Readings at Table
In Chapter 38 of the Rule, St. Benedict says that “The meals of the brothers should not be without reading. Nor should the reader be anyone who happens to take up the book; but there should be a reader for the whole week, entering that office on Sunday.”In Norcia, books read at table tend to cover themes related to monastic life, Italian history, or liturgical study. Besides those topics biographies and contemporary journal articles are also read.
The following is a list of books we’ve read since the beginning of the foundation in Rome:
| Schuster | St. Benedict and his Times | ante 5/99 |
| Pope John Paul II | Fides et Ratio | ante 5/99 |
| Ward, Benedicta | Lives of the Desert Fathers | ante 5/99 |
| Herbstrith, Waltraud | Edith Stein | ante 5/99 |
| Pope John Paul II | Bull of Indiction of the Jubilee Year | ante 5/99 |
| Ratzinger, Cardinal Joseph | Milestones | ante 5/99 |
| Cassian, St. John | Institutes | ante 5/99 |
| Weigel, George | Witness to Hope | post 6/99 |
| Soltner, Louis | Solesmes and Dom Gueranger | post 6/99 |
| Augustine, St. | Confessions | post 6/99 |
| Vogue, Adalbert de | Life of St. Benedict | post 6/99 |
| Sophrony, Archimandrite | Wisdom from Mount Athos | post 6/99 |
| Guardini, Romano | The Spirit of the Liturgy | 2001.09 |
| Clement, St. | Apostolic letter | 2001.09 |
| Mabillon, Jean | Aims and Attitudes of Monks at Study | 2001.09 |
| Eusebius | Ecclesiastical History | 2001.09 |
| Butler, Cuthbert | Benedictine Monasticism | 2001.11 |
| Magrassi, Mariano | An Introduction to Lectio Divina | 2001.12 |
| Derrick, Christopher | Escape from Scepticism: As if Truth Mattered | 2001.12 |
| Dickens, Charles | A Christmas Carol | 2002.01 |
| Pachomian Koinonia V.I. | 2002.02 | |
| Ratzinger, Cardinal Joseph | Behold, The Pierced One | 2002.04 |
| Schememann, Alexander | Great Lent | 2002.05 |
| French, RM | Way of a Pilgrim and the Pilgrim Continues His Way | 2002.05 |
| Cassian, St. John | Conferences | 2002.05 |
| Morin, Germain | Ideal of the Monastic Life | 2002.06 |
| CICL | Starting Afresh from Christ | 2002.06 |
| Ravier S.J., Andre | Saint Bruno:The Carthusian | 2002.06 |
| Grosso, Mariano | Santa Scolastica | 2002.08 |
| Ricciotti, Giuseppe | The Age of Martyrs:Christianity from Diocletian to Constantine | 2002.10 |
| Nguyễn Văn Thuận, Francis Xavier | Testimony of Hope | 2002.12 |
| Goldmann, O.F.M., Fr. Gereon | The Shadow of His Wings | 2003.01 |
| Kadloubovsky, E. & Palmer, G.E.H. | Writings from the Philokalia on Prayer of the Heart | 2003.03 |
| Ratzinger, Cardinal Joseph | Il Dio Vicino; l’eucaristia cuore della vita cristiana | 2003.07 |
| Nichols, O.P., Aidan | Looking at the Liturgy: A critical view of its contemporary form | 2003.07 |
| Pope John Paul II | Ecclesia de Eucharistia | 2003.08 |
| Cistercian Series: #33 | Dorotheos of Gaza: Discources and Sayings | 2003.08 |
| L’Osservatore Romano: Pontifical Council for Culture | Jesus Christ: The Bearer of the Water of Life (A Christian reflection on the ‘New Age’) | 2003.08 |
| L’Osservatore Romano: Pope John Paul II | Ecclesia in Europa | 2003.10 |
| Bunge, O.S.B., Gabriel | Earthen Vessels: The Practice of Personal Prayer according to the Patristic Tradition | 2003.10 |
| Farmer, David Hugh | Benedict’s Disciples | 2004.04 |
| Ratzinger, Cardinal Joseph | God and the World: A Conversation with Peter Seewald | 2004.06 |
| Papa Giovanni Paolo II | Alzatevi, Andiamo! | 2004.07 |
| Lang, U.M. | Turning Towards the Lord | 2004.08 |
