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

Przednia okładka
PublicAffairs, 13 mar 2007 - 272
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 Hours is 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 1960s -- the decade of hedonism, music, fashion, and amorality -- and 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.

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Spis treści

one Arrivals July 1960March 1961
9
two The Order 10841965
21
three Parkminster 18831965
37
four Inside the Charterhouse 19601961
45
seven The Long Walk May 8 1961
80
eight Alone March 1962
97
nine Desire Summer 1962
119
eleven Monks Off Pitch
140
thirteen Outside the Walls August 15 1964
164
fourteen Perseverance
172
seventeen
180
September 29October 6 1965
216
Dramatis Personae
239
Glossary of Religious and Monastic Terms
246
Reading Group Guide
259
Prawa autorskie

twelve The Noonday Demon April 1964
156

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Popularne fragmenty

Strona 105 - And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord ; but the Lord was not in the wind : and after the wind an earthquake ; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire ; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
Strona 105 - ... before the Lord ; but the Lord was not in the wind : and after the wind an earthquake ; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire ; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah...
Strona 105 - And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
Strona 105 - Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.
Strona 117 - Visit, we beseech thee, O Lord, this habitation, and drive far from it all snares of the enemy : let thy holy angels dwell herein, to preserve us in peace : and may thy blessing be always upon us.
Strona 149 - For a child is born to us, and a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulder : and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace.
Strona 103 - ... hast under thy feet, long enough have I been a sport of fallacies. Receive me fleeing from these, thy house-born servant, for did not these receive me, though another master's, when I was fleeing from thee? To thee I feel I must return: I knock; may thy door be opened to me; teach me the way to thee. Nothing else have I than the will: nothing else do I know than that fleeting and falling things are to be spurned, fixed and everlasting things to be sought. This I do, Father, because this alone...
Strona 105 - And there he came to a cave, and lodged there; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?
Strona 179 - Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord has spoken: I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.

Informacje o autorze (2007)

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.

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