Customer Reviews

The Cistercians (Religious Order Series)

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Written as a part of an informational series for people considering vocations to life in a religious order, this is some of the worst of Basil Pennington's writing. He was vocations director at St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts and is a well known writer, so he was an obvious choice to write the book on behalf of the order. However, there is too much factual information woodenly presented and without photographic or other illustration to be engaging. In fact I would think this would discourage vocations. Some basic early documents of the Cistercians are included but can be found elsewhere, including on line at the Scourmont Abbey web site. The volume is also considerably overpriced for the purpose. A better choice to learn a bit about Trappist life is the same author's book _The Monastic Way_ which is engagingly written and amply illustrated.