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Halfway To Heaven

The Hidden Life of the Carthusians

Halfway To Heaven

The Hidden Life of the Carthusians

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Paperback / softback

£15.99

Publisher: Liturgical Press
ISBN: 9780879077860
Number of Pages: 196
Published: 01/11/1999
Width: 14 cm
Height: 21.6 cm
Founded 900 years ago by St Bruno, the Carthusians are the most completely enclosed religious order in the Catholic Church. Living alone and in silence in almost perpetual prayer, the monks are the spiritual heirs to the early Christians, the Desert Fathers. As the only order 'never to have been reformed because never deformed', the Carthusians have been described as  'the most precious jewel in the Church's crown'. 

There is a Carthusian motto: To make saints not to publicize them'. Indeed because they shut themselves away from the world and shun all publicity, little is know about these monks, even among other religious orders. In this updated edition of a classic book, which includes new material, Robin Bruce Lockhart remedies the gap in our knowledge - without destroying the mystery of the order. 

Halfway to Heaven is still the most comprehensive book ever written about the Carthusians.  It is also an awesome source of inspiration in the art of contemplation and prayer. 
Contents
List of Illustrations   ix
Author's Note to the New Edition   xi
Introduction   xiii
PART ONE
  I  Patres Nostri   3
  II  The Call of the Desert   12
  III  The Recluse in Europe   21
  IV  John Cassian, Tower of David   24
PART TWO
  V  St Bruno, Founder of the Carthusians   31
  VI  From St Bruno to the Reformation   37
  VII  From the Reformation to the Twentieth Century   47
  VIII  Life in a Charterhouse: The Fathers   55
  IX  Life in a Charterhouse: The Brothers   62
  X  The Carthusian Nuns   67
  XI  Who Joins the Carthusians and How   74
  XII  La Grande Chartreuse   84
  XIII  Offspring of La Grande Chartreuse   91
  XIV  A Charterhouse in the New World   105
  XV  The Carthusian Order: Organisation and Management   110
  XVI   Carthusian Spirituality: A Summary   120
PART THREE
  XVII  Contemplation for All   131
  XVIII Wisdom Beyond Understanding   142
APPENDICES
  1  Pope John Paul II's Message to the Carthusians on their 900th Anniversary   153
  2  Timetable of a Day in the Life of a Carthusian Father   158
  3  The Charterhouses in 1999   160
  4  Bibliography and Further Reading   162
Index   166

Robin Bruce Lockhart

Robin Bruce Lockhart (1920-2008) was a writer and retired newspaper executive. He was also the editor of Listening to Silence: An Anthology of Carthusian Writings.

Exhales a sweet serenity reminding us of the complex atrributes and simple rewards of silence and solitude.The New York Times The author has been given an unprecedented aceess to archives and books unknown to the outside world. Mr Bruce Lockhart's splendid book will hopefully bring this knowledge to a wide public. . . Halfway to Heaven is a sublime and gripping read.Catholic Herald