Thousands and thousands of lovers : sense of community among the Nuns of Helfta
Anna Harrison (Author)
"Thousands and Thousands of Lovers examines the spiritual significance of community to the Cistercian nuns of Helfta -- a concern that lies at the heart of the monastery's literature. Focusing on a woefully understudied resource and the largest body of female-authored writings in the thirteenth century, this book offers insight into the religious preoccupations of a theologically expert and intellectually vibrant cloister to reveal a subtle interplay between communal practice and private piety, other-directed attention, and inward-religious impulse. It considers the nuns' attitudes toward community among themselves and with their household members as well as with souls in purgatory and the saints."-- Provided by publisher
Print Book, English, 2022
Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota, 2022
Cistercian studies series, no. 289, number two hundred eighty-nine
xxxvii, 494 pages ; 22 cm.
9780879072896, 087907289X
1290244393
Part 1. The nuns. "Oh! What treasure is in this book?": writing, reading, and community
"A queen is magnanimous at her king's banquet": relationships among the nuns
"Tears and sighs": community in illness, death, and grief
"I am wholly your own": liturgy and community
Part 2. Within and beyond the cloister. "A husband enjoys his wife more freely in private": the nuns and the clergy
"The people are also my members": community within and beyond the monastery
Part 3. The living and the dead. "Give her all that is yours": community and the population of purgatory
"Unite yourself with his family": community with Mary and the saints