IMC 2009: Sessions
Session 623: Contemplating Other Worlds: The Spiritual And Intellectual Life of Cistercians
Tuesday 14 July 2009, 11.15-12.45
Organiser: | Terryl N. Kinder, _Cîteaux: Commentarii cistercienses_, Pontigny |
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Moderator/Chair: | David N. Bell, Department of Religious Studies, Memorial University of Newfoundland |
Paper 623-a | The Doctrine of Love by Aelred of Rievaulx and its Mystical Implications (Language: English) Index terms: Hagiography, Language and Literature - Latin, Monasticism, Religious Life |
Paper 623-b | Beyond the Tabernacle: The Real and Ideal Jerusalem in the Cistercian Abbey of Santa María de las Huelgas (Language: English) Index terms: Architecture - Religious, Art History - Sculpture, Monasticism, Religious Life |
Paper 623-c | Of Chronicles and Libraries: Albric of Trois Fontaines and the Early Library at Clairvaux (Language: English) Index terms: Archives and Sources, Manuscripts and Palaeography, Monasticism, Religious Life |
Abstract | Paper-a: Mysticism is a form of experiencing God in an individual's religious life. This mysticism which reflects a deep love between an individual and God, allows for verifying one's principles of faith. The role of mysticism is exceptional in the sense that it touches upon the inexpressible reality of God, yet it is capable of articulating it in a way that is adequate to the religious language as well as the limited human perception. Extremely pertinent here are the similar accounts of people of deep faith as written by those few people skilled in its rules. Among the classics of Christian mysticism are the writings of two 16th-century Spanish reformers of Carmel officially acknowledged by the Church: St John of the Cross and St Theresa of Jesus. They defined its rules and forms. Many researchers familiar with the spiritual writings of St Bernard of Clairvaux are willing to include him, as well, among the mystical teachers and there is evidence that his work was used by later generations (e.g. Etienne Gilson, The Mystical Theology of St Bernard, Cistercian Publications, Kalamazoo 1990). For quite some time Bernard has been considered a mystical authority within the Cistercian 'school of love', which he himself founded. The same school also produced the most prominent Cistercian of medieval England, Aelred of Rievaulx. Reading into his spiritual writings, especially those about love: Speculum caritatis and friendship: De spiritali amicitia indicates that he experienced mystical sensations, which he is willing to share with others. |