Spiritual friendship, by aelred of rievaulx, alban books. At the time i had just written my post how should we then live. Spiritual friendship, cistercian pubns 27 copy quote. Those familiar with aelred may be surprised that i intend to use. Aelred of rievaulx 11091167 early showed signs of promise. At first sight, much of the book seems to consist of a tapestry of biblical texts. Reading aelred of rievaulx s little treatise on spiritual friendship as an undergraduate was a lifechanging experience for me. 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. From line of married priests in north of england in late 11th century. Ive written about his typology of friendship, as well as the distinction between true and false friendship. 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.
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. The provision is made for spiritual friendship which promotes a mutual journey throughout life. Ignatian spirituality serves the contemporary world as people strive to develop a friendship with god. The interaction between spiritual friends is a mutual love and desire to see each other become all that god intends for them to become. 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. Giacomo is one of the editors at orthodoxy in dialogue and asked if id contribute. Ignatian spirituality is given through guided meditations, weekend, 8day, and 30day retreats based on the spiritual exercises of st. His name was not, however, saint aelred it was aelred. Given that i was on vacation, i was able to dive in for long stretches of road time and finished the book off quickly. I recently received a copy of wesley hills spiritual friendship. 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. Aelred writes in the prologue to his best known work, the treatise on spiritual friendship, that.
And aelred takes a further significant step when he moves from affirming that god is love to. Aelred, a 12thcentury cistercian abbot, insists that we need to test our beliefs about friendship with scripture. The man who hopes for anything else does not understand what true friendship is. 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. Spiritual friendship by saint aelred of rievaulx librarything. 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. Spiritual friendship cistercian studies series marsha l. Aelred s ideas are a challenge to many modern concepts of the spiritual life. He had a life of his own outside of the canonisers. Aelred of rievaulx us from gods service, as well as deluding our understanding of spiritual friendship. In his writings on friendship, aelred distinguished three kinds. Friendship, aelred teaches, is both a gift from god and a creation of human effort.
Aelred, of rievaulx, saint,11101167, friendshipreligious aspectschristianity, england, history, great britain, importance. Saint aelred of rievaulx, writer, historian, and outstanding cistercian abbot who influenced monasticism in medieval england, scotland, and france. A reading log is a simple and helpful tool for studying a book and recording your favorite quotes. 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. It starts as a dialogue between aelred and ivo, with a third, christ, present with them.
The dialogue structure of spiritual friendship immediately shows the importance of others in the spiritual life. Weekly spiritual guidance tarot reading for november 2026, 2017. 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. Tlc stands for to love christ and is a twoyear certificate training that kristi and i lead for pastors and ministry leaderscaregivers in. Finding love in the church as a celibate gay christian. In 1095, the council of claremont had forbidden the ordination of the sons of priests. Life in the medieval cloister, continuum publishing 2009 leyser, henrietta. Close friends ground us and keep us from thinking that what we have is our own accomplishment. Spiritual friendship by aelred of rievaulx 9780879079703. Speculum caritatis the mirror of charity, which aelred wrote at bernards insistence, is a treatise on monastic life. Spiritual friendship cistercian fathers book 5 kindle edition by aelred of rievaulx, dutton, marsha l. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading spiritual friendship cistercian fathers book 5.
The spiritual status of samesex attraction governed paradoxically by a rule of celibacy is a fascinating concept. Spiritual friendship by aelred of rievaulx is one of the all time classic books of devotion to christ. Throughout his life, aelred took great joy in his friends and. This was done in part to end the inheritance of benefices. 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. My pro posed answer for a spirituality at the junction of modernity and post modernity is a spirituality of mercy. His most famous work is perhaps his spiritual friendship, a treatise. He is regarded by anglicans, catholics, and other christians as a saint. This sample reading log on spiritual friendship by aelred of rievaulx is like the ones that participants complete in our soul shepherding tlc program. Aelred, 9780870612428, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. C this article has been rated as cclass on the projects. 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. What aelred discovered is that happiness does not exist without friendship. 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.
The dnb notes that as a child, aelred prophesied the death of a bad archbishop of. The creator god of genesis is johns god who is love. The end result of this mutually nurturing relationship is a spiritual transformation that honors god. His feast day is celebrated by the cistercians on february 3. 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. Saint aelred of rievaulx cistercian monk britannica. Some of those topics, will overlap with spiritual friendships ongoing discussions around the place of sexual minorities in the church.
Friendship as spiritual encouragement peace theology. A few months ago i was invited to become one of the contributors to a new eastern orthodox blog called orthodoxy in dialogue. He may have been partially educated by lawrence of durham, who sent him a hagiography. Aelred of rievaulx asks us to carry on the everdynamic mission of the incarnation. Weekly spiritual guidance tarot reading april 19 2020. Spiritual friendship cistercian fathers book 5 kindle. Carnal friendship is a mutual harmony in vice which begins when lustful eyes allow into the mind images of beautiful bodies. Spiritual friendship cistercian fathers by aelred, marsha l dutton, lawrence c braceland isbn.
Aelred of rievalux work on spiritual friendship presents the most noble presentation of friendship i have ever read. Weekly spiritual guidance tarot reading for november 2026. I was intrigued by a couple of the names that endorsed the book and felt i needed to read it immediately. 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. This eloquent book reminds us that scripture and tradition have a high view of. Among spiritual writers, i think that aelred of rievaulx has been largely overlooked. Medieval women, orion 1995 and with thanks to paul fogarty. Aelred of rievaulx is one of the most important influences on my vision for the spiritual friendship blog. 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. Mindy caliguire is the founder of soul care, a spiritual formation ministry that exists to increase soul health in the body of christ. Can we stop trying to push a retrospective religious agenda onto historical fact. Aelred was born in hexham, northumbria, in 1110, one of three sons of eilaf, priest of st andrews at.
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. Saint aelred of rievaulx is currently considered a single author. Spiritual friendship in 300 words spiritual friendship. If one or more works are by a distinct, homonymous authors, go ahead and split the author. Given that i was on vacation, i was able to dive in for. I have written my share of essays which use friendship as models for discussion, and in time, i too, will post them online. The classic text with a spiritual commentary by dennis billy, c. Formerly a retreat director in gloucester, massachusetts.
Over the years aelred rose to considerable prominence in england, and his counsel was sought out by church. Those familiar with aelred may be surprised that i. Saint aelred of rievaulx primary author only author division. The idea suggests knocking on the door of a cell which will forever remain closed. Written in dialogue form, aelred of rievaulx offers wise counsel on many aspects of friendship. Of noble birth, aelred was reared at the court of king david i of scotland, whose life.
During this period, aelred wrote his best known work, spiritual friendship. One of their recent posts, transgenderism isnt a thing is in the same vein of subjects weve written about here on spiritual friendship. 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 by aelred of rievaulx goodreads.
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. The first clairvaux collection, adventall saints, translated by theodore berkeley and m. 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. True spiritual friendship, friendship that incarnates christ among us, perfects love. The dnb notes that as a child, aelred prophesied the death of a bad archbishop of york.
216 1037 1179 139 1127 1125 283 135 238 1305 330 430 1168 648 174 718 623 149 1147 198 1282 99 781 178 349 973 829 972 321 1063 477 222 1010 604