BEIRON'S WAY: THE WAIT WATCHER

St. Aelred of Rievaulx, born 1110 in Northumbria. His biographer, Walter Daniel describes him thus: “He did not attain to great knowledge of the liberal arts at school, but by his own efforts and the exercise of the keen and subtle mind he had, he became more cultured than many who are steeped in secular learning… He was moreover a man of the highest integrity, wise in the ways of the world, witty, eloquent, a pleasant companion, generous and discreet. At the same time no prelate of his day was as gentle and patient as he, or sympathised so deeply with the physical and moral infirmities of others.” Here is the extract from Aelred of Rievaulx’s De spirituali amicitia : “First we must set this spiritual love on a firm foundation in which its beginnings must be anchored, and the greatest care must be exercised, when soaring to the heights of friendship, to keep within the established limits. This foundation is the love of God, to which all things should be referred – whatever love or affe...

my motto motive motivation for the new year: "DO AS NO ONE DOES, AND THE WORLD MARVELS" From St. Bernard Of Clairvaux (Twelve century founder of the Cistercian Order of monks) The Cistercian order has a literary heritage of Christian contemplative and instructional writings which should be re-discovered by today's 3rd Millenium Men. The treatise by Aelred on Friendship, "De Spirituali Amicitia", for instance, is a wonderful work on the nature of neoplatonism, not as St. Augustine proposes - that friendship among men is separate from the friendship of God (John 15:15) - but as the relationship between men with Christ as the third and centre of that friendship, around which persons relate and their relations revolve (John 15:13). In addition, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, whose friendship and affection for others have inspired many writings and reflections, taught explicitly on the wisdom of proper conduct for the Christian disciple. Much is based on the work of St. B...