CHRISTIAN
SPIRITUALITY
IN THE
CATHOLIC
TRADITION


Jordan Aumann, O. P.
CONTENTS
PREFACE

1 SACRED SCRIPTURE AND THE SPIRITUAL LIFE
The Old Testament
The New Testament

2 SPIRITUALITY OF THE EARLY CHURCH
The Apostolic Fathers
Christian Life
Christian Gnosticism

3 MONASTICISM IN THE EAST
Christian Virgins and Ascetics
Eremitical and Cenobitical Life
The Cappadocian Fathers
Evagrius, pseudo-Dionysius, Maximus

4 MONASTICISM IN THE WEST
Origins of Western Monasticism
John Cassian
St. Augustine
St. Benedict
Irish Monasticism
St. Gregory the Great

5 BENEDICTINE SPIRITUALITY
Benedict of Aniane
Hildemar
Cluniac Reform
John of Fécamp
St. Peter Damian
Camaldolese Hermits
The Carthusians
Cistercian Spirituality
St. Bernard
William of St. Thierry
St. Aelred of Rievaulx
Nuns and Lay Brothers

6 SPIRITUALITY OF THE MIDDLE AGES
Medieval Piety
Military Orders
St. Norbert and Prémontré
Canons of St. Victor
Scholasticism
St. Dominic and the Friars Preachers
St. Thomas Aquinas
St. Francis and the Friars Minor
St. Bonaventure
Multiplication of Religious Orders

7 DIONYSIAN SPIRITUALITY AND DEVOTIO MODERNA
The Mystics of Helfta
Eckhart, Tauler, Suso
Ruysbroeck
The English Mystics
Devotio Moderna
John Gerson
St. Catherine of Siena
Denis the Carthusian

8 POST-TRIDENTINE SPIRITUALITY
Spiritual Exercises
Christian Humanism
St. Ignatius Loyola
St. Teresa of Avila
St. John of the Cross
Spain's Golden Age
Italian Spirituality
St. Francis de Sales

9 MODERN SPIRITUALITY
Sources of French Spirituality
Jansenism
Quietism
Return to Orthodoxy
St. Alphonsus Liguori
German Rationalism and Mysticism
Revival in England

10 THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
St. Thérèse of Liseux
Elizabeth of the Trinity
Charles de Foucauld
Liturgical Revival
Missionary Expansion and Catholic Action
Sanctity among the Laity
Systematic Spiritual Theology

PREFACE

The present work has been written as a companion volume to a previous book entitled Spiritual Theology and currently published by Sheed & Ward of London. In the first work we offered a comprehensive and systematic study of the theology of Christian perfection. There we established the theological principles that constitute the doctrinal basis of the ascetical and mystical life and then proceeded to the application of those principles to Christian living.

In the present volume we move from theory and principles to life and witness. The history of spirituality serves not only to acquaint one with the origins and development of Christian spirituality but, equally important, it projects into our contemporary scene the lives and teachings of men and women who have reached a high degree of sanctity throughout the ages. It likewise demonstrates the marvelous variety among the saints and the fact that the perfection of charity can be attained by any Christian in any state of life.

In an age that is unsympathetic to systematic theology but attracted to the experiential approach, perhaps the historical survey will be of great help in discerning what is of perennial value in Christian spirituality. And since there were heterodox tendencies and movements almost from the beginning, one can likewise learn from history the mistakes and errors of the past and thus perhaps avoid repeating them in the present.

In a one-volume history of spirituality our goal is necessarily a modest one, namely, to provide a survey of the evolution and adaptation of Christian spirituality through the centuries, with particular emphasis on the spiritual teaching of outstanding individuals. Moreover, as the title of this volume indicates, we are concerned exclusively with the history of Catholic spirituality. Those who are interested in a more detailed and scholarly treatment will find it in the classical Christian Spirituality by P. Pourrat (four volumes), the more recent History of Christian Spirituality by L. Bouyer, J. Leclercq, F. Vandenbroucke and L. Cognet (three volumes), or the as yet unfinished Dictionnaire de Spiritualité, published by Beauchesne in Paris. Finally, we have provided detailed bibliographical references in the footnotes for those who may wish to study an author; movement or historical period in greater depth.

Jordan Aumann, O. P.


Christian Spirituality in the Catholic Tradition
By Aumann, Jordan
Copyright©1985 by Aumann, Jordan
Reprinted by Wipf and Stock Publishers
150 West Broadway, Eugene OR 97401
Previously published by Ignatius Press/Sheed & Ward, 1985.
Copyright © 1985 by Jordan Aumann, O.P. First published in the U.K. 1985, fifth impression 1994; first published in the U.S.A. 1986, fourth impression 1994. ISBN 0 7220 0 7220 1917 3 (U.K.) and 0 89870 068 X (U.S.A). All rights reserved. Nihil obstat Anton Cowan, Censor. Imprimatur John Cowley, Vicar General, Westminster, January 1985. Printed and bound in Great Britain for Sheed & Ward Ltd, 14 Coopers Row, London EC3N 2BH and Ignatius Press, PO Box 18990, San Francisco, California 99118-0390 by Biddles Ltd, Guildford and King's Lynn.


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