Friendship, it seems fair to assume, was undertaken as much to clar ify and work out his own selfunderstanding as with any particular readership in mind. Spiritual friendship is today the best known and perhaps most influential of the thirteen surviving works of aelred, abbot of the great english cistercian abbey of rievaulx from 1147 1167. Marsha l dutton the abbot of the english cistercian abbey of rievaulx from 11471167 explores the spiritual nature of human friendship, defining it as sacramental and as a vehicle for god to transmit his love to all. Pdf aelred of rievaulx spiritual friendship cistercian. Paulist press, 1980 a practical discussion of the why, what and how of spiritual friendships. Oct 30, 2012 what is a spiritual friendship and why does the bible say its so important. If we were looking for a patron saint of all those who endeavour to establish christcentred relationships, whether inside or outside of marriage, aelred would surely be at the top of the list. Apr 01, 2010 spiritual friendship is today the best known and perhaps most influential of the thirteen surviving works of aelred, abbot of the great english cistercian abbey of rievaulx from 1147 1167. I went to rievaulx out of gratitude for that witness. Lord, grant that i might not so much seek to be loved as to love. Pour into our hearts, o god, the holy spirits gift of love, that we, clasping each the others hand, may share the joy of friendship, human and divine, and with your servant aelred draw many to your community of love. During his abbacy he built rievaulx into a place of spiritual welcome and physical prosperity, desiring to make it a mother of mercy to those in need. Missionary reentry transition and disrupted spiritual.
The friendships of aelred and christina contained the spiritual, passionate. Grows out of his work with the shalem community and their use and promotion of spiritual friendship as a means of faith development. Aelred is an inspiration for spiritual directors, counselors, friends, and parents. Feb 01, 2016 see also sommerfeldt, vocabulary of contemplation in aelred of rievaulx on jesus at the age of twelve, a rule of life for a recluse, and on spiritual friendship, 74. When these qualities are present, spiritual friends can entrust themselves to one another securely. Saint aelred of rievaulx is currently considered a single author. Spiritual friendship cistercian fathers book 5 kindle.
True friendship, however, is grounded in christ and, like chastity, is a gift of gods grace. The really interesting question, though, melinda, is whether gay marriage is actually just code for spiritual friendship. Spiritual friendship by aelred of rievaulx goodreads. Traditions of spiritual guidance 379 of st bernard, aelred develops a general theology of love. This article is a case study in the methodology of neurohistory, combining a. The context, then, in which aelred sets spiritual friendship is in taking their beginning from christ, advancing through christ, and then are perfected in christ.
Aelred s writings were highly regarded by contemporaries and are still greatly valued. Aelred of rievalux work on spiritual friendship presents the most noble presentation of friendship i have ever read. On july 26, 2018 from 15pm, spiritual friendship will host a preconference, immediately preceding the revoice conference in st. It is a spiritual family made up of lay catholics single, married, or widowed who choose to live their lives grounded in the gospel and according to salesian teachings and virtues. In spiritual friendship, aelred notes there are three kinds of friendship. From spiritual friendship by aelred of rievaulx, 3. Aelred, 9780870612428, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. On spiritual friendship visitation monastery of minneapolis. It starts as a dialogue between aelred and ivo, with a third, christ, present with them. Friendship as spiritual encouragement geralyn july 1, 20 at 8.
In christianity, spiritual friendship is a text from the 12th century by cistercian monk saint aelred of rievaulx. Ignatius with adaptation for all faiths dear lord, teach me to be generous, teach me to love and serve you as you deserve. The mirror of charity, written at the beginning of his monastic life, and spiritual friendship, written near its end, form a set. You also want to make sure that you are a good spiritual friend as well. Consider, for example, aelred s reflections on how spiritual friendship leads us to. For aelred, the monastic community life is simply a life of friendship. In his teaching that the interior life is communalthat we move from self and sin to find god in communitywe might imagine we are hearing henri j. We can see the importance of those two works when we consider the contrast between the strict demeanor found in most monastic orders of that day, and that of st. In his classical work spiritual friendship, aelred lists four requirements for being a spiritual friend. Shortly after aelred s death in 1167 an account of his life was written by his pupil, walter daniel. Pdf download aelred of rievaulx spiritual friendship a new.
