The Meditations, written over a period from 1125 to 1137, are a personal account of William of Saint-Thierry’s ascent into Trinitarian intimacy. Writing to the monks of Mont Dieu sometime around 1144, he proposed the Meditations as helpful in forming minds in prayer. These Meditations, with their accompanying commentary, are now presented as helpful in forming an intimate relationship with the triune God.
By:
William of Saint-Thierry
Foreword by:
David N. Bell
Translated by:
Thomas X. Davis OCSO
Imprint: Liturgical Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 216mm,
Width: 140mm,
Spine: 16mm
Weight: 340g
ISBN: 9780879071646
ISBN 10: 0879071648
Series: Cistercian Fathers Series
Pages: 272
Publication Date: 16 December 2022
Audience:
General/trade
,
College/higher education
,
ELT Advanced
,
Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Contents Acknowledgments xi Abbreviations xiii Foreword, by David N. Bell xvii The Meditations 1 Preface 3 The Meditations 5 The Beginning of William’s Contemplative Ascent into Intimacy with the Triune Divinity as Presented in His Meditations: A Monastic Commentary 89 Two Protagonists: Meditation 1.1–6 91 Foreknowledge and Predestination: Meditation 1.2–6 94 Divine Foreknowledge as Eternal Wisdom: Meditation 1.7–10 96 Bonding between Eternity and Time: Meditation 1.8 97 Ascending vs Circling: Meditation 1.9 99 Divine Predestination/Intimate Relationship: Meditation 1.11 100 Pride: Meditation 1.12–13 102 Go to Him and be Enlightened: Meditation 2.1–3 104 A Remarkable Scriptural Image and Metaphor: Meditation 2.2–8 107 Divine and Human Darkness: Meditation 2.5–8 108 Imagination in Respect to a Vision of God that Enlightens: Meditation 2.9–12 110 Two Categories of Understanding: Meditation 2.13–15 113 Enlightened Understanding Coming from Above: Meditation 2.14 113 Face and Countenance: Meditation 3.1–5 116 Meaning of the Face 117 Meaning of the Countenance 117 A Succinct Unfolding of the Meditations 118 The Paradigm of Your Countenance 118 Your Love: Meditation 3.6–7 120 Divine Revelation: Meditation 3.7–8 123 Understanding from Reason: Meditation 3.9–11 125 Understanding God: Meditation 3.12–13 127 Understanding the Trinity: Meditation 3.14 128 Embracing the Trinity: Meditation 3.15–16 130 Personal Change via the Lord’s Prayer: Meditation 4.1–5 132 Nine Factors Bringing Personal Change: Meditation 4.6–19 133 1. Opening Personal Inner Depths: Meditation 4.6 134 2. Good Conscience: Meditation 4.10 135 3. Reason in Its Proper Responsibility: Meditation 4.11 136 4. Knowledge of One’s Personal God as the Fruit of Solitude: Meditation 4.12 136 5. A Desire to Taste, See, and Delight in This Personal God: Meditation 4.13–14 137 6. Pursuing the Place Where God Is: Meditation 4.15 138 7. Removing All Types of Idols Formerly Used to Comprehend God: Meditation 4.16 139 8. Becoming Intelligent and Devoutly Knowledgeable: Meditation 4.17 140 9. Authentic Listening to God: Meditation 4.18–19 141 The Prayer of Jesus: Meditation 5.1–3 143 Prayer as Being Crucified, Concrucifixus, with the Lord Jesus: Meditation 5.4 144 Concrucifixus and Its Consequences: Meditation 5.5 145 A Treacherous Problem: Meditation 5.6 147 Christ’s Prayer on the Cross: Meditation 5.7–10 147 Love and Truth: Meditation 5.10–12 149 William’s Bonding to the Human and Divine Natures of Christ: Meditation 5.14–15 151 Mutual Anointing and the Amplexus: Meditation 5.15–19 152 Heaven’s Open Door: Meditation 6.1 155 Earthly Heaviness and Human Pride: Meditation 6.2–5 155 Jesus, Incarnate Merciful Love, Is the Open Door into Heaven: Meditation 6.6–7 157 The Proper Way to Think Regarding Heaven and Earth: Meditation 6.8–9 158 Further Thoughts on Heaven: Meditation 6.10–14 159 Heaven Is Likeness to the Creating God: Meditation 6.15 161 The Comprehensiveness of the Incarnation: Meditation 6.16–19 161 The Obedience of Charity and the Charity of Obedience: Meditation 6.18 162 The Pierced Heart of Jesus: Meditation 6.20–22 164 A Yearning to Rejoice with the Saints: Meditation 6.23–27 164 Boldness in Seeking God’s Face: Meditation 7.1 167 Two Aspects of Humility: Meditation 7.2–4 167 Signs of the Divine Face: Meditation 7.6–8 169 To Know by Not Knowing: Meditation 7.9–11 170 The Implication of Being Illumined: Meditation 7.11 173 Good Will, Good Zeal: Meditation 8.1–2 175 The Kiss of Truth and Mercy: Meditation 8.3 176 The Passion of Christ as a Contemplative Spousal Kiss: Meditation 8.4–5 177 The Sacred Heart as Hiding Place: Meditation 8.6 179 Ruminating on the Passion: Meditation 8.7 180 Delightful Love: Meditation 8.8–9 184 The Effects of Christ’s Face upon a Human Face: Meditation 8.10 184 Torment of Hell: Meditation 8.11–14 185 William Descends into His Inner Self: Meditation 9.1–2 187 Rowdy Thoughts Hinder Inner Peace: Meditation 9.3–7 187 Total Openness in God’s