Grace in the Desert : Awakening to the Gifts of Monastic Life

by Slattery, Dennis Patrick; Moore, Thomas

• ISBN13: 9780787971045
• ISBN10: 0787971049
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-04-12
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass

Summary

In this powerful book, travel along with Dennis Patrick Slattery as he sets off on a three-month pilgrimage, during which he struggles with his identity; his role as a father and husband, teacher and believer; as well as the life and death of his father. Throughout his stays at twelve monasteries and retreat centers, Slattery seeks the refuge of the monastic life where silence and solitude open an extraordinary window on the human soul. Against the backdrop of Slattery's personal story, Grace in the Desert offers vivid descriptions of monastic life and practice at Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, and Buddhist monasteries and retreat centers.

Author Biography

Dennis Patrick Slattery is a poet and professor in the Mythological Studies Program at Pacifica Graduate Institute in Carpinteria, California. He has written over 200 articles and reviews for books, journals, magazines, and newspapers as well as authored and edited several books. Contact him at [e-mail].

Table of Contents

Foreword (Thomas Moore).

Acknowledgments.

1. A Need to Reconnect: Preparing for the Pilgrimage.

2. The Road on No Map: New Camaldoli Hermitage, Big Sur, California.

3. An Isolato Dogged by Divinity: The Carmelite House of Prayer, Oakville, California.

4. Meditations out of Time: Sonoma Mountain Zen Center, Santa Rosa, California.

5. Loneliness Does Not Retreat: Monastery of Mount Tabor, Redwood Valley, California.

6. Nature’s Mystical Muse: Our Lady of Guadalupe Trappist Abbey, Lafayette, Oregon.

7. Sisters Who Make Much of Time: Shalom Prayer Center, Queen of Angels Monastery, Mount Angel, Oregon.

8. St. Francis and a Spider’s Web: Franciscan Renewal Center, Portland, Oregon.

9. Lowing Cows and Abandoned Heifers: Our Lady of Trinity Trappist Monastery, Huntsville, Utah.

10. Breathless in the Darkness of God: Nada Hermitage, Crestone, Colorado.

11. A Hermit in the Fridge: Dominican Retreat House, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

12. Christ and the Hohokam People: Picture Rocks Retrea t Center, Tucson, Arizona.

Other Monastic Stays.

St. Andrew’s Priory, Valyermo, California.

Serra Retreat Center, Malibu, California.

Mt. Calvary Monastery and Retreat Center, Santa Barbara, California.

La Casa de Maria, Santa Barbara, California.

Our Lady of Peace Retreat Center, Beaverton, Oregon.

Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, New Mexico.

Holy Trinity Monastery, St. David, Arizona.

St. Anthony’s Greek Orthodox Monastery, Florence, Arizona.

Monastery of Christ in the Desert, Abiquiu, New Mexico.

Websites Offering Directories of Retreat Centers and Monasteries.

Notes.

Further Reading.

About the Author.