Monks and nuns have preserved courtesies, devotions, and contemplative disciplines which the rest of the christian world has lost. In this introduction to the world of the cloister, Fr Cummings explains the origins, and the continuing value, of monastic practices.
Charles Cummings is a Trappist-Cistercian monk and priest of Holy Trinity Abbey, Huntsville, Utah. He grew up in northern Minnesota and joined the monastery in 1960. He has a master’s degree in formative spirituality and has been engaged in writing, editing, teaching, counseling, chaplain ministry, and monastic interreligious dialogue for most of his monastic life.