Strangers to the City: Reflections on the Beliefs and Values of the Rule of St. Benedict - Hardcover (Voices from the Monastery) [Hardcover]

Michael Casey (Author)

Book Description

Series: Voices from the Monastery | Publication Date: September 1, 2005

Michael Casey, a monk and scholar who has been publishing his wise teachings on the Rule of St. Benedict for decades, turns to the particular Benedictine values that he considers most urgent for Christians to incorporate into their lives today.

Eloquent and incisive, Casey invites readers to accept that gospel living - seen in the light of the Rule - involves accepting the challenge of being different from the secular culture around us. He encourages readers to set clear goals and objectives, to be honest about the practical ways in which priorities may have to change to meet these goals, and to have the courage to implement these changes both daily and for the future.

Casey presents thoughtful reflections on the beliefs and values of asceticism, silence, leisure, reading, chastity, and poverty - putting these traditional Benedictine values into the context of modern life and the spiritual aspirations of people today. Strangers to the City is a book for all who are interested in learning more about the dynamics of spiritual growth from the monastic experience.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In a disappointing volume, Cistercian monk Casey, author of A Guide to Living in the Truth, describes 13 attributes of the Rule of St. Benedict. This is not feel-good spirituality; Casey courageously calls his readers to hard disciplines like asceticism and self-denial, and much of his vision for the good life is countercultural. He disdains TV, questions the material luxuries that bourgeois Westerners take for granted and gently mocks those who "would prefer to lose a limb than to have any restriction placed on their automobile use." At times, his descriptions of Benedictine virtues—an abandonment of "self-will," for example—sound almost Buddhist. That quality might attract a large, ecumenical readership, were the book not marred by a certain abstractness. It would be more helpful if Casey had clarified how ordinary laypersons could apply Benedictine wisdom to their lives. What might the "community life... shaped by mutual obedience," which Casey finds in monasticism, look like for families or single laypeople? There is also an unfortunate, almost academic, passivity in the prose that distances the reader from the text: "Just as mutuality is not to be equated with equality, so generativity exists in more than one mode." Esther De Waal's Seeking God and Living with Contradiction remain better introductions to Benedictine spirituality. (Sept.)
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From Booklist

Casey, a Cistercian monk, remarks on asceticism ("Monasticism without renunciation is meaningless"), leisure ("being attentive to the present moment[,] . . . living it to the full"), reading ("A good book is an invitation to grow beyond what we are at present"), and chastity ("We do not enter monastic life because we are chaste, but in order to become chaste") and discusses contemplation, holiness, perseverance, and other topics, all in the light of the Rule of St. Benedict. He admits that the experiences of many readers will differ from his own as a male Australian whose attitude toward life was formed by the Cistercian approach to the Benedictine rule, but believes that common ground can be found. He begins by asking what the saint asked of prospective disciples, "For what purpose have you come?" Or, to put it another way, Why are you here? Yet the book isn't just for those intent on the monastic life, for it offers informed guidance to all those interested in ways to deepen their faith. June Sawyers
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Paraclete Press (September 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557254621
• ISBN-13: 978-1557254627
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #392,258 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #83 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Monasticism

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Monastic Perspective on Everyday Life, January 29, 2006

By 

Andrew Johnston (Aitkenvale, Queensland Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Strangers to the City: Reflections on the Beliefs and Values of the Rule of St. Benedict - Hardcover (Voices from the Monastery) (Hardcover)

Those familiar with Michael Casey's style will not be disappointed with this new book. What he covers is not new from the perspective of previous books that he has written, but covering such topics (see below) from a new perspective is always welcome. He maintains his ever present directness, eg "Christian monasticism is not a system of spiritual self improvement; it is a means that some people need to sustain and deepen their relationship to Christ" (p142). His observations from the "cloisteral paradise" (reality vs ideal) to "the white martyrdom" (of everyday life) are both interesting and insightful.

The chapters in the book are: 1. Distinctiveness 2. Asceticism 3. Leisure 4. Reading 5. Chastity 6. Dispossession 7. Antecedent Willingness 8. Mutuality 9. Generativity 10. Christ 11. Contemplation 12. Holiness 13. Perseverance

From the back cover: "One of the World's experts on monastic spirituality, Michael Casey offers his wise teachings on what it means to live today in the distinctive path of St Benedict. Eloquent and incisive, Casey invites us to embrace the challenge of gospel living, which is opposed to the dominant, secular culture around us. He presents thoughtful reflections on the values of poverty, asceticism, silence, leisure, reading, chastity and poverty, placing each of these ancient beliefs in a vibrant, contemporary context. Strangers to the City is for all who are interested in deepening their faith through the dynamics of the monastic experience."

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book, July 20, 2006

By 

Anon "Ymus" (US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Strangers to the City: Reflections on the Beliefs and Values of the Rule of St. Benedict - Paperback (Voices from the Monastery) (Paperback)

Here is probably the best book by Michael Casey. With his usual expertise and humor, he ponders each value of the Rule of Saint Benedict and considers it in the context of our current society. This book is of great value for all who try to implement the Rule of Saint Benedict in their daily lives, whether in a monastery or in the world. A great source of practical wisdom most necessary in a world which is losing sight of the meaning of all things.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Start to Monastic Reflections, March 9, 2008

By 

Matthew K. Minerd "The Coding Catholic" (Herdon, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Strangers to the City: Reflections on the Beliefs and Values of the Rule of St. Benedict - Paperback (Voices from the Monastery) (Paperback)

Michael Casey's text is a simple, prayerful work which provides an excellent insight into the virtues and trials of the Benedictine, particularly through his experience thereof as a Cistercian monk. In each section, he considers how the virtues inculcated in the community life work toward that building of St. Benedict's "school for the service of the Lord." The work does not attempt to outline these values in a vocation-independent way as though he were giving advice to lay people about how they should live according to the lessons of Benedict. Instead, he plainly lays forth the wisdom he has gained in his years of living as a sign of Faith as a Cistercian, shining for all to see and internalize in this experience. (To me, this is a very positive element and a humble admission of the role of each vocation as a beacon of the experienced Light of Christ instead of being a spotlight which one shines upon another as a single dictum.) This frankness, as well as the text's simplicity (without being simple-minded) radiates the experiences of the values which drive back to the vows of stability, obedience, and conversion to the monastic life. I suggest it to all who would like to sit and listen to a quiet, humble voice from within the monastery.