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Silence
Unfortunately, today the ascetical part of our spiritual life does not have many admirers, still less, followers. Many would like to reach the peak of perfection in a very short time, without any mortification or self-denial. To them it seems that love is all that is needed because it is the bond of perfection. What they say is correct but incomplete - they do not fully understand how many sacrifices are demanded by Christian love. We cannot really love God and our brothers if we do not die to ourselves. In order to love perfectly God and our neighbor, we must practically give up many things and accept many sacrifices. Love asks for courageous and generous sacrifices! "Love must hurt us," said Mother Teresa of Calcutta. - from the Concluding Conference
100 pages, Paperback
First published December 15, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 17, 2022
From the very beginning of these conferences—each chapter is a conference the unnamed Camaldolese Hermit gave in 1986* which we are privileged to have—he establishes that Silence is so much more than a lack of words or sounds.
There are more types of Silence than there are senses:
1) Silence of the Eyes
2) Silence of the Hearing
3) Silence of the Taste
4) Silence of the Appetite
5) Silence of the Touch
6) Silence of the Smell and Interior Senses
7) Silence of the Memory
8) Silence of the Imagination
9) Silence of the Intellectual Faculties
10) Silence of the Will
11) Silence of the Self-Esteem
12) External Silence, and
13) Silence of the Camaldolese
There are a number of chapters/conferences on some of these!
What a lot of ways we communicate! The anonymous author didn’t mention, Silence of the Media, Technology, Public Spaces, or others where we in modern life feel violated by noise and intrusion; most likely this omission was partially due to the time he was writing and the rest to the sheltered environment of his audience, other monks such as himself.
For those of us living in the world at the close of 2022, we often cannot even find quiet in our own homes! But I am not looking to ‘point the finger’ at anyone, only to make myself aware of all the places/way I am vulnerable and need to be on high alert for my own ‘Sins Against Silence’; the term ‘sins’ used here as in transgressions, misdoings, or corruptions, not in the religious sense of the word.
It is good for me to read books like this often. I have the bad habit of thinking that because I read a lot, I know something. Nothing could be further from the truth. Looking at the rest of the books in this series listed at the back of this book.
Excellent! Highly recommended!
*He died in 1996.
There are more types of Silence than there are senses:
1) Silence of the Eyes
2) Silence of the Hearing
3) Silence of the Taste
4) Silence of the Appetite
5) Silence of the Touch
6) Silence of the Smell and Interior Senses
7) Silence of the Memory
8) Silence of the Imagination
9) Silence of the Intellectual Faculties
10) Silence of the Will
11) Silence of the Self-Esteem
12) External Silence, and
13) Silence of the Camaldolese
There are a number of chapters/conferences on some of these!
What a lot of ways we communicate! The anonymous author didn’t mention, Silence of the Media, Technology, Public Spaces, or others where we in modern life feel violated by noise and intrusion; most likely this omission was partially due to the time he was writing and the rest to the sheltered environment of his audience, other monks such as himself.
For those of us living in the world at the close of 2022, we often cannot even find quiet in our own homes! But I am not looking to ‘point the finger’ at anyone, only to make myself aware of all the places/way I am vulnerable and need to be on high alert for my own ‘Sins Against Silence’; the term ‘sins’ used here as in transgressions, misdoings, or corruptions, not in the religious sense of the word.
It is good for me to read books like this often. I have the bad habit of thinking that because I read a lot, I know something. Nothing could be further from the truth. Looking at the rest of the books in this series listed at the back of this book.
Excellent! Highly recommended!
*He died in 1996.
August 17, 2022
So many great things in this book... Not easy to hear, at times, but certainly important to hear. Silence is so important to our spiritual lives, and thus, to our lives as a whole!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews