Author: REESE, ABBIE
Title: Dedicated to God: an oral history of cloistered nuns / Abbie Reese
Description: New York: Oxford University Press 2013. 4th edition. Fine cloth copy in an equally fine dust-wrapper. Particularly and surprisingly well-preserved; tight. bright. clean and especially sharp-cornered. Physical description; xvii. 247 pages: illustrations; 25 cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. Contents; Introduction -- Called / Sister Mary Monica -- Community life -- Called / Sister Maria Deo Gratias -- The claustrophobic nun -- Called / Sister Mary Michael -- Monastic living in a throwaway culture -- Called / Sister Mary Joseph -- Little house. big heart -- Called / Sister Mary Clara -- Mothers of souls -- Called / Sister Joan Marie -- The suffering servants -- Idealism and reality -- Called / Sister Ann Marie -- Erased from the landscape -- Called / Sister Mary Veronica. Summary; As a subculture. cloistered monastic nuns live hidden from public view by choice. Once a woman joins the cloister and makes final vows. she is almost never seen and her voice is not heard; her story is essentially nonexistent in the historical record and collective. public history. From interviews conducted over six years. Reese tells the stories of the Poor Clare Colettine Order. a cloistered contemplative order at the Corpus Christi Monastery in Rockford. Illinois. In the second decade of the twenty-first century. Catholicism appears under siege. Reporters fixate on drama-accusations. investigations. the selection of a new pope. They ignore the inner story. the very reason why the church has survived from the Roman Empire's persecution through Renaissance splendor to the present day. This is the story of a search for truth. peace. and salvation. a story of selfless dedication that continues behind monastic walls even in our time. In Dedicated to God. Abbie Reese opens a window onto the Corpus Christi Monastery of the Poor Clare Colettine Order. a community of cloistered monastic nuns living within a 25.000-square foot enclosure near Rockford. Illinois. It is a world apart from our noisy. digital. hyper-connected world. a world of poverty. simplicity. and prayer. These women have surrendered everything-their names. shoes. even their families. They disappear from the larger world; when one dies. the order marks her grave with a simple stone indicating religious name and death date. nothing more. While they live. they pray five times a day at the Liturgy of the Hours for the victims of catastrophes and personal tragedies around the globe. The author spent six years learning their individual stories and the ancient rules they have chosen to live by. Reese makes that choice understandable. showing how each nun's values led her there. even if families were sometimes befuddled (one great-niece calls the monastery 'the Jesus cage'). With an eye for complexity. Reese ranges from the challenges individuals face (she calls one 'the claustrophobic nun') to the uncomprehending society that threatens this place with extinction. Subjects; Corpus Christi Monastery (Rockford. Ill.). Monastic and religious life of women - Illinois - Rockford. Colettines. Oral history - Illinois - Rockford. Oral biography. Nuns - Illinois - Rockford.Christian communities & monasticism; Roman Catholicism. Roman Catholic Church; Oral history; American history. Illinois. RELIGION / Christianity / Catholic. RELIGION / Christian Church / History. RELIGION / Monasticism. RELIGION / Christian Rituals & Practice / General. HISTORY / United States / State & Local / Midwest (IA. IL. IN. KS. MI. MN. MO. ND. NE. OH. SD. WI). Weight in Kg appr.:

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