Displaying the top 100 results that match your query. http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/rssapi.jsp?Re=3295&N=3+6051+7101 http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=1310341 http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=999749 http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=888446 http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=830741 http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=928422 Shares the personal accounts of ten men and women who have taken monastic vows, offering insight into monastic life and how followers believe it brings them closer to God. http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=632776 http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=591899 In Gifts of the Desert, Markides continues his examination of Eastern Orthodox mystical teachings and practices and captures their living expression through visits to monasteries and hermitages in Greece and America and interviews with contemporary charismatic elders. Markides pursuit of a deeper understanding of Orthodoxy takes him to the deserts of Arizona and a stay at a new monastery near Sedona; to the island of Cyprus and a reunion with Father Maximos; on a pilgrimage to holy shrines aboard a cruise ship in the Aegean Sea; and finally to the legendary Mount Athos, home to more than two thousand Orthodox monks. Markides relates his journey and reflections in a captivating style while providing important background material and information on historical events to give readers a highly accessible, in-depth portrait of a tradition little known in the West. Gifts of the Desert will appeal to a wide range of people, from Christians seeking insights into their religion and its various expressions to scholars interested in learning more about the mystical way of life and wisdom that have been preserved on Mount Athos since the fall of the Byzantine Empire and the Great Schism that separated the Eastern and Western Churches. Perhaps most important, however, is the bridge it offers contemporary readers to a Christian life that is balanced between the worldly and the spiritual.--BOOK JACKET. http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=630171 http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=587664 Priest Marries Former Nun, the Boston headlines announced - neither the beginning of a joke nor the start of a scandal. When Peter Manseaus parents wed in 1969 they were certain the Catholic Church was on the verge of allowing priests to marry. In this memoir, Manseau tells their courageous story, and weaves in how their decision has affected his own spiritual journey. The 1950s was a boom time for the Catholic Church in America, with large families of devout members providing at least one son or daughter for a life of religious service. Boston was at the epicenter of this explosion, and Bill Manseau and Mary Doherty - two eager young parishioners from different towns - became part of a new breed of clergy, eschewing the comforts of homey parishes and choosing instead to minister to the inner-city poor. Peter Manseaus riveting evocation of his parents parallel childhoods, their similar callings, their experiences in the seminary and convent, and how they met while tending to the homeless of Roxbury during the riot-prone 1960s is a page-turning meditation on the effect that love can have on profound faith. Once married, the Manseaus continued to fight for Father Bills right to serve the church as a priest, and it was into this situation that Peter and his siblings were born and raised to be good Catholics while they witnessed their fathers personal conflict with the churchs hierarchy. A multigenerational tale of spirituality, Vows also charts Peters own calling, one which he tried to deny even as he felt compelled to consider the monastic life, toying with the idea of continuing a family tradition that stretches back over 300 years of Irish and French Catholic priests and nuns.--BOOK JACKET. http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=587663 Sister Freaks. These are words that evoke strong images-images of extreme faith ... of radical devotion ... of sacrifice and triumph. They are life-changing words. And they are at the core of the stories related within these pages. Here you will meet both contemporary women and historical figures from around the world-from Joan of Arc to a Midwest high school student to an Olympic athlete. But whether the account is of a historical heroine or a woman of today like you, the stories are always inspiring. Their goal: to demonstrate to you that living radically for God can change your life, whether halfway around the world or in your hometown.--BOOK JACKET. http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=530233 http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=527943 http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=512903 http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=431240 http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=421643 In the same way that Kathleen Norriss bestselling Cloister Walk gave the world a glimpse of monastic life from a laywomans perspective, this volume offers a personal account of a mans journey from marriage to life among the poor as a hermit. (September) http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=428548 Pratt and Homan, bestselling authors of Benedicts Way, demonstrate that true Benedictine hospitality is more important in todays post -- 9/11 world than ever before. The Way of Hospitality offers a wise and humorous look into the monastic way of welcoming the stranger and entertaining the cherished guest. http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=523070 http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=388778 http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=340475 A comprehensive reference to the past and present of the three great traditions of monasticism in Buddhism and eastern and western Christianity. Many comparisons are made within each strand, and to some extent between them, especially between eastern Christianity and the other two. The articles consider people; the monastic histories of countries, cities, and individual monasteries; Buddhist and Christian topics; Roman Catholic monastic orders; and Buddhist and Christian perspectives. Monasticism is defined as a single-minded commitment to religious life conducted apart from the surrounding society, almost always in celibacy and relative poverty, and following a rule that usually involves emulating or obeying a founder. The tension between communal and solitary or hermetic life is explored at some length. The bulk of the encyclopedia allows a great variety of approaches, methods, regions, lifestyles, and liturgical practices to be juxtaposed. The articles are referenced and cross-referenced. The black-and-white photographs are ample but not overwhelming. