Suggested Resources
The principal resource for all Christian monks, indeed, for all Christians, is Holy Scripture. Holy Cross Benedictine monks read, study and pray Scripture daily, and encounter it on multiple levels, including that of contemporary studies.
In both the Anglican and the monastic traditions the daily recitation of scripture based prayer, called The Divine or Daily Office, is fundamental. A person who wants to become a monk will want to make this his daily practice. The Book of Common Prayer provides the necessary framework for Anglicans. The Order’s own office book is A Monastic Breviary (West Park, NY: Holy Cross Publishing & Morehouse, 1976) A helpful website for the Daily Office is http://www.missionstclare.com/.
The Rule of St. Benedict
- Timothy Fry, OSB, RB 1980: The Rule of Saint Benedict in English. (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1981)
- Kardong, Terrence, OSB, Benedict’s Rule: A Translation and Commentary. (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1996)
- Esther De Waal, c/OHC, A Life Giving Way: A Commentary on the Rule of St. Benedict. (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1995)
- Online text of Benedict’s Rule: http://www.osb.org/gen/rule.html
Benedictine Spirituality and History
- Jean LeClerq, OSB, The Love of Learning and the Desire for God: A Study of Monastic Culture. (New York: Fordham University Press, 1961)
- King, Peter, Western Monasticism: A History of the Monastic Movement in the Latin Church. (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publ., 1999). Contains a chapter on Anglican monasticism.
- Columba Marmion, OSB, Christ the Ideal of the Monk. (St. Louis: Herder, 1926)
- Columba Stewart, OSB, Prayer and Community: The Benedictine Tradition. (London: Darton, Longman, and Todd, 1998)
- Michael Casey, OCSO, A Guide to Living in the Truth: Saint Benedict’s Teaching on Humility. (Petersham: St. Bede’s Publications, 1999)
- Michael Casey, OCSO, Strangers to the City. (Brewster: Paraclete Press, 2005)
- Esther De Waal, c/OHC, Living with Contradiction: Reflections on the Rule of St. Benedict. (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1989)
Lectio Divina
- Michael Casey, OCSO, Sacred Reading: The Ancient Art of Lectio Divina. (Liguori: Triumph, 1996)
- Innocenzo Gargano, OSB, Holy Reading: An Introduction to Lectio Divina. (Norwich: Canterbury Press, 2007)
- Mariano Magrassi, OSB, Praying the Bible: An Introduction to Lectio Divina. (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1998)
On the Order of the Holy Cross:
- Vida Dutton Scudder, Father Huntington: The Founder of the Order of the Holy Cross (Dutton, 1940)
- Adam Dunbar McCoy, OHC, Holy Cross: A Century of Anglican Monasticism (Morehouse, 1987)
- Richard Paul Vaggione, OHC, The Rule of James Otis Sargent Huntington and his successors (The Order of the Holy Cross, 1991)
Additional Resources
These resources may help in understanding the Order of the Holy Cross, the monastic life as we live it, and the process of discernment of a call to religious life.
- The Vows – A Position Paper by the Rev. Bonnell Spencer, OHC
At the time this paper was written, members of the Order of the Holy Cross took the threefold vow of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience. OHC adopted the Rule of Saint Benedict in 1984 and now takes the Benedictine vow of Stability, Conversion to the Monastic way of Life, and Obedience. Poverty and Chastity are understood to be included within the Benedictine vow. - A Meditation on the Religious/Monastic by Br. Reginald Martin Crenshaw, OHC
From the preface to the 2003 CAROA Directory. - Sermon preached at the First Profession of Scott Wesley Borden, OHC.
