The life of Syncletica is one of the oldest lives of a woman saint and provides rare testimony to the life of female sanctity in the fifth century. This full-length study of the teachings and spiritual background of this most remarkable woman forms Part Two of a two-part set. Part One is a translation of the life of Syncletica. Anchored firmly in the Scriptures and in everyday, human experience, Syncletica's teachings are as pertinent today as they were fifteen centuries ago. Her meditations, based on astute psychological insights, still have the power to inspire, to encourage, and to challenge latter-day disciples to live authentic Christian lives.

The life of Syncletica is one of the oldest lives of a woman saint and provides rare testimony to the life of female sanctity in the fifth century. This translation of the life forms Part One of a two-part set, while Part Two provides the first full-length study of the teachings and spiritual background of this most remarkable woman. Anchored firmly in the Scriptures and in everyday, human experience, Syncletica's teachings are as pertinent today as they were fifteen centuries ago. Her meditations, based on astute psychological insights, still have the power to inspire, to encourage, and to challenge latter-day disciples to live authentic Christian lives.

"Explores various concepts of Christian humility in late antiquity, looking closely at some of the ways humility has operated as a relational value in specific contexts involving ascetic women"--

“A distinguished ancient historian’s elegant study of the extraordinary women who helped lay the foundations of the early Christian church” (Kirkus Reviews). According to most recorded history, women in the ancient world lived invisibly. In Band of Angels, historian Kate Cooper has pieced together their story from the few contemporary accounts that have survived. Through painstaking detective work, she renders both the past and the present in a new light. Band of Angels tells the remarkable story of how a new understanding of relationships took root in the ancient world. Women from all walks of life played an invaluable role in Christianity's rapid expansion. Their story is a testament to what unseen people can achieve, and how the power of ideas can change the world, on household at a time.

The two-volume Encyclopedia of Monasticism describes the monastic traditions of both Christianity and Buddhism with more than 600 entries on important monastic figures of all periods and places, surveys of countries and localities, and topical essays covering a wide range of issues (e.g., art, behavior, economics, liturgy, politics, theology, and scholarship). Coverage encompasses not only geography and history worldwide but also the contemporary dilemmas of monastic life. Recent upheavals in certain countries are highlighted (Korea, Russia, Sri Lanka, etc.). Topical essays subtitled Christian Perspectives and Buddhist Perspectives explore in imaginative fashion comparisons and contrasts between Christian and Buddhist monasticism. Encyclopedia of Monasticism also includes more than 500 color and black and white illustrations covering all aspects of monastic life, art, and architecture.

First published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

From facing wild beasts in the arena to governing the Roman Empire, Christian women--as preachers and philosophers, martyrs and empresses, virgins and mothers--influenced the shape of the church in its formative centuries. This book provides in a single volume a nearly complete compendium of extant evidence about Christian women in the second through fifth centuries. It highlights the social and theological contributions they made to shaping early Christian beliefs and practices, integrating their influence into the history of the patristic church and showing how their achievements can be edifying for contemporary Christians.

Discover the enduring legacy and ancient hagiographical method used to recover the missing life and voice of St. Scholastica of Nursia. In The "Lost" Dialogue of Gregory the Great, Carmel Posa, SGS, applies a “disciplined imagination” and the ancient hagiographical method to recover the missing life and voice of St. Scholastica of Nursia. Drawing on a wide range of scholarship, including Gregory the Great’s four famous dialogues, biblical models, and the Rule of Benedict, Posa follows a technique similarly used by Saint Gregory himself to create an engaging and credible account of Scholastica’s life. In The "Lost" Dialogue of Gregory the Great, Posa’s use of the hagiographical method as a “disciplined imagination” serves as a tool for the repositioning of women’s lives in history. By presenting a “lost life” of Scholastica into the hagiographic record of Christianity, she gifts the Church for today with the story of a beloved saint that will not only inspire readers but encourage them to ponder more searchingly the sources of the wisdom contained in Benedict’s remarkable Rule. Carmel’s careful methodology also offers readers an image of Scholastica that has a spiritual standing apart from her famous and holy brother. She retrieves the enduring legacy of Scholastica from the margins and places her into the center of monastic history, in particular and church history, in general. Oblates, Benedictines, and those interested in monastic spirituality will also be challenged to reconsider those women whose voices have been erased, devalued, or ignored over the centuries and inspired to “listen carefully” to the whispered words and wisdom of women as we mark our journey together into a future full of hope, with Christ and his Gospel for our guide.

Selections from the written Rules of life of the major religious orders within the three traditions and supporting documents shed light on the spiritual aspects of the regulated life. After exploring general features, La Corte and McMillan set out Rules of early orders, then of later ones influenced by various reforms during the Middle Ages, including the military orders. The first edition was published in 1997. There is no index.