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=317588 The journey begins in 1959, as a young monk named Tsung Tsai escapes the Red Army troops that destroy his monastery, and flees alone three thousand miles across a China swept by chaos and famine. Hidden under his peasant jacket he carries a book of poetry and his monks certificate, either of which means death if discovered. His mission: to carry on the teachings of his Chan Buddhist master, Shiuh Deng, who was too old to leave with his disciple. Nearly forty years later Tsung Tsai travels with his skeptical friend Crane back to his birthplace at the edge of the Gobi Desert. China is stirring with spiritual renewal, and Tsung Tsai is determined to find Shiuh Dengs grave and build a shrine in his honor. The two men reenter a lost world of belief and superstition nearly extinguished by history. As their search culminates in a torturous climb to a remote mountain cave, it becomes clear that this seemingly quixotic quest may cost Tsung Tsais life.--BOOK JACKET. http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=336637 In this work, Lucy Kaylin explores myths and debunks stereotypes to present a portrait of modern nuns at a dramatic moment in their history: Nuns in the United States are facing possible extinction. For the Love of God examines the historical and cultural forces - including the Second Vatican Council and the womens movement - that have redefined nuns roles while eroding their ranks.--BOOK JACKET. http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=354829 This book offers you a personal encounter with daily life inside the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani, Kentucky, as you might encounter it on a one-week retreat. Including a detailed guide to the monastic places in North America that receive visitors, as well as a detailed glossary, Making a Heart for God is an excellent introduction for anyone interested in learning about monastic spirituality - and it is also the perfect preparation for your first retreat experience.--BOOK JACKET. http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=636968 http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=294649 In this work - part memoir, part reportage - journalist Matt Murray explores tbe reasons his father, a middle-class homeowner and government worker, abandoned his life and moved to a rural monastery. The search takes the author back into his fathers past, from his dirt-poor Depression-era childhood to his days as a struggling young writer in New York to his successful yet sometimes frustrated life as a husband and father. Murray recounts his mothers tragic death from cancer at the age of forty, and the difficult five years that followed for him, his father, and his three siblings. He wrestles with the impact of his fathers return to the Church at the age of fifty-two and subsequent decision to follow a life of faith, and the dramatic reshaping of his family that ensued. As Murray tracks his father through his conversion and delves into his beliefs, he questions not only his fathers faith, but his own, and offers, with stark honesty, profound reflections on the relationships between fathers and sons.--BOOK JACKET. http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=290748 In this diary-like memoir, composed of his most poignant and insightful journal entries, The Intimate Merton lays bare the steep ways of Thomas Mertons spiritual path. Culled from the seven volumes of his personal journals, this twenty-nine year chronicle deepens and extends the story Merton recounted and made famous in The Seven Storey Mountain. This book is the spiritual autobiography of our centurys most celebrated monk - the wisdom gained from the personal experience of an enduring spiritual teacher. Here is Mertons account of his lifes major challenges, his confrontations with monastic and church hierarchies, his interaction with religious traditions east and west, and his antiwar and civil-rights activities.--BOOK JACKET. http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=86184 The seventh and final volume of Thomas Mertons journals finds him exploring new territory, both spiritual and geographic, in the last great journey prior to his untimely death. Traveling in the United States and the Far East, Merton enjoys a new freedom that brings with it a rich mix of solitude, spirited friendship, and interaction with monks of other traditions. In his last days in the United States, Merton continues to follow the tumultuous events closing the 1960s, including the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert Kennedy. Meanwhile, with the blessing of his new abbot, Merton travels to monasteries in New Mexico and among the redwoods of Northern California, keeping his journal all the while. When Merton wins approval to participate in a meeting of monastic superiors of the Far East in Bangkok, Thailand, his life enters its most thrilling period. Arriving in Calcutta, Merton is heartbroken by the poverty of the many beggars; in New Delhi and Dharamsala, he makes contact with local Buddhists, including the Dalai Lama. Recognizing each other as kindred spirits, Merton and the Dalai Lama speak from the heart like old friends.--BOOK JACKET. http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=82713 In 1958 Thomas Merton wrote an admiring letter to Czeslaw Milosz about his seminal work The Captive Mind. Milosz replied and thus began an animated correspondence which lasted until Mertons death in 1968. During this highly productive decade, Merton continued, a Trappist, to write about nonviolence and the monastic life. Milosz, meanwhile, was writing influential essays and translating the poetry of Aleksander Wat and Anna Swir. In this dynamic correspondence, Milosz and Merton differ in their views of the role of Communism, share thoughts about the power of literature, and contrast their views on the natural world. As different as Milosz and Merton were, they found common ground in their spiritual search and in a desire to understand the human race. A memorial to a great friendship between two of this centurys celebrated men of letter, Striving Towards Being is a testament to the examined life.--BOOK JACKET. http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=120158 http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=118549 http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=336187 http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=262500 http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=118553 http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=50584 http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=36056 http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=28842 http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=174596 http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=654469 http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=159200 http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=240316 http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/record.jsp?R=245712