Abbot Patrick Barry, OSB is a monk of Ampleforth Abbey in England, where he served as its sixth abbot from 1984 until 1997 and was also Chairman of the Union of Monastic Superiors in England. At the time of his retirement he received the honor of becoming Titular Abbot of Lindisfarne. He currently resides at the Abbey of St. Louis and St. Mary in St. Louis, Missouri, a monastery founded by Ampleforth Abbey in 1955.
In 1998 Abbot Patrick's new translation of St. Benedict's Rule was selected by the then-Abbot Primate, Marcel Rooney, OSB as the most fitting to accompany the musical recordings, "A Millennium of Music in the Benedictine Tradition" and the book The Benedictine Gift to Music by Katharine Le Mée mentioned elsewhere in this website. It was also selected by editor Patrick Henry to be included in full in Benedict's Dharma: Buddhists Reflect on the Rule of Saint Benedict (Riverhead, New York, 2001), an ecumenical discussion of Buddhist and Christian monastic traditions.
Abbot Patrick has recently written A Cloister in the World, a history of the Manquehue Community of Santiago in Chile, published privately in 2004 and described below.
Abbot Patrick has written with great clarity, insight, and inspiration on the subjects of Benedictine spirituality and education, prayer, monastic history, and the Rule of St. Benedict. We are pleased and honored to welcome him as a contributor to this website.
Le Mée Studies
Our Benedictine Connection Abbot Patrick Barry, OSB
About
A Cloister in the World by Abbot Patrick Barry, OSB
This book is the true story of a lay Catholic Movement in Chile (known as the Manquehue Apostolic Movement) which is deeply involved in education and in the opportunities and problems of living the Gospel in charity in the midst of the confusions of contemporary cultures and counter-cultures. The early narrative chapters tell the story, of interest to any Christians dealing with the young, of living with the handicapped, seeking to bring the wonder of Gospel truth into the everyday life of the laity in families, in workplaces, in their hopes and dreams for the future.
In the later chapters the author links all this experience to the vision of Vatican II for the laity, showing its vital relevance to everyone, not only in South America but wherever Christians are truly seeking their own role for the laity in bringing the Gospel to all mankind. Vital to this story is the role of Benedictine spirituality in the development of the lay Chilean Catholic Movement. The story of how Saint Benedict's Rule has played an essential role, not only in the Movement but in other lay Movements and groups throughout the world, is explained by the author before he ends with living examples of how many young people have been affected by the Rule and the Manquehue Movement.
Abbot Patrick Barry OSB had known the Movement and its founder José Manuel Eguiguren Guzman for 19 years when he wrote this account. He is a monk of Ampleforth Abbey in England, where after being Housemaster and Headmaster of Ampleforth College he served as Abbot of Ampleforth for 13 years. During a number of visits to the Manquehue community in Santiago Abbot Barry had the unique opportunity of observing