An Infinity of Little Hours: Five Young Men and Their Trial of Faith in the Western World's Most Austere Monastic Order

by Maguire, Nancy Klein

• ISBN13: 9781586483272
• ISBN10: 1586483277
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-03-06
• Publisher: Perseus Books Group

Summary

In 1960, five young men arrived at the imposing gates of Parkminster, the largest center of the most rigorous and ascetic monastic order in the Western world: the Carthusians. This is the story of their five-year journey into a society virtually unchanged in its behavior and lifestyle since its foundation in 1084.An Infinity of Little Hoursis a uniquely intimate portrait of the customs and practices of a monastic order almost entirely unknown until now. It is also a drama of the men's struggle as they avoid the 1960sthe decade of hedonism, music, fashion, and amoralityand enter an entirely different era and a spiritual world of their own making. After five years each must face a choice: to make "solemn profession" and never leave Parkminster; or to turn his back on his life's ambition to find God in solitude. A remarkable investigative work, the book combines first-hand testimony with unique source material to describe the Carthusian life. And in the final chapter, which recounts a reunion forty years after the events described elsewhere in the book, Nancy Klein Maguire reveals which of the five succeeded in their quest, and which did not.

Author Biography

Nancy Klein Maguire is the author of numerous publications on the relationship of theatre and politics in the seventeenth century. She frequently reviews books, most recently for the Los Angeles Times Book Review. She has been a Scholar-in- Residence at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, since 1983.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
Arrivals (July 1960-March 1961)	p. 9
The Order (1084-1965)	p. 21
Parkminster (1883-1965)	p. 37
Inside the Charterhouse (1960-1961)	p. 45
The Last Novice (1960-1961)	p. 59
The Novice Master (April 1961)	p. 68
The Long Walk (May 8, 1961)	p. 80
Alone (March 1962)	p. 97
Desire (Summer 1962)	p. 119
Profession (June 16-24, 1963)	p. 127
Monks Off Pitch (December 18 and 24-25, 1963)	p. 140
The Noonday Demon (April 1964)	p. 156
Outside the Walls (August 15, 1964)	p. 164
Perseverance (September 16-December 25, 1964)	p. 172
Togetherness and Warmth (December 25-26, 1964)	p. 182
Monks Disappearing (Winter 1965)	p. 194
Monks Dying (February 6, 1962; Fall 1965)	p. 208
Solemn Profession (September 29-October 6, 1965)	p. 216
Epilogue: Later (October 6, 2005)	p. 229
Dramatis Personae	p. 239
A Note on the Sources	p. 241
The Carthusian Horarium in the 1960s	p. 244
Glossary of Religious and Monastic Terms	p. 246
Index	p. 251
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