Let me begin by giving friendship a definition, in doing so we separate what is and isnt a friend and we also give it proper biblical honor. If one or more works are by a distinct, homonymous authors, go ahead and split the author. Spiritual direction is a counseling process, whose goal is not merely human or psychological wellbeing but friendship with christ. Friendship as spiritual encouragement peace theology. Patricia carroll ocso draws our attention to aelred of rievaulx, a cistercian saint and spiritual writer who specialised in writing about friendship as an image of the relationship between god and each person. Using a record of some conversations he had with friends, aelred of rievaulx wrote about spiritual friendship as a special relationship that is both an expression of gods love and a path to knowing gods love. Aelred of rievaulx quotes author of spiritual friendship. Traditions of spiritual guidance aelred of rievaulx brendan callaghan 375 c istercian spirituality and christian friendship have each fea tured in traditions of spiritual guidance, 1 so for aelred to be treated in his own right might seem unnecessary. In the opening line of his classic treatise spiritual friendship, aelred of rievaulx, a twelfthcentury english monk, portrays the profoundly simple, fundamental essence of spiritual friendship. Lets listen in on the soul talk and spiritual friendship that goes on between aelred and ivo an excerpt from spiritual friendship by aelred of rievaulx. Aelred considers friendship a christian virtue worth pursuing. They aim to learn about friendship from a friend, and in the presence. In the course of his life as a monk aelred wrote two treatises on that subject.
One of the earliest criticisms was dan mattsons july, 2012 first things article, why i dont call myself a gay christian. When he was abbot at rievaulx there were over three hundred monks there. Here we are, you and i, and i hope that christ makes a third with us. Spiritual friendship by aelred of rievaulx 323 ratings, 4. Spiritual friendship by aelred of rievaulx 9780879079703. See also sommerfeldt, vocabulary of contemplation in aelred of rievaulx on jesus at the age of twelve, a rule of life for a recluse, and on spiritual friendship, 74. Aelred, the best kind of friendship is the one which is growing redemptively and spiritually all the time, in mutual support before god. In fact it is so noble, incredible and rare that one could say that he refers to intimacies between persons so great that contemporary culture would be inclined to describe such relations as being soul mates or kindred spirits.
Aelred of rievaulx, abbot society of archbishop justus. Aelred of rievaulx spiritual friendship john protevi. Jan 12 st aelred of rievaulx 111067 catholicireland. Friendship, aelred teaches, is both a gift from god and a creation of human effort. He taught that through friendship we are sanctified. Spiritual friends have the ability to make gods love experiential. Spiritual friendship aelred of rievaulx cistercian publications. Daniel lord smail, on deep history and the brain berkeley. These include his treatises on spiritual friendship and the mirror of charity, his rule for the recluse, various sermons and a life of edward the confessor.
Spiritual friendship, by aelred of rievaulx, alban books. I have written my share of essays which use friendship as models for discussion, and in time, i too, will post them online. Jan 12, 2011 during this period, aelred wrote his best known work, spiritual friendship. Speculum caritatis the mirror of charity, which aelred wrote at bernards insistence, is a. Poznat je kao autor brojnih knjiga na temu engleske historije i vjerskih pitanja. Aelred of rievaulx spiritual friendship pdf what is the. The dialogue structure of spiritual friendship immediately shows the importance of others in the spiritual life. Spiritual friendship cistercian studies series marsha l. Saint aelred of rievaulx primary author only author division. Aelred writes in the prologue to his best known work, the treatise on spiritual friendship, that. Flag question question text levi strauss believes that it believes in diversity and is open minded. Spiritual friendship, cistercian pubns 27 copy quote.
In the cross of christ there is death, and in the cross of christ there is life saturday, mar 31 2012. Aelred was an anglosaxon, born in hexham, northumbria, in 1110. Jan 12 st aelred of rievaulx 111067 12 january, 2012. Please enjoy these spiritual quotes on friendship from my collection of friendship quotes. The wide variety of applications for can and canopen is discussed, and instructions in developing embedded networks based on the protocol are included. Just because you are spiritual friends doesnt mean you have to be serious and holy all the time. Together they demonstrate both the consistency of his teaching and his unswerving love of god in christ. Throughout his life, aelred took great joy in his friends and. In short, monastic theology, like monastic friendship according to the exemplary account of aelred of rievaulx, is ideally a balanced activity of reason and will, profoundly christcentered, existentially grounded in both sensible and spiritual experience, and quintessentially expressed in. Pdf the sacramentality of community in aelred of rievaulx. Writing in the style of a platonic dialog aelred builds off of the insights of cicero, the writings of the church fathers, his own experience of life in common as well as his experience of the depths of friendship in order to present this series of dialogs on the joys of friendship.