Presence: Meditation 9.8–9 189 Experiences of Alternations: Meditation 9.10–11 190 Truth, Accurate Self-knowledge, Comes from God’s Presence: Meditation 9.12–13 191 The Fullness of Love Depends on the Fullness of Faith: Meditation 9.14–17 191 An Intuitive Vision of God: Meditation 10.1–2 193 The Bonding Role of This Wisdom: Meditation 10.3 195 Prayer with Images: Meditation 10.4–10 196 The Incarnate Christ as the Open Door to Eternal Life: Meditation 10.9–12 200 The Theme of Ascent: Meditation 11.1–3 203 The Scriptural Image of Bartimeus of Jericho (Mark 10:46): Meditation 11.4–11 204 Word of God, the Divine Protagonist: Meditation 11.12 206 His Total Destiny, the Discovery of God’s Truth, Is in God’s Hands: Meditation 11.13–14 207 Scrutinizing Intention, Thoughts, Soul, and Spirit: Meditation 11.15–33 208 Intention: Meditation 11.15–20 208 Joints: Meditation 11.21–24 210 Marrow: Meditation 11.25–30 211 A Dialogue between William’s Spirit and His Soul: Meditation 11.31–33 214 Your Love: Meditation 12.1 217 William Addresses His Past Life: Meditation 12.2–8 218 Your Love as an Advocate: Meditation 12.9–10 219 Your Love, an Experience of Love: Meditation 12.11 221 The Life of the Trinity Working in William: Meditation 12.12–13 222 Your Love Expands Conscience: Meditation 12.14–15 223 Way of Ascent: A Will—Great, Enlightened, Ardent: Meditation 12.16–20 224 Great Will 225 Enlightened and Ardent Will: Meditation 12.20–21 227 Your Love Imparts Participation with the Saints: Meditation 12.22 228 Your Love Reshaping Persons: Meditation 12.23–24 228 Your Love Forms Unpretentious Persons: Meditation 12.25–27 229 Eucrasis and the Saints 230 To Love Much: Meditation 12.28–30 231 Meditation Thirteen 234 Bibliography 241
William of Saint-Thierry (ca. 1080–1148) was a Benedictine abbot of the Abbey of Saint-Thierry and a close friend of Bernard of Clairvaux. Because of this friendship, toward the end of his life he became a Cistercian monk at Signy l’Abbaye in the Ardenne forest. Twenty-one of his writings extant today establish his enduring legacy as a distinguished theologian of Trinitarian doctrine, Christology, and contemplative prayer. Thomas X. Davis, OCSO, has translated two works of William—The Mirror of Faith (1979) and The Nature and Dignity of Love (1981)—and published several articles on William and monastic subjects. He is the abbot emeritus of the Trappist-Cistercian Abbey of New Clairvaux.
Reviews for The Meditations with a Monastic Commentary
Thomas Davis makes an invaluable contribution in his fresh translation of the Meditations and his insightful commentary on William's account of the contemplative ascent into God, situating the abbot of Saint-Thierry's spiritual itinerary in his broader theological vision. That ascent is motivated by ardent love and longing to see God's face, yet paradoxically necessitates a descent into the truth of a person's deepest self where one comes face to face with one's utter brokenness and the need to die to self. There one also discovers the truth of one's unimaginable beloved-ness in the eternal Word. Ascending then through the Incarnation, one's will is united with God's love--the Holy Spirit--in the unitas spiritus where one's life is transformed and one's spirit is enfolded the ineffable embrace of the Divine Persons of the Trinity. Glenn E. Myers, PhD, Professor of Church History and Theological Studies, Crown College Father Thomas Davis takes his readers on an extraordinary journey through the depths and heights of William of Saint-Thierry's spirituality. The revised translation and commentary illuminate the complexity of early Cistercian thought through the lens of William's poetic imagery. Offering a guided tour through the metaphorical landscape of William's meditations, Father Davis provides intellectually rich insight, as well as a personal appreciation of Cistercian spiritual practice. This book is a source both for future Cistercian scholarship and for anyone who is drawn to the experiential, authentic nature of monastic prayer. Dr. des. theol. ?Delphine Conzelmann, University of Basel, Switzerland You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you. So wrote St. Augustine at the beginning of his Confessions, one of the most remarkable prayer-texts in the Christian tradition. Some 700 years later, a closely related insight drove William of St. Thierry to pen the meditative prayers of this book. Blessed with an intimate knowledge of the Bible and the medieval interpretive tradition, a poetic sense of imagery, a refined Christian metaphysics, and an ardent personal faith, William delivered a remarkable text to guide thoughts to God. This new volume gives us a precious new portal into one of Christian history's outstanding minds. Fr. Joseph Van House, O Cist, Our Lady of Dallas Abbey, University of Dallas
