Terrence G. Kardong

Benedict's Rule: A Translation and Commentary is the first line-by-line exegesis of the entire Rule of Benedict written originally in English. This full commentary - predominately a literary and historical criticism - is based on and includes a new translation and is accompanied by essays on Benedict's spiritual doctrine.A monk who has striven to live according to the Rule of Benedict for thirty-five years, Father Kardong relates it to modern monastic life while examining the sources (Cassian, Augustine, and Basil) Benedict used to establish his Rule. Overviews - summaries of notes, source criticism, or structural criticism - follow some chapters, and a large bibliography of the current scholarship and source references are also included. Benedict's Rule: A Translation and Commentary also includes the Latin text of the Regula Benedicti. This reference work is invaluable to libraries and to those who are called to interpret the Rule. It will be opened again and again. Indexed.

2022 Catholic Media Association second place award in theology: history of theology, church fathers and mothersThe Sayings and Stories of the Desert Fathers and Mothers offers a new translation of the Greek alphabetical Apophthegmata Patrum, The Sayings of the Desert Fathers. For the first time in an English translation, this volume provides:extensive background and contextual notessignificant variant readings in the alphabetical manuscripts and textual differences vis-à-vis the systematic and anonymous Apophthegmatareference notes to both quotations from Scriptures and the many allusions to Scripture in the sayings and stories.In addition, there is an extensive glossary that offers information and further resources on people, places, and significant monastic vocabulary. Perfect for students and enthusiasts of the desert tradition.

Benedict's Rule: A Translation and Commentary is the first line-by-line exegesis of the entire Rule of Benedict written originally in English. This full commentary - predominately a literary and historical criticism - is based on and includes a new translation and is accompanied by essays on Benedict's spiritual doctrine.A monk who has striven to live according to the Rule of Benedict for thirty-five years, Father Kardong relates it to modern monastic life while examining the sources (Cassian, Augustine, and Basil) Benedict used to establish his Rule. Overviews - summaries of notes, source criticism, or structural criticism - follow some chapters, and a large bibliography of the current scholarship and source references are also included. Benedict's Rule: A Translation and Commentary also includes the Latin text of the Regula Benedicti. This reference work is invaluable to libraries and to those who are called to interpret the Rule. It will be opened again and again. Indexed.

Saint Columban: His Life, Rule, and Legacy contains a new English translation of a commentary on the entire Rule of Columban. Columban was a sixth-century Irish monk who compiled a written rule of life for the three monasteries he founded in France: Anegray, Luxeuil, and Fontaines. This volume also includes the first English translation of the Regula cuiusdam Patris ad Virgines, or the Rule of Walbert, compiled by the seventh-century Count Walbert from various earlier rules designed for women, including those of Columban, Benedict, Cassian, and Basil. This book begins with an extensive introduction to the history of Columban and his monks, as well as various indices and notes, which will be of interest to students and enthusiasts of monastic studies.

In Benedict Backwards, Terrence Kardong builds the case that the Rule of Benedict is best read “backwards,” that is, with emphasis on the last chapters, not the first ones. Benedict starts out dependent on the Rule of the Master, but he ends on a much more self-assured note, revealing more about his own thoughts on matters of monastic life. Kardong shows the final chapters of the Rule are primarily about community, and they provide insight into Benedict’s vision for his monks.

The Rule of Saint Benedict meets contemporary culture-the connection points and the sticking points between the two are the focus of Conversation with Saint Benedict. Renowned Benedictine scholar Terrence Kardong considers various aspects of modern culture that he considers worrisome and the light that Benedict's Rule might shed on them for Christians today. He also takes up specific aspects of the Rule itself that he finds difficult to deal with. This book, then, offers a rich interplay that does not shrink from recognizing both strengths and weaknesses in our culture as well as in Benedict's own ideas.Among the many topics that Kardong tackles are:laughter and tearssecurityworkeconomicsmonastic garbcell phoneszealhierarchychannel surfingTerrence G. Kardong, OSB, has been a monk of Assumption Abbey in Richardton, North Dakota, since 1956. Since 1982, he has served as editor of the American Benedictine Review. His many books include Pillars of Community: Four Rules of Pre-Benedictine Monastic Life and Day by Day with Saint Benedict. He has also produced highly regarded translations and commentaries on the Rule of Saint Benedict and St. Gregory the Great's Life of Saint Benedict.

Anyone who has explored a great Romanesque church has been impressed, even awed, by the mighty stone foundations supporting the great central tower. As four pillars give a firm base to these soaring structures, so four ancient Rules stand beneath the foundations of Western monasticism, giving a structure on which later spiritual architects, Benedict among them, would build. In this book Terrence Kardong explores the lives and Rules of four of the earliest monastic writers-Basil, Pachomius, Augustine, and the anonymous author of the rules of Lerins. In engaging fashion he shows how the lives and social milieu of these earliest founders shaped their monasticism. For example, readers will learn that: Basil of Caesarea learned the monastic way from his sister Macrina. Augustine shunned the term "monk" because of the bad reputation of local monks associated with the Donatist heresy. Pachomian Rule instructs on the use of boats and how to hang out the wash in the burning Egyptian sun. The Rules of Lerins begin with a call to community but then focus their attention on the superior. Yet as varied as these Rules are, they are based on the same fundamental understanding of what a Christian monk and a Christian community should be; thus they furnish a solid foundation for the great edifice still to come.

In his classic Second Book of Dialogues, Pope Gregory the Great lionizes Saint Benedict as hero and casts him predominantly in the role of miracle worker. Yet in his Rule, Benedict comes across more as a practical community organizer and premier spiritual father. In this volume, Terrence Kardong offers a fresh take on Gregory the Great's classic. He alternates between translated sections of the Diablo's and his own commentary. Crisp and direct, and infused with his wry and ever-present sense of humor, Kardong's writings sure to build up the spiritual life of readers and, equally important, to make them love St. Benedict..

Reflecting on years of living the Benedictine life and of scholarly work on the Rule of Saint Benedict, monk and priest Terrence Kardong offers his wisdom in Day by Day with Saint Benedict. These short, daily reflections on quotations from the Rule are accessible to lay people and religious alike and they will help the reader to incorporate Benedictine values in his or her own life. Day by Day with Saint Benedict includes 366 meditations, one for each day of the year. Those interested in a great religious classic will find here a way to apply the Rule to their own daily life. In some of the meditations Kardong shares true stories told from his long experience of Benedictine community life that show how he has applied the Rule to his own life and how he has seen it incorporated in the lives of those around him. Terrence G. Kardong, OSB, (1936–2019), was a monk of Assumption Abbey, Richardton, North Dakota. He served as the editor of The American BenedictineReview, and was the author of many books and articles.