaulx is within the scope of wikiproject yorkshire, an attempt to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to yorkshire on wikipedia. Spiritual friendship, cistercian pubns 27 copy quote. Ignatian spirituality is given through guided meditations, weekend, 8day, and 30day retreats based on the spiritual exercises of st.
Aelred was born in hexham, northumbria, in 1110, one of three sons of eilaf, priest of st andrews at hexham, himself a son of another eilaf, treasurer of durham. The son of eilaf, a saxon priest, aelred was educated at roxburgh, the ancient scottish capital, where he was known for his intellectual talents. Aelred, a 12thcentury cistercian abbot, insists that we need to test our beliefs about friendship with scripture. Spiritual friendship cistercian fathers by aelred, marsha l dutton, lawrence c braceland isbn. Aelred of rievaulx is one of the most important influences on my vision for the spiritual friendship blog. Some of those topics, will overlap with spiritual friendships ongoing discussions around the place of sexual minorities in the church. The provision is made for spiritual friendship which promotes a mutual journey throughout life. Saint aelred of rievaulx primary author only author division.
What aelred discovered is that happiness does not exist without friendship. Speculum caritatis the mirror of charity, which aelred wrote at bernards insistence, is a treatise on monastic life. At the time i had just written my post how should we then live. Spiritual friendship by aelred of rievaulx is one of the all time classic books of devotion to christ.
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