CONTENTS

• Monastic History I (Pre-Benedict)
• Monastic History II (Benedict to the Reformation)
• Rule of Benedict
• Comprehensive Reading List
• Other related links
  
  

• Antony of Egypt (c. 250-355 or 356), Cartas. His letters, in Spanish. Requires JavaScript and a 4.0 or later browser.

• Aphrahat, Demonstration VI: Of Monks. (337). [79K].

• Athanasius

  • Carta a Marcelino sobre la interpretación de los Salmos.

  • Vita Antonii (c. 357)

    • Life of Antony. English translation.

    • Vida de San Antonio Abad. Spanish translation. [109K].

• Augustine, Regula S. Augustini (c. 397)

  • Regel für die Gemeinschaft. German translation by Tarsicius Jan van Bavel.

  • Règle de Saint Augustin pour les serviteurs de Dieu. [67K text, 131K graphics]. French translation by Raulx.

  • Regla de San Augustín. Spanish translation.

  • Regola. Italian translation.

  • Regula Sancti Augustini. Latin.

  • The Rule of St. Augustine. English translation.

• Basil (c. 329-379), Les règles monastiques. Both the "long rules" and the "short rules." 1969 French translation by Léon Lebe.

• John Cassian

  • Conferences. (426-428). (Complete table of contents, 67K). A much briefer table of contents for the Conferences can be found on the index page for Cassian's works. Both are local files.

  • De institutis coenobiorum et de octo principalium vitiorum remediis libri XII (419-426).

    • Institutes of the Coenobia, and the Remedies for the Eight Principal Faults. English translation by Edgar C.S. Gibson. Local file.

    • Les institutions cénobitiques. French translation. Each book in its own file.

• Council of Gangra (between 325 and 381), Canons

• The History of the Coptic Language.

• Images of Egyptian monasteries

  • St. Antony's

    • Entrance, with mountains in background. [220K].

    • Entrance tower, seen from second-floor walkway. [188K].

    • Overview. [239K].

    • Towers and palm trees. [258K].

  • St. Bishoy

    • Church interior. [210K].
    • Courtyard. [213K].
    • Overview. [222K].

  • St. Mary and St. Yehnis Kama, also known as "the Syrian monastery"

    • Bell tower. [252K].

    • Church interior. [224K].

    • Interior. [222K].

• Robert Oshana, Learn Assyrian Online. Aramaic alphabet, Syriac vocabulary. Must have graphics capability. Site also has .au files. [25K text, 36K graphics].

• Palladius (d. c. 430), The Lausiac History. Excerpts. [128K].

• Paradise of the Desert Fathers (also known as Lives of the Desert Fathers, 4th C.). Excerpts from Norman Russell's translation.

• Regla de San Pacomio (c. 318). With St. Jerome's preface.

• St. Catherine's Monastery (Jebel Musa, Sinai, Egypt). Handsome, informative page from the Ministry of Tourism, Egypt. [6K text, 98K graphics].

• Sayings of the Desert Fathers (4th C.). Excerpts.

• Sulpitius Severus (c. 363-420)

  • Dialogues

    • English translation:

      • Dialogue I: Concerning the Virtues of the Monks of the East

      • Dialogue II: Concerning the Virtues of St. Martin

      • Dialogue III: The Virtues of Martin Continued

    • French translation:

      • Dialogue I. [80K].

      • Dialogue II.

      • Dialogue III. [53K].

  • Vita beati Martini

    • The Life of St. Martin. Local file.

    • Vie de saint Martin. [65K text, 26K graphic].

• The Charta Caritatis (1119)

  • Carta de Caridad, in Spanish.

  • Charta Caritatis, English translation. Local file.

• Foundation Charter of Cluny (910)

• Institut für Frühmittelalterforschung, Cluny - Projekt. Features two bibliographies, and a directory of "Cluny on the Internet." [4K text, more than 113K graphics].

• Benoit Meslet, Le renouveau cistercien (XI^e- XIII^e siècles). Some odd assertions (e.g., that Cassian was merely a translator and not an author), but, overall, a good basic historical introduction to the rise and decline of the Cistercians.

• The Rule of Benedict (early to middle 6th C.). Local file. With links to the Latin and translations in French, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish.

• Jeff Thomas, Welsh Abbeys. Photos, archaeology, architectural and historical information pertaining to medieval Welsh abbeys and priories. All ruined by the 16th-century Dissolution. Mostly Cistercian, but one Premonstratensian site as well. This web site also offers some information on Celtic Christianity, the "Age of Saints" in Wales, and holy wells.

• John Cassian

  • Conference 10: Second Conference of Abbot Isaac: On Prayer. (426-428). Local file.

  • Conference 18: Conference of Abbot Piamun: On the Three Sorts of Monks. Local file.

  • Conference 19: Conference of Abbot John: On the Aim of the Coenobite and Hermit. Local file.

  • Institutes, Book 4, Chapter 39: Of the way in which we shall mount towards perfection, whereby we may afterwards ascend from the fear of God up to love. (419-426). Local file. [67K].

