Bücher der Reihe Cisterican Fathers

Guerric of Igny (¿1157) ranks with Bernard of Clairvaux, Aelred of Rievaulx, and William of Saint Thierry as one of 'the four evangelists of Citeaux'. Yet he is know only through these Liturgical Sermons and a scattering of historical references.Born probably at Tournai and educated in the humanities and theology at the noted cathedral school there, he visited the Cistercian abbey of Clairvaux as a seasoned scholar, with no intention whatever of abandoning academic life for the cloister. Urged to stay by the always persuasive Abbot Bernard, however, 'without delay or looking back, the cleric became a monk, the master a schoolboy.'In 1138, again at Bernard's suggestion and despite his own protestations that he lacked the requisite wisdom and health, Guerric was elected as the second abbot of Igny, a daughter house of Clairvaux near Rheims. There he wrote the sermons which reveal the quality of his education, the profundity of his theology, and the pervasiveness of his Cistercian spirit.The Liturgical Sermons of Guerric of Igny are published in two volumes: Book One contains Sermons 1-21; Book Two contains Sermons 22-54.

Guerric of Igny (d. 1157) ranks with Bernard of Clairvaux, Aelred of Rievaulx, and William of Saint Thierry as one of 'the four evangelists of Cîteaux'. Yet he is known only through these Liturgical Sermons and a scattering of historical references.Born probably at Tournai and educated in the humanities and theology at the noted cathedral school there, he visited the cistercian abbey of Clairvaux as a seasoned scholar, with no intention whatever of abandoning academic life for the cloister. Urged to stay by the always persuasive Abbot Bernard, however, 'without delay or looking back, the cleric became a monk, the master a schoolboy'.In 1138, again at Bernard's suggestion and despite his own protestations that he lacked the requisite wisdom and health, Guerric was elected as the second abbot of Igny, a daughter house of Clairvaux near Rheims. There he wrote the sermons which reveal the quality of his education, the profundity of his theology, and the pervasiveness of his cistercian spirit.The Liturgical Sermons of Guerric of Igny are published in two volumes: Book One contains Sermons 1-21; Book Two contains Sermons 22-54.

The Epistle to the Romans was a favorite text of medieval commentators, especially in an age concerned with the theology of grace. William of Saint Thierry's Exposition is a thoroughly monastic text. In it the twelfth-century monk is concerned, not with dialectic or scholastic disputation, but with something far more personal: humility of heart and the recovery of the image of God in fallen humankind. Only when a person is open to God's grace can growth occur. William is convinced of this. He hopes to convince us of it. He sings the praises of God's grace. He combs Scripture for insights on the workings of grace. Several times in the course of the commentary, he shifts from narrative to address God directly. In doing so, he adds a personal, intimate touch to a literary genre which was soon to become settled in the impersonal methodology of the Schools.

William of Saint Thierry wrote down his reflections on the nature and greatness of love during the second decade of the twelfth century, while he was abbot of the benedictine monastery of St Thierry, near Rheims. His insight, drawn from Scripture and the Church Fathers, shaped his own spiritual journey and his earthly pilgrimage from the schools to the abbey and finally to cistercial life at Signy in the Ardennes. Love, he writes, is a force which draws human beings towards the God who is love. In love we were created 'to the image and likeness of God'...