William Meninger

Come to the Mountain - St. Benedict's Monastery St. Benedict's Monastery celebrated its sixtieth anniversary in 2016, living and passing on the ancient Benedictine tradition as interpreted by the eleventh-century Cistercian Order. In 1956 a small group of monks left St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts to become the founding fathers of St. Benedict's Monastery in Snowmass Colorado. While living in a 100-year-old farmhouse and its adjacent barns, these monks began construction of the present monastery. A short time later they were joined by forty-five monks, sent as temporary helpers from the founding monastery. Since that time the monks of St. Benedict's have striven to follow the Rule of St. Benedict by becoming a "school of charity." The monks aspire, through the daily life of their Cistercian community, to be transformed in mind and heart by embodying Christ Jesus in ways appropriate to our times.

"Julian is, without doubt, one of the most wonderful of all Christian voices. She gets greater and greater in my eyes as I grow older." -- Thomas MertonJulian of Norwich (1342-c1416) is considered by many to be one of the greatest English mystics. In 1373, she received a series of sixteen visions centred on the person and sufferings of Jesus, and on the Trinity. A short time later, she wrote an account of them and much later, after prayer and reflection, wrote eighty-six chapters called Showings of Divine Love. The times in which Julian lived were fraught with political, social, and economic upheavals in both Church and state. There are, indeed, many parallels to the present age. This helps to explain why Julian speaks so loudly to us today after six hundred years of silence. This gem of a book offers insightful and challenging thoughts on Julian's writings which will aid devotion and provide inspiration for prayer and meditation.

Ever since it first appeared in the 15th century, "The Imitation of Christ" by Thomas a Kempis has been one of the most widely read books in world literature. With the renewal of the Church in the 1960s, however, it went into complete eclipse. Its spirituality, it was felt, was no longer compatible with the religious and lay people of the day. The author argues that, despite its many limitations, the "Imitation" has a timeless message and insights that are still valid as meaningful expressions of Christian ideals. This book is a contemporary adaptation of the "Imitation", similar to Meninger's succesful adaptation of the mediaeval classic "The Cloud of Unknowing". He has kept the essential elements of the "Imitation's" spirituality, while modifying or opposing those time-bound aspects that have been responsible for its modern rejection.

"A powerful, even stunning job of explaining contmeplative prayer...an excellent guide for anyone interested in deepening his or her Christian prayer life." - Publishers Weekly