Spiritual Classics, MarthaJeanne 2023

I intend to try to read a book every week or two according to the list in Kanon der spirituellen Literatur at least those I can get my hands on. The list has 50 books, so I expect it to take me at least a year.

I'm tagging these books 'Spiritual Canon'.

The first four books are:

Mystagogical Catecheses I have borrowed a Greek/German edition from the library that contains a lot of extra material.

Praktikos Still working on this one.

Sayings of the Desert Fathers. I got a volume edited by Henri Nouwen from the library.

Augustine's Confessions. I read this decades ago, and did not enjoy it (although I did enjoy City of God). Online I have found some very old translations which I would rather avoid, but have hopes of finding a recent German one.

The copy of Mystagogical Catecheses that I borrowed is the same one that Kanon suggests. For reference, Mystagogicae catecheses = mystagogische Katechsesen.

As you would expect in a bilingual edition, the introduction includes several Greek words, printed in Greek letters. Mostly, I still can read the alphabet. There was also a Biblical reference I wanted to check (Gal 3:27) and the closest NT was my interlinear, so I read the few verses first in English and then in Greek. I am feeling very satisfied with myself right now. Somehow I doubt that I will read much of the text in Greek.

>2 MarthaJeanne: I got Praktikos and Confessions downtown today. Good work checking out the real theological bookstore. For Confessions I was offered two editions. One was Reklam, a publisher I loved as a student because they are mostly cheap, small editions of stuff you need copies of, and I could handle the tiny print back then. I have to admit that the other doesn't have much larger print, but translation and commentary are by Hans Urs von Baltasar, so I'm impressed. I don't have anything of his entered, so I guess I've only read essays in anthologies. Guess which one I bought!

I'll correct the touchstones once i have entered things.

>4 MarthaJeanne: Today I continued reading the introduction, but also the first of the 5 "Catecheses". It discusses the part of the baptismal liturgy that precedes the actual baptism. Those being baptised face west, reject Satan, his works, his ... before turning to the East, to the light, to declare their faith.

Oh, wow, Yes! Why haven't I known this years, decades ago. The fourth and fifth sermons are on the eucharist, and are very, very beautiful. Now I want a good, modern translation into English.

The introductory material in this edition was also very good. Interesting and helpful.

This was a very good start to the project.

Note: English titles vary. Lectures on the Christian Sacraments, Catechetical lectures ... These are the five 'on the mysteries' which may not actually be by Cyril.

Der Praktikos (Der Mönch) is the second book on the list.

The introduction to Praktikos in Kanon is basically copied from Gabriel Bunge's introduction.

Following along, appreciate you posting about both edition details and content.

I have more or less gotten through Bunge's introduction, and find it neither interesting nor helpful. I now discover that he gives a long commentary for every sentence or two of Evagrius. I propose to ignore it and concentrate on the original text. Certainly I am much more interested in what Evagrius has to say than in what an Evagrius expert says.

To be honest, I liked Cyril better, but I've now read the first 15 chapters of Evagrius, and he is much better than the introduction.

Read the next 15, and a few in English from the web. No, I don't find Evagrius to be useful, and it isn't just the translation. http://www.ldysinger.com/Evagrius/01_Prak/01_Praktikos.htm

Another 70 to go. I can probably get through them.

Finished. I guess I give this 2*. The commentary - that I stopped reading very early, at best 1*.

Discarded.

3) On to the desert fathers. Well, maybe with a bit of a break.

I have a Nouwen selection from the library and Meterikon listed as further reading on hold. Apophthegmata Patrum in three volumes is what is recommended. I can buy two of them, but they are expensive, so I will wait and see how I feel about it once I have read the free ones.

Fifth on the list is/are two works by Cassian.The library has volume 1 of Unterredungen mit den Vätern (LT has parts two and three) which I assume is Conferences. I have it on hold. The other volumes are available but expensive. The other work The Institutes, Cassian is available in an inexpensive edition - print on demand, so I should order it. I think reading those will decide whether or not I want more.

Number six is easy, Rule of St Benedict I have two copies, and will use my latin/german one.

seven Life and Miracles of St. Benedict is available next time I'm downtown.

8) Saint-Thierry Meditationen und Gebete seems to be out of print in German. My bookstore knows of a coming edition with price and ISBN, but no date. My other bookstore thinks it can get me an English edition at about twice the price, and delivery of English language books is very iffy.

Weisheit aus der Wüste 3 1/2*

I am not surprised that the desert fathers and mothers were constantly fighting demons. Live in a cell that you are supposed to not leave if possible. Live off of as little bread and water as possible, except of course when you are fasting. Spend most of your time repeating certain prayers dozens of times, interspersed with deep bows hundreds of times. I think a demon or two to mix things up a bit might even be welcome.

I'm now working my way through Meterikon and am not finding it at all uplifting.