In lifes journey together, the encouragement of a spiritual friend in both word and embrace become incarnational. As kelly notes, this amounts to treating the enemy as a friend, albeit not confiding ones deepest secrets in him sharing secrets being a sure mark, for aelred, of the mutuality of true friendship. The governing principle of worldly friendship is utility. Here is my reading log from aelred of rievaulxs classic devotional book on spiritual friendship. Friendship is that virtue by which spirits are bound by ties of love and sweetness and out of many are made one. It adds the dimension of explicit faith to counseling and a special nuance to spiritual friendship. If, in aelreds view, only a relationship with a fellow christian can truly be called a spiritual friendship, that isnt because i. Aelred made the case that one of the great practices of the christian life is being transformed by the presence of a spiritual friend. Professor of spiritual theology, regent college, vancouver, british columbia at one of the breakout meetings of the national prayer breakfast, february 1, 2001, congressman mike doyle testi. Ambroses contribution to aelred of rievaulxs spiritual friendship.
Spiritual friendship quotes spiritual quotes about friendship. While love is universal, freely given to all, friendship is a particular love between individuals, of which the example is jesus and john the beloved disciple. As i reflect on the notion of spiritual friendship, i am immediately struck by those i count as friends in this area of my life. Aelred s treatise on spiritual friendship is a spiritual classic because it has something to say in every age. Patricia carroll ocso draws our attention to aelred of rievaulx, a cistercian saint and spiritual writer who specialised in writing about friendship as an image of. Aelred was one of three sons of eilaf, priest of st andrews at hexham and himself a son of eilaf, treasurer of durham. The spiritual kiss is characteristically the kiss of friends who are bound by one law of friendship. Preoccupied with temporal advantages, it follows the purse. Aelred of rievaulx download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi. I point to my mom, god rest her soul, who was an unabashed spiritual explorer throughout her life and wasnt afraid to share her discoveries. Aelred based his conception of spiritual friendship on a metaphysics of the kiss.
Apr 01, 2010 aelred of rievalux work on spiritual friendship presents the most noble presentation of friendship i have ever read. Aelred had a charism for chaste spiritual friendships. In this way, we are the arms and voice of god to one another through spiritual friendship. All love, to aelred, is a participation in godlove that leads us to union. Henrys succession and the merging of the norman and anglo. No medicine is more valuable, none more efficacious, none better suited to the cure of all our temporal ills than a friend to whom we may turn for consolation in time of trouble, and with whom we may share our happiness in time of joy. In buddhism, spiritual friendship is a translation for the pali term, kalyana mittata. Maybe all the gay marriage advocates are really just angling for spiritual friendships, but theyre too circumspect to say so, lest they lose the respect of their base. Aelred says the next kind of friendship is worldly. Pdf download aelred of rievaulx the way of friendship spirituality through the ages series read online. Providing a detailed look at both can and canopen, this book examines those technologies in the context of. To give and not to count the cost prayer prayers the scout prayer prayer of st. When i was still just a lad at school, and the charm of my companions pleased me very much, i gave my whole soul to affection and devoted myself to love amid the ways and vices with which that age is wont to be threatened, so that nothing seemed to me more.
Utility exploits the human impulse to love and be loved. Those familiar with aelred may be surprised that i intend to use his works to reflect on a spirituality of mercy, rather than on spiritual friendship. As a writer, too, aelred seems to address our modern concerns and sensibilities. Featuring ron belgau, matthew lee anderson, johanna finegan, and br. Certain readings of the symposium would also assert that to ascend the sublimation ladder from physical to spiritual mean you have to physically love before you can ascend. One of the most consistent criticisms of spiritual friendship by those associated with courage has been our use of language, particularly the word gay.
Joe trout, op, the preconference will provide a theological foundation for thinking about desire, the fall, and the sanctification of human love. Symposium would also assert that to ascend the sublimation ladder from physical to spiritual mean you have to physically love before you can ascend. It is the almost exclusive objective of spiritual friendship. Recovering male samesex friendships in the modern era introduction human beings are fundamentally social creatures, with complex rules and guidelines for social behavior and interactions. Aelred, who permitted holding hands and showing other.
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