| Cyril of Scythopolis | The Lives of the Monks of Palestine | 2004.09 |
| Dickens, Charles | The Chimes; The Cricket on the Hearth | 2004.12 |
| Brown, Peter | Augustine of Hippo: A Biography | 2005.01 |
| Hausherr, Irénée | The Name of Jesus: The Names of Jesus Used by Early Christians, The Development of the ‘Jesus Prayer’ | 2005.02 |
| Hausherr, Irénée | Penthos: The Doctrine of Compunction in the Christian East | 2005.02 |
| Ratzinger, Cardinal Joseph | Senza Radici | 2005.04 |
| Peters, Walter | The Life of Benedict XV | 2005.06 |
| Ward, Benedicta | The Sayings of the Desert Fathers | 2005.07 |
| The Fathers of the Church, Early Christian Biographies | 2005.10′ | |
| Waugh, Evelyn | Edmund Campion | 2005.11′ |
| Saward, John | Beauty of Holiness and the Holiness of Beauty | 2005.11′ |
| Peters, Edward | Monks, Bishops and Pagans, Life of St. Columbanus | 2005.12 |
| Baur, O.S.B., Rev. Chrysostomus | John Chrysostom and His Time Vol. 1, Antioch | 2006.02 |
| Saward, John | Cradle of Redeeming Love | 2006.03 |
| Lunardi, Giovanni | La Congregazione Sublacense O.S.B | 2006.04 |
| Chrysostom, St.John | Baptismal Instructions | 2006.04 |
| Conant, Kenneth John | Benedictine Contributions to Church Architecture | 2006.05 |
| Luykx, Archimandrite Boniface | Eastern Monasticism and the Future of the Church | 2006.05 |
| Longenecker, Dwight | St. Benedict and St. Thérèse: The Little Rule and the Little Way | 2006.06 |
| Leclercq and Giustiani | Camaldolese Extraordinary | 2006.07 |
| Leclercq, Jean | The Love of Learning and the Desire for God | 2006.06 |
| Assenmacher, Hugh | A place called Subiaco | 2006.10. |
| Vivian, Tim | Paphnutius: Histories of the Monks of Upper Egypt and the Life of Onnophrius | 2006.10. |
| Paredi, Angelo | St. Ambrose, His Life and Times | 2006.12 |
| Robinson, Jonathan | The Mass and Modernity: Walking to Heaven Backward | 2007.01 |
| Aradi, Zolt | Pius XI: The Pope and the Man | 2007.02 |
| Lewis, C.S. | The Four Loves | 2007.02 |
| Benedict XVI, Pope | Sacramentum Caritatis | 2007.03 |
| Lackner, S O Cist, Bede | Eleventh Century Background of Cluny | 2007.05 |
| Karolevitz | Bishop Martin Marty: “The Black Robe Lean Chief” | 2007.07 |
| Early Monastic Rules: Rules of the Fathers and Regula Orientalis | 2007.07 | |
| Benedict XVI, Pope | Jesus of Nazareth Part I | 2007.08 |
| Andenna, Giancarlo e Bonetti Cinzia | Benedetto di Aniane: Vita e riforma monastica | 2007.09 |
| Kleber OSB, Albert | History of St. Meinrad Archabbey | 2007.10′ |
| Rule of St. Augustine | 2007.10′ | |
| Thompson, Augustine, O.P. | Cities of God | 2008.01′ |
| St Athanasius | Life of St. Anthony and the Letter to Marcellinus | 2008.02′ |
| Macmanus, Francis | Saint Columban | 2008.04′ |
| Mullins, Edwin | Cluny: In Search of God’s Lost Empire | 2008.06 |
| Gruber OSB, Mark | Sacrifice in the Desert: A study of an Egyptian minority through the prism of coptic monasticism | 2008.07 |
| Schonborn, Christoph | Chance or Purpose: Creation, Evolution and a Rational Faith | 2008.07 |
| Butler, Cuthbert | Benedictine Monachism | 2008.10′ |
| Herin, Judith | Byzantium: The surprising life of a medieval empire | 2008.11 |
| Granzotto, Gianni | Carlo Magno | 2008.12 |
| Gruber OSB, Mark | Journey Back to Eden: My life and Times among the Desert Fathers | 2009.01 |
| John Gerard | The Autobiography of an Elizabethan | 2009.02 |
| Mabillon, Jean | Treatise on Monastic Studies | 2009.03 |
| Goodier | Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ | 2009. Holy Week |