Oh, yes, remember to feel very guilty about any failing, like talking to someone, or wanting a second piece of bread, or feeling a bit bored in your cell. On the other hand, if you manage a whole day without such failings, "I am but a servant doing no more than my duty, and should really be doing more."

>18 MarthaJeanne: Done with Meterikon and I certainly have no intention of reading more of this type of thing.

I find that I still agree with my assessment of Confessions decades ago. Back then I forced my way through it. This time I read Book 1. I couldn't stand trying Book 2, so I tried the advice of the Canons book to at least read Book 10. No to that to. Giving up.

The next point on the list is John Cassian. I have Unterredungen mit den Vätern = Collationes Patrum Teil 1 Collationes 1 bis 10 from the library, and picked up Von den Einrichtungen der Klöster: De institutis coenobiorum et de octo principalium vitiorum remediis yesterday. This was a print on demand that is both very small print and missing most bibliographic information - such as the name of the translator, at least in the usual places.

There has been a break because I got involved in Isaiah.

I seem to have read only the introduction to Cassian.

In the meantime I have started reading Regula Benedicti. I have read this before, and am looking forward to it, but I had better go back to Cassian.

I have managed to find the translator of De institutes. Antonius Abt, 19th century, which I had figured out from the language.

I have been finding both the content and the language of Cassian's De Institutes very difficult. I think I have read as much as I can deal with.

I'll move on to Collationes. The translator here Gabriele Ziegler is a few years younger than I am, so hopefully easier to read.

Collationes 2 is very good. It's not 'enough' to be the best at fasting, at being a hermit, at giving to the poor. You also need Diskretio, so that you do it sensibly. I love the example of two monks who head into the desert determined to live off of what God provides. They are close to starvation when they meet up with a tribe known to be very bloodthirsty. The members of the tribe do not attack them, but offer them bread. One monk says, "Thank you, God, for sending these people with bread." The other refuses the bread, because it came from human hands. Cassian reports that Moyses says that Antonios praises the monk who ate and survived.

Some of these discussions are useful, but others really aren't. I think I've read as much as I care to. Back to Benedict's Rule.

Die Benediktusregel I really enjoyed rereading this. I used my latin/german copy, but hardly looked at the latin.

I have Der hl. Benedikt ready to read. Saint-Thierry is also here. Bernhard von Clairvaux and Hildegard von Bingen should be waiting for me at the library. Neither the library nor the bookstore has the recommended edition, so I chose the free one.

Oh! I like the miracles! Not great big important things, but fixing a sieve that fell and broke. Calling the blade of a sickle back up out of the water after it broke out of its handle and into the lake. Little everyday things that matter to one person. "Go back to your work and don't be sad."

This is Gregor der Große Der hl. Benedikt, Buch II der Dialoge a latin/german edition published by EOS in 1995 for der Salzburger Äbtekonferenz (the Salzburg Conference of Abbots).

>29 MarthaJeanne: I finished it today. Such a lovely story. No, I don't believe all the miracles, but I do believe in the spirit in which they were done.

This is interesting. I just started reading Die Kunst im christlichen Ägypten. The author starts by describing the political and economic conditions for the general population in Egypt between Alexander and the Moslem invasion. She points out that most of the early Christian martyrs followed by the early monks were Egyptian farmers. Their extremely poor and hopeless lives lead many to flee to the desert whether or not they took up religion. Several of the books I had problems with make a lot more sense now. Doesn't mean I like them better, but I do understand them better.

The list makes a big jump, from the sixth century to the twelfth. Wilhelm von Saint-Thierry, Meditationen und Gebete I have a latin/german edition from 2001 from the library.

BTW I have just finished reading a biography of Petrus Canisius, and have put his catechism on hold. He was an early Jesuit (16th century) and his catechism was a Catholic standard for centuries. Like all Jesuits, whether modern ones I have met or early ones I have read about, he seems to have been an amazing person. This is not on the list, and I will be reading it out of chronological order. But I suspect that it fits.

I've read as much of this as I'm going to. William of St. Thierry has some very fine moments, but then he goes back into 'I'm a horrible sinner' mode. I can only read so much of that. It seems to me that grace and forgiveness ought to lead to more joy than William is willing to allow himself. And he should not feel the need to continually ask again and again for forgiveness of his youthful sins.

An additional comment: These meditations are full of biblical references. I catch a lot of them, even more are listed in the footnotes. (Now and again they don't seem to fit, but he can't seem to help pulling them in.) A lot of them are Psalms, as you would expect of a monk, but others come from all over. A typical page includes references from 3-6 different books, generally including multiple references to the Psalms.

