St. Antony of the Desert, St. Benedict of Nursia, and St. Bernard of Clairvaux rise above all other figures in Catholic history as guides. To travel with them and to seek a view upon the heights of their personal holiness and wisdom is to secure passage into the rich and complex world of monasticism. Monasticism distills the essence of Catholic spirituality for all time and for all Christians. The Foundations of Western Monasticism, the latest addition to our TAN Classics, concentrates on three of the finest Christian texts available and will provide both first-time and advanced readers with an essential review of Christian monasticism and the foundational principles of Catholic prayer life, spiritual combat, contemplation, and communal living. These three texts The Life of St. Antony, the Holy Rule of St. Benedict, and St. Bernard's Twelve Degrees of Humility and Pride are offered to the reader as a simple and short path to the essence of Christian monasticism and authentic Christian teaching. St. Antony is presented as monasticism's foremost Founding Father, St. Benedict as its greatest Law-giver, and St. Bernard as its most daring Mystic. Taken together, these men and their writings will allow the reader to ascend the very heights of Christian monasticism and arrive at certain firm principles by which to evaluate and deepen his commitment to the Faith. Foundations of Western Monasticism also includes introductions and reading lists provided by Dr. William Edmund Fahey, Fellow and President of Thomas More College. A Benedictine oblate, Dr. Fahey has provided a new translation of the famous Rule of St. Benedict.

A compilation of various journal articles by the author discussing Christian history from Constantine to Dante.

Published just after the Second World War, European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages is a sweeping exploration of the remarkable continuity of European literature across time and place, from the classical era up to the early nineteenth century, and from the Italian peninsula to the British Isles. In what T. S. Eliot called a "magnificent" book, Ernst Robert Curtius establishes medieval Latin literature as the vital transition between the literature of antiquity and the vernacular literatures of later centuries. The result is nothing less than a masterful synthesis of European literature from Homer to Goethe. European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages is a monumental work of literary scholarship. In a new introduction, Colin Burrow provides critical insights into Curtius's life and ideas and highlights the distinctive importance of this wonderful book.

Religious Foundations of Western Civilization

The nature of the typkia, discussed by John Thomas in the introduction, was one of flexible and personal documents, which differed considerably in form, length, and content. Not all of them were foundation documents in the strict sense, since they could be issued at any time in the history of an institution. Some were wills; others were reform decrees and rules; yet others were primarily liturgical in character.

Now available in paperback, this is the first volume of the highly-praised landmark trilogy The Presence of God: A History of Western Christian Mysticism. "A book to be treasured".--Spiritual Life.

'It is impossible to over-praise this book. It works on every level: here is scholarship made accessible to the learned and the beginner, to the devout and the profane. It is hard to estimate whether it will be more treasured by those who know little of Christianity or by those who try to liveby its teachings.'Sister Wendy BeckettPreviously published with illustrations as the Oxford Companion to Christian Art and Architecture and now available for the first time in the Oxford Paperback Reference series, the Dictionary of Christian Art is a unique and fascinating exploration of the art and architecture that has beeninfluenced and inspired by biblical stories and Christian history and beliefs. The Dictionary combines general essays on the periods and styles important in the history of Christian art with lots of shorter entries that describe specific works, artists, themes, and visual images, and which give thereader practical guidance on where in Europe to locate the works described. Included in the Dictionary are:Detailed essays on periods and styles in art and architecture:Early Christian, Byzantine, Carolingian, Ottonian, Romanesque, Anglo-Saxon, Irish, Gothic, Renaissance, BaroqueGeneral background to the Old and New Testaments, and to Christian tradition and beliefs:Adam and Eve, Abraham, Moses, the Exodus, the major Old Testament prophets; the Annunciation; Life of Christ, the Passion; the Assumption; the mission of the Apostles; major martyrs and saints; religious Orders and their founders; parablesForms of art influenced by Christianity:church plans, illuminated manuscripts, mosaics, frescoes, tombs, stained glass, sculptureArtists and architects and their works:Duccio, Fra Angelico, Brunelleschi; Masaccio, Donatello, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Bernini, Wren, Gibbs, Poussin, El Greco, Chagall, Spencer, Pugin, and many othersPlaces and buildings:Ravenna, Assisi, Rome, Venice, and Sicily; St Peter's, St Paul's, the Sistine Chapel; baptistery, chapter house, centrally planned churches, monastery planningDescriptions and explanations of features of Christian churches, sculpture, and painting:icons, symbols, attributes, the Signs of the Zodiac, labyrinth, bestiaries; liturgical books, vestments, and colours; rose windows, frontals, and altarpiecesSignificant saints, popes, rulers, and preachers:saints Agnes, Agatha, and Catherine of Siena, Peter, Paul, Jerome, Francis, and Ignatius; Charlemagne and Emperor Constantine the Great; popes Julius II, Leo X, Clement VII; Savonarola, Luther, and ErasmusGlossary of Architectural Terms and detailed Bibliography