Befriending Silence: Discovering the Gifts of Cistercian Spirituality

What is monastic spirituality and what might it offer us and the world today? Author Carl McColman has written a beautiful new book that, while focusing on one particular order of monasticism, the Cistercians, reveals the very heart and soul of monastic life and practice. In doing so, he presents a radically counter-cultural expression of living in the world; one that makes us stop and pause, and contemplate, if you will, the hidden jewels of the monks and nuns.

I talked with McColman today about his new book, Befriending Silence: Discovering the Gifts of Cistercian Spirituality, and what practices such as silence and contemplation can offer us in our noisy, violent world today.

Visit the Patheos Book Club for more on Befriending Silence.