Saint Columban: His Life, Rule, and Legacy

by Basil Coetzee

Overview

Saint Columban: His Life, Rule, and Legacy contains a new English translation of a commentary on the entire Rule of Columban. Columban was a sixth-century Irish monk who compiled a written rule of life for the three monasteries he founded in France: Anegray, Luxeuil, and Fontaines. This volume also includes the first English translation of the Regula cuiusdam Patris ad Virgines, or the Rule of Walbert, compiled by the seventh-century Count Walbert from various earlier rules designed for women, including those of Columban, Benedict, Cassian, and Basil. This book begins with an extensive introduction to the history of Columban and his monks, as well as various indices and notes, which will be of interest to students and enthusiasts of monastic studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780879072704
Publisher:	Liturgical Press, The
Publication date:	11/15/2017
Series:	Cistercian Studies Series , #270
Pages:	276
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Terrence G. Kardong, OSB, is a monk of Assumption Abbey, Richardton, North Dakota. He has been editor of The American Benedictine Review since 1982 and has written many books and articles, including Benedict’s Rule: A Translation and Commentary and Benedict Backwards, both published by Liturgical Press.

Table of Contents

Contents
 
List of Abbreviations
Preface
 
Introduction: Columban and His Posterity
 
The Rule of Columban
   Rule of Monks (Regula Monachorum)
   Cenobitic Rule (Regula Coenobialis)
   Penitential (Paenitentiale)
   Rule of Walbert (Regula Walberti)
 
Bibliography
 
Index A: Biblical References
Index B: References to the Rule of Saint Benedict
Index C: Patristic and Monastic Sources
Index D: Topics Discussed in Notes
Index E: Latin and Greek Words and Phrases Discussed in Notes
Index F: Glossary of Columbanian Persons and Places
 

Editorial Reviews

"Kardong is America's foremost scholar on monasticism in general and on monastic rules in particular. To his much-acclaimed translation of and commentary on the Rule of Saint Benedict, Kardong can now add his translation of the Rule of Monks, the Cenobitic Rule, the Penitential Rule, and the Rule Walbert. Kardong's translation, based on both French and English sources, as well as on his own prodigious knowledge of Latin, is first rate. Especially helpful is his introduction and copious footnotes. In both, we see Kardong's wit and scholarship at their best. A must-have for anyone interested in monastic studies."
Fr. Benedict M. Guevin, OSB, St. Anselm Abbey

"Columban was a force to be reckoned with and his story becomes even more compelling as presented by Terrence G. Kardong. While having some things in common with the Rule of Benedict, the Rule of Columban presents a fascinating view of another type of monasticism that existed shortly after the time of Benedict. Kardong presents it in a clear contemporary translation, accompanied by interesting and detailed commentary. While its penal code may seem harsh to modern sensibilities, many of the faults it deals with will be no stranger to readers. Kardong points out that Columban's penitential actually paved the way for the sacrament of confession as we now know it. Although it appears last in this volume, those interested in rules for women's communities will certainly not want to miss the rule that Columban's successor Walbert wrote for nuns."
Sr. Colleen Maura McGrane, OSB, Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration

"The productiveness of Fr. Terrence Kardong is astounding and from it we have all benefited. Here, once again, he makes accessible to us a literary monument of the ancient monastic tradition, this time the Rule of Columban, written not more than fifty or sixty years after the Rule of St. Benedict. With the meticulousness and erudition and wit that we have come to expect from him, Fr. Terrence provides fresh and lively translations of this historically significant Rule and one of its epigones, the Rule of Walbert. What a wealth of fascinating—and strange—material one finds in these texts!"
Mark DelCogliano, Assistant Professor of Theology, University of St. Thomas

From the Publisher