The Golden Epistle - (Cistercian Fathers) by William of Saint-Thierry (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

This practical guide to the spiritual life, cherished by monks, beguines, and lay folk for eight centuries, can still lead men and women to God.

The Golden Epistle first appeared in 1145 and has been ascribed to several different authors, among them Bernard of Clairvaux and Guigo the Carthusian. Today its author is known to have been William of Saint Thierry, a Cistercian monk of the abbey of Signy and a friend of Saint Bernard. After studying at one of the cathedral schools that flourished in the early twelfth century, William entered monastic life at the Benedictine abbey of Saint Nicaise in Rheims. By the early 1120's he became abbot of the abbey of Saint Thierry, just outside the royal city, and took a leading role in a reform movement aimed at greater simplicity of life. Resigning that post in middle age to enter the Cistercians, he found himself increasingly attracted to the solitary life and shortly before writing The Golden Epistle visited the nearby Charterhouse of Mont Dieu.

It was read continuously throughout the Middle Ages and into modern times, especially by lay men and women seeking guidance in their spiritual lives.

Review Quotes

. . . its extensive influence, due in some degree to its early and false attribution to Saint Bernard, is attested by numerous citings: in the thirteenth century by Saint Bonaventure; in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries it became so widespread that Gerson considered it one of the authoritative works on contemplation; Ruysbroeck and his followers cited it explicitly; it was venerated by the Canons of the Congregation of Windesheim; at least one referral to it occurs in the Imitatio Christi; and Aloyius Gonzaga is said to have known it by heart.Thought