I've been reading Bernard of Clairvaux's Über die Besinnung an Papst Eugen ( probably Five Books on Consideration: Advice to a Pope ). Bernard gets very long winded, and I am not a pope, so most of ot isn't very relevant to me. I think I've read enough. Besides, I have this in an enormous volume. It is itself over 200 pages, which isn't that long for a latin/german edition. But is is part of Volume 1 of his collected works. This volume is over 800 pages, and there are 9 more!

Wait! The first selection in this volume is Über die Gottesliebe On Loving God. This actually looks quite promising.

I read about half of that.

Now I need to start seeking the next few books.

Alfred of Rievaulx I will have to pass on, as I have not been able to find an affordable copy.

Guigo II Ladder of Monks is easy to order.

Francis of Assisi is on reserve at the library.

Clare of Assisi is available at https://ourladyofthepearlcom681.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/rule_st_clare.pdf

mechthild von magdeburg is available at the library (Merkliste)

Bonaventura is available at the library (Merkliste)

Gertrud von Helfta easy to order

Meister Eckhart I already own.

From here on in, I have several of the books.

The next book on the list is Hildegard von Bingen's Letters (Bingen) The English edition seems to be in three volumes. I have a complete edition in German from the library. Im Feuer der Taube. The Kanon book suggests a selection edition, which I don't have. There is also a newer complete edition, and the selection does not seem to be available.

Hildegard has a very complicated way of saying things, at least in this translation, which I find very off-putting.

I need to get the next few books, but that will take a week or two.

The Ladder of Monks

I found this online at https://nds.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/The-Ladder-of-Monks.pdf

It has the great virtue of being short. The PDF is 23 pages, but pages 68 and 69 of the source are repeated. Makes only 20 pages of text. The source also includes an introduction and 12 meditations.

Francis of Assisi

Reading translations of the Canticle of the Sun, was interesting because it turns out that I only knew very loose rewritings of it. Donavan's Brother Sun, Sister Moon, the hymn All Creatures of our God and King, and similar things.

The Admonitions are interesting as most of them are so full of Biblical quotes and references that there isn't a lot of space for anything else.

I used https://www.librarything.com/work/8910564/summary/241726984, but also looked up other versions of Canticle of the Sun on line.

The Rule of Saint Clare This is a very short document found online (https://ourladyofthepearlcom681.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/rule_st_clare.pdf)

I would think that this would need a lot of interpretation to be usable.

I physically cannot read the copy of Mechthild from the library. My bookstore has a different edition, but the Leseprobe is just as small print.

Online I managed to find the mhd text. Nope, can't read that either.

Giving up on this one.

I think I have to give up on this one.

Setting up the next few.

Seuse https://www.ecatholic2000.com/book/little.shtml

Tauler Available at Facultas or library

Katharina library

Cloud of unknowing. I'm surprised I don't own this. Library in German.

Kempen I do own, and at least some works by the next few authors.

>42 MarthaJeanne: Libby at least knows of The Cloud of Unknowing, and I’ve asked to be notified if it’s acquired. Unsure whether this exercise motivates an acquisition.

I'll read the library copy I think. The bookstore has an English edition to order, but its a print on demand, and the last time I ordered one of those the print quality was awful. I am almost certain that I at least read (tried to read) it decades ago, but no real memory of what I thought of it. Back in those days there was a Penguin bookstore, and it had the whole range of Penguin Classics. We have moved a few times since then, and now and again I do weed out books. Not that you'd know it, but I do.

Bonaventura in Itinerarium Mentis ad Deum chapter 5 gives the best proof of the existence of God that I have seen. I know it is a variation of one that was knocked down back in Philosophy 101, but it is enough embellished that is is quite convincing - at least if you already believe that God exists.

In spite of the warning in Kanon... I am not finding this more difficult than many of the others. At least now and again it actually makes some meaningful sense for me. A lot of this is certainly the difference between two male German Roman Catholic monks and a protestant American lay woman. A lot of these books were written by monks, for monks, and it shows.

I have finished Itinerarium Mentis ad Deum The volume I have also includes the much shorter De reductione artium ad theologiam! Which I will also read. (I'm skipping all the introductions, notes and such. 3 1/2*

Finished with Bonaventura. I'm getting very frustrated with this medieval theology. This was better than some, but I can't help feeling that it is written in an insider language, for people who have all studied the same stuff, and all accept certain axioms without even thinking about it. Neither aware that they are making these assumptions, not that others might not share them. This was at least not specifically aimed at monks, but still at people with the scholastic thought patterns.

Geistliche Übungen Gertrude von Helfta I'm counting this as read, although most of it has just been skimmed. 2* She entered the monastery at age 5, so her life experience was rather limited. It turns out that things written by a nun for other nuns don't appeal to me any more than the male efforts.

I was not able to get a copy of Meister Eckhart's Reden der Unterweisung that I could read, so I read Meister Eckhart, from whom God hid nothing which I was enjoying, until the last two excerpts.