• The Rule of Benedict (early to middle 6th C.). Local file. With links to the Latin and translations in French, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish.

• Athanasius, Vita Antonii (c. 357)

  • Life of Antony. English translation.

  • Vida de San Antonio Abad. Spanish translation. [109K].

• Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153), De diligendo Deo

  • Livre ou traité de saint Bernard sur l'amour de Dieu. [131K text, 17K graphics]. French translation by Charpentier.

  • On Loving God.

• John Cassian, Conferences. (426-428). (Complete table of contents, 67K). A much briefer table of contents for the Conferences can be found on the index page for Cassian's works. Both are local files.

• Gregory the Great (540?-604), De vita et miraculis venerabilis Benedicti. Is Book II of the Dialogues (593-594).

  • The Second Book of the Dialogues, containing the Life and Miracles of St. Benedict of Nursia. Local file.

  • La vie de saint Benôit. French translation. [148K text, 145K graphics].

• The Life of St. Mary of Egypt (4th C.)

  • The Life of Our Holy Mother Mary of Egypt. [45K text, 55K graphic].

  • Vie de sainte Marie l'Égyptienne. [55K text, 35K graphics].

• Paradise of the Desert Fathers (also known as Lives of the Desert Fathers, 4th C.). Excerpts from Norman Russell's translation.

• Regla de San Pacomio (c. 318).

• The Rule of Benedict (early to middle 6th C.). Local file. With links to the Latin and translations in French, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish.

• Sayings of the Desert Fathers (4th C.). Excerpts.

• Vie de saint Abraham et de sa niece sainte Marie.

• William of St. Thierry (c. 1085-1148?), Lettre ou livre aux frères du Mont-Dieu. Called the "Golden Epistle." French translation and introduction by Charpentier.

• Adamnan (625?-704), Life of St. Columba. [242K]. English translation, with an introduction. Also has a link to Book 1 and the first thirty chapters of Book 2 in Latin.

• Bishop Maximos E. Aghiorgoussis, Monasticism in the Orthodox Church.

• The American Benedictine Academy. Local file.

• Bibliography on Women in Byzantium. Updated annually. Edited by Thalia Gouma-Peterson, professor of art at Wooster. [57K text, 36K graphics].

• Herman (Marc) Blaydoe, Orthodox Monasteries in North America. Blaydoe is a subdeacon in the Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Church.

• Dorotheus of Gaza (fl. 540), Conferencias. In Spanish. Requires JavaScript and a 4.0 or later browser. Dorotheus was a disciple of Barsanuphius and John, and is important in the history of hesychasm and the Jesus Prayer.

• Egeria (4th/5th C.)

  • Egeria and the Fourth Century Liturgy of Jerusalem. Latin text and English translation of the final third of Egeria's Itinerarium. With bibliography. Prepared by Michael Fraser.

  • The Pilgrimage of Etheria. 1919 SPCK edition, translated by M.L. McClure and C.L. Feltoe. Preserves pagination of printed version. "Much is wanting," as the editors themselves note, but this is the most complete version of Egeria yet available online.

• Images of Byzantine Monasteries. Assembled by Paul Halsall, as part of his site on Byzantium.

• The Celtic Saints. Many of them monastic. Directory of brief biographies compiled by Stuart Woodward.

• The Cistercians. Local file.

• Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335-c.395), Life of Macrina. [85K text, 11K graphics]. Macrina the Younger was the sister of Gregory and of Basil the Great, and presided over a double monastery.

• History of Magh Eó (Mayo Abbey)

• Mark Holdsworth, Carthusian Monks. [3K text, 56K graphics]. A personal account of contemporary Carthusian life.

• Jerome

  • Letter XXII: To Eustochium (384). Very important, and very long-winded. [88K].

  • The Life of Hilarion (390)

    • The Life of S. Hilarion. English. [61K].

    • Vida de Hilarión. Spanish. Requires JavaScript and 4.0 or later browser.

    • Vie de saint Hilarion. French. [62K text, 21K graphic].

  • The Life of Paulus the First Hermit (374 or 375)

• Life of St. Declan of Ardmore / Betha Decclain (5th C.?). [95K].

• Moines Chartreux et moniales Chartreuses. The official home page of the Carthusians. In French, English, Spanish, German, and Italian, in that order of preference.

• Order of St. Benedict. Local file.

• Patrística. From the Biblioteca Electrónica Cristiana, in Spanish. A collection of important early texts, many of them monastic. Some texts require JavaScript and a 4.0 or later browser.

• Rule of St. Columba (6th C.)

• SisterSite. Home page of the SISTER-L mailing list. Not exclusively monastic, but a wealth of resources related to women in religious orders, women's studies, feminism, spirituality.

• Theodoret of Cyr, Vie de saint Syméon le Stylite. [34K text, 27K graphic].

• George Valsamis's Notebook: Internet Resources on Christian Asceticism. Not exclusively monastic, but many of the resources are pertinent to monasticism. Interesting collection of bibliographies, book reviews, and links to primary and secondary sources. "Modern" section is weak, though.