Recommended Books

Helpful Books

We recommend the following books to any who are considering a monastic vocation.

The Cistercian Experience

  • Trappist: Living in the Land of Desire, Michael Downey
  • Beyond the Walls: Monastic Wisdom for Everyday Life, Paul Wilkes
  • The Cistercian Way, André Louf
  • Monastic Practices, Charles Cummings
  • The Genesee Diary, Henri Nouwen
  • The Orchards of Perseverance: Conversations with Trappist Monks, David D. Perata
  • The Seven Storey Mountain, Thomas Merton
  • The Cistercians: The Way of Simplicity, Esther de Waal
  • The Voices of Silence, Frank Bianco
  • The Cistercians: Ideals and Realities, Louis Lekai

Monastic Prayer

  • Contemplative Prayer, Thomas Merton
  • Sacred Reading, Michael Casey
  • Towards God, Michael Casey
  • Tuning into Grace: the Quest for God, André Louf
  • Grace Can Do More, André Louf
  • Music of Silence, David Steindl-Rast
  • Asking the Fathers, Ælred Squire
  • The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, (ed.) Benedicta Ward
  • Thoughts Matter, Mary Margaret Funk
  • Tools Matter, Mary Margaret Funk

The Benedictine Way

  • Seeking God, The Way of St. Benedict, Esther de Waal
  • Living with Contradiction, Esther de Waal
  • The Monastic Journey, Thomas Merton
  • Cloister Walk, Kathleen Norris
  • A Monk in the World, Wayne Teasdale

Monastic History and Culture

  • The Love of Learning and the Desire for God, Jean Leclercq
  • Christian Monasticism, David Knowles
  • Lovers of the Place: Monasticism Loose in the Church, Francis Kline
  • Contemplation in a World of Action, Thomas Merton
  • The Monastic Achievement, George Zarnecki
  • Dakota, Kathleen Norris