Contemplative Life

Originally published: Secausus, NJ: University Books, 1963.

With profound, practical insights, Finley, the author of "Merton's Palace of Nowhere, " offers readers a guide for a contemplative life.

This anthology contains the basic vision of Philo (c. 20 B.C.E.-50 C.E.), the greatest Jewish mystic, philosopher and theologian of the Graeco-Roman era.

De Vita Contemplativa is known for its depiction of a philosophical group of Jewish men and women known as the ‘Therapeutae’. This commentary sets the treatise in its historical context and explores Philo’s aims in depicting them as he did.

"Contempemplative aging is for men and women age sixty and beyond who want to experience a more peaceful, aware way of being through contemplative practices and to transcend the many causes of suffering inherent in later life"--Page 4 of cover.

(Music Sales America). In this book you have everything you need to play and sing some of the greatest Irish ballads ever written the lyrics, guitar chords and simplified music score, plus a CD featuring the first verse and chorus of each of the ballads. A virtual "Irish Balladeer's Kit"! Also includes photos and great background information on each tune. "Whether you're a professional entertainer or want to learn the songs for private parties, this is a must for you" Daniel O'Donnell

Thomas Keating was a Cistercian monk who founded the worldwide 'Contemplative Outreach', teaching people the art of meditation. This work brings together three prayer practices for each day of the year to enhance contemplative living. First, a brief "active prayer"; second, spiritual reading; and, third, Lectio Divina. The brief introductory prayer sentences are from various sources - the Bible and traditional prayers of the church or of well-known spiritual writers. The spiritual readings come from 11 of Father Keatings' books and one audiotape, with a month's worth of readings derived from each work. Each day's entry concludes with a brief selection from the Bible, or Lectio Divina.

Throughout the spiritual journey, God's love engenders within every Christian active, contemplative, and solitary inclinations. Consequently, each person wants to do some good, to have a basic receptivity to God, and at times to be alone with God. As life unfolds, God's love also calls forth within a person an overriding attraction toward one of those three orientations, which in due course impels the individual toward a corresponding vocational lifestyle: an apostolic life, a contemplative life, or an eremitic life. In this book, the authors identify the core features of those three vocational lifestyles. In light of each vocational core, they then discuss an ensemble of signs and patterns that point to an authentic calling from God. This study offers wisdom and insight to those pondering the mystery of their personal vocations, to those discerning their vocational direction, and to spiritual directors, formation personnel, ecclesial leadership, and Christian educators who accompany them in their quest.

Studies of the notion of theoria and of the contemplative life have often been restricted to Plato and Aristotle. This volume shows that aspirations to contemplation and the life of the intellect survived long after the classical period, turning into topics of heated debates, powerful arguments and original applications throughout the Hellenistic, imperial, and late antique periods. The introduction attempts to reconstruct all the problems pertaining to the contemplative life in Antiquity, and the twelve papers, written by distinguished scholars, offer a thorough study of the appropriation, criticism and transformation of Plato’s and Aristotle’s positions on the contemplative life, including its epistemological and metaphysical foundation. The volume ranges from Theophrastus to the end of Antiquity, including Jewish and Christian authors, with a focus on Platonism from Cicero to Damascius.