| St. Augustine | Sermons for Liturgical Seasons: Easter Week | 2009. Easter Week |
| Gamber, Msgr. Klaus | The Reform of the Roman Liturgy | 2009.04 |
| Beauduin OSB, Lambert | Liturgy: the Life of the Church | 2009.05 |
| Seewald, Peter | Benedict XVI: An Intimate Portrait | 2009.06 |
| Brandmüller, Walter | Light and Shadows: Church History amid Faith, Fact, and Legend | 2009.06 |
| Davril, Anselme & Palazzo, Eric | La Vita Dei Monaci-Al Tempo Delle Grandi Abbazie | 2009.07 |
| Translator: Cabaniss, Allen | Benedict of Aniane: The Emperor’s Monk | 2009.07 |
| Trochu, Abbé Francis | The Curé D’Ars: St. Jean-Marie-Baptiste Vianney | 2009.09 |
| Translator: Eric P. Wheeler | Dorotheos of Gaza: Discourses and Sayings | 2009.10′ |
| King, Peter | Western Monasticism: A History of the Monastic Movement in the Latin Church | 2009.11 |
| Chitty, Derwas J. | The Desert A City | 2010.01 |
| Dudden, B.D., F. Homes | Gregory the Great: His Place in History and Thought Vol. 1 | 2010.02 |
| Tim Vivian, Kim Vivian & Jeffrey Burton | The Lives of the Jura Fathers | 2010.04 |
| Moorhouse, Geoffrey | The Last Divine Office: Henry VIII and the Dissolution of the Monasteries | 2010.04 |
| Pachomius | Pachomian Kononia v. 2: Pachomian Chronicles and Rules | 2010.06 |
| Pachomius | Pachomian Koinonia v. 3: Insturctions, letters, and other writings of Saint Pachomius and his disciples | 2010.06 |
| The Fathers of The Church | Barsunuphius and John: Letters Vol. 1 | 2010.07 |
| Clayton, Joseph | Pope Innocent III and his times | 2010.08 |
| St Peter Damian | The Letters of St Peter Damian Volume I | 2010.09 |
| Scenuda III | Il Risveglio spirituale | 2010.09 |
| Giovanni Spinelli, O.S.B. | Monaci per l’Europa | 2010.09 |
| Alessandra Bartolomei Romagnoli | Celestino V: Il Papa Eremita | 2010.10 |
| Arnaldo Fortini | Francis of Assisi | 2010.10 |
| Mariano Magrassi | Bibbia e Preghiera | 2010.10 |
| Joseph Ratzinger, Marcello Pera | Senza Radici: Europa, relativismo, cristianesimo, islam | 2010.10 |
| Pope Benedict XVI | Luce del Mondo | 2010.11 |
| Andrea Pamparana | Benedetto: Padre di molti popoli | 2011.01 |
| Roberto de Mattei | Il Concilio Vaticano II | 2011.02 |
| Gertrude Gillette | The 4 faces of Anger: Seneca, Evagrius, Cassian, Augustine | 2011.03 |
| Pope Benedict XVI | Jesus of Nazareth Part 2 | 2011-Holy Week |
| Papa Benedetto XVI | Gesu di Nazaret II | 2011.Settimana Santa |
| Theodoret of Cyrrhus | A history of the monks of Syria | 2011.05 |
| C. Bernard Ruffin | The days of the Martyrs | 2011.05 |
| Mother Mary Francis P.C.C. | But I have called you friends | 2011.07 |
| John Moschus | The Spiritual Meadow | 2011.08 |
| Massimo Viglione | 1861; Le Due Italie | 2011.08 |
| David Barry (translator) | Commentary on the rule of Saint Benedict by Smaragdus of Saint-Mihiel | 2011.09 |
| Mariano Dell’Omo, monaco di Montecassino | Storia del monachesimo occidentale dal Medioevo all’età contemporanea. Il carisma di San Benedetto tra VI e XX secolo | 2012.01 |
| Henri Daniel-Rops | Daily life in the Time of Jesus | 2012.04 |
| Peter H. Gorg | The Desert Fathers; Saint Anthony and the beginnings of monasticism | 2012.05 |
| Ddorotheo di Gaza | Insegnamenti Spirituali | 2012.05 |
| Uinseann O Maidin (Translator) | The Celtic Monk; Rules and writings of early irish monks | 2012.06 |
| Marie C. Buehrle | Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val | 2012.07 |
| Thodule Rey-Mermet | Alfonso de Liguori : un uomo per i senza speranza (1696-1787) | 2012.07 |
