A Way in the Wilderness

A Commentary on the Rule of Benedict For The Physically And Spiritually Imprisoned

James Bishop

• Publisher: Continuum
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN:
  9781441151155
• eBook ISBN:
  9781441176721
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religious Counseling

James Bishop was convicted and sent to prison for serious offences. With plenty of time on his hands, he rediscovered profound and effective techniques for meditation, through the help of the World Community for Christian Meditation, which does much prison work around the world. He then turned to the Rule of St Benedict and found in it a model and pattern of living which gave him balance and stability and helped to cure his own emotional disorders.

This book is aimed at all those who are imprisoned in the modern world - not just prison inmates but all those battling with personal, emotional and psychological difficulties.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Contents
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Use of the Rule of St. Benedict
• Prologue
• 1. On the Kinds of Monks
• 2. What Kind of Man the Abbot Ought to Be
• 3. On Calling the Brothers for Counsel
• 4. What the Instruments of Good Works Are
• 5. On Obedience
• 6. On the Spirit of Silence
• 7. On Humility
• 8. On the Divine Office During the Night
• 9. How Many Psalms Are to Be Said at the Night Office
• 10. How the Night Office Is to Be Said in the Summer Season
• 11. How the Night Office Is to Be Said on Sundays
• 12. How the Morning Office Is to Be Said
• 13. How the Morning Office Is to Be Said on Weekdays
• 14. How the Night Office Is to Be Said on the Feasts of the Saints
• 15. At What Times “Alleluia” Is to Be Said
• 16. How the Work of God Is to Be Performed During the Day
• 17. How Many Psalms Are to Be Chanted at These Hours
• 18. In What Order the Psalms Are to Be Said
• 19. On the Manner of Chanting the Psalms
• 20. On Reverence at Prayer
• 21. On the Deans of the Monastery
• 22. How the Monks Are to Sleep
• 23. On Excommunication for Faults
• 24. What the Manner of Excommunication Should Be
• 25. On Graver Faults
• 26. On Those Who Without an Order From the Abbot Associate With the Excommunicated
• 27. How Concerned the Abbot Should Be About the Excommunicated
• 28. On Those Who Do Not Amend After Repeated Corrections
• 29. Whether Brethren Who Leave the Monastery Ought to Be Received Again
• 30. How Young Boys Are to Be Corrected
• 31. What Kind of Man the Cellarer of the Monastery Ought to Be
• 32. On the Tools and Goods of the Monastery
• 33. Whether Monks Ought to Have Anything of Their Own
• 34. Whether All Should Receive in Equal Measure What is Necessary
• 35. On the Weekly Servers in the Kitchen
• 36. On the Sick Brethren
• 37. On the Aged and Children
• 38. On the Weekly Reader
• 39. On the Quantity of Food
• 40. On the Quantity of Drink
• 41. At What Times Brothers Should Take Their Meals
• 42. That No One Speak After Compline
• 43. On Those Who Are Tardy in Coming to the Work of God or to Table
• 44. How the Excommunicated Make Satisfaction
• 45. On Those Who Commit A Fault in the Oratory
• 46. On Those Who Fail in Any Other Matters
• 47. On Giving the Signal for the Time of the Work of God
• 48. On the Daily Work
• 49. On the Keeping of Lent
• 50. On Brothers Who Work A Long Distance From the Oratory or Are on a Journey
• 51. On the Brothers Who Do Not Go Very Far Away
• 52. On the Oratory of the Monastery
• 53. On the Reception of Guests
• 54. Whether a Monk Should Receive Letters or Anything Else
• 55. On the Clothing and the Shoes of the Brethren
• 56. On the Abbot’s Table
• 57. On the Artists of the Monastery
• 58. On the Manner of Admitting Brothers
• 59. On the Children of the Noble and of the Poor Who Are Offered
• 60. On Priests Who May Wish to Live in the Monastery
• 61. How Stranger Monks Are To Be Received
• 62. On the Priests of the Monastery
• 63. On the Order in the Monastery
• 64. On the Election of the Abbot
• 65. On the Prior of the Monastery
• 66. On the Porters of the Monastery
• 67. On the Brothers Who Are Sent on a Journey
• 68. If a Brother Is Commanded to Do Impossible Things
• 69. That in the Monastery No One Presume to Defend Another
• 70. That No One Presume to Strike Another
• 71. That the Brethren Be Obedient to One Another
• 72. On the Virtuous Zeal Which the Monks Ought to Have
• 73. On the Fact That Not the Whole Observance of Righteousness Is Laid Down in this Rule
• Conclusion
• How to Meditate
• St. Benedict’s Medal
• What does it mean to be a Benedictine Oblate of The World Community for Christian Meditation?
• About The World Community for Christian Meditation
• Acknowledgements