The Nobleman takes that one word totally out of context. On Detachment praises detachment as being far better than love or humility or mercy. No! Love, humility and mercy are all about correct relationships. Detachment is about staying out of relationship. I cannot consider that to be a higher virtue.

Got a German copy of Das Buch der Wahrheit (The book of Truth) from the library. I even had my choice of two different translation. The difficult bit was separating and recombining everything once I had added it to LT. I have put work relationships in to keep this and Book of Eternal Wisdom separate from the combined work.

No, the books were not the same, and I borrowed the wrong one. Back to the English one online I guess.

I bought a copy of Das Büchlein der Ewigen Weisheit. I'm afraid I do not appreciate it. It now gets donated to Carla.

I tried the first two sermons in Tauler's Predigen, and am giving up.

The next one, though is Julian of Norwich! so I can look forward to that.

Revelations of Divine Love 3 1/2* Yes, an 'unlettered woman' trying to describe her visions is a lot easier to read.

I seem to have read about a third of this before, judging by the marking up I did.

Catherine of Sienna I tried both the German I had from the library, and English on line, and while my eyes read the words, my brain did not make any sense out of them.

Huh?

"REASON is a power through the which we depart the evil from the good, the evil from the worse, the good from the better, the worse from the worst, the better from the best. Before ere man sinned, might Reason have done all this by nature. But now it is so blinded with the original sin, that it may not con work this work, unless it be illumined by grace. " Cloud of unknowing chapter 64

Now I could have sworn that original son was eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and therefore before eating it Adam and Eve did not know the difference.

BTW I'm reading a German translation, and this online English translation is much harder to read.

I'll be finishing this within the hour. I'm making it through. I like the way his dismisses the practices of the desert fathers that I found so unreasonable. I think he was (as are most commentators) very unfair to Martha. If what Mary was doing was so much better, Jesus could have said, "Come, Martha, join us. Forget about cooking dinner, none of us need to eat tonight."

According to the author, I am stuck in the lowest category of Christian life, wanting to do things that help people. wanting to understand more about God, and to advance I need to bury all that and just concentrate on God without worrying about who God is or making the world better. Thank you, but I'd rather stay at this level. And his so superior contemplatives had better hope that they have people like me around to make dinner, wash the clothes, ... Which I guess makes me unspiritual. So be it.

>55 MarthaJeanne: Jesus’ response to Martha has always irritated me. They could all convene in the kitchen and help with the chopping, prep, clean-up while listening to Him. Woman can think and talk about deep matters while their hands are busy.

I saw a painting in the National Gallery in London of the Martha and Mary story. (It was an exhibition about mirrors.) Let's see if I can find it.

Anyway, in cases like that I do try to avoid the emotions Martha shows there, and to ease up a bit on the 'troubled about many things'. But I do think she got a bum deal. I like the story in John 11 much better. Mary may have been the sister who sat at his feet, but Martha was the one who knew who He was.

Here it is: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/diego-velazquez-christ-in-the-house...

>57 MarthaJeanne: That painter had no sympathy for Martha! Childish and petulant, indeed!

Believe me, it is even more so standing in front of the painting.

Just remember, none of those involved in passing the story on to us was ever a housewife faced with over a dozen unexpected guests. I don't think males get it. One of standing nightmares was always a group calling up from the airport on Saturday after the shops had closed for the weekend. "Your ----- gave us your number and said we could call you if we got stranded in Vienna."

BTW It never has happened, but even today, after over two weeks of no shopping, I would be able to put some sort of meal on the table for 5 or 6 people by the time they had gotten themselves here from the airport. But I would probably feel a lot like Martha in the painting, even if I tried to hide it.

The next author is Martin Luther, and they recommend three texts.

https://www.glaubensstimme.de/doku.php?id=autoren:l:luther:d:deutsche_auslegung_...

https://www.glaubensstimme.de/doku.php?id=autoren:l:luther:e:eine_einfaeltige_we...

Von den guten Werken
Available at the library

Loyola
Spiritual Exercises
Got that one.

Teresa of Avila
Yes, I have three including both the ones they recommend.

Johannes vom Kreuz (Now properly combined with St John of the Cross)
I have one, and the linrary has the other two.

Franz von Sales
Got that one, and remember enjoying it.

The Imitation of Christ is another book by a monk for monks. There are a lot of calls to avoid the world, and I don't feel addressed by most of it. I read over half.

In Sermon von den guten Werken, Martin Luther gets a lot more out of the 10 commandments than seems reasonable.

I looked at the two shorter Luther works on prayer. I think Jesus deliberately made the Lord's Prayer short and simple, and don't see any great point to making it long and complicated. Commentaries on it, yes, but not praying it long and complicated.

My copy of Loyola's Spiritual Exercises is not where it should be. I have put the library's copy on hold. But I am not due to go there this week.

I've now pulled the next books from my shelves so as not to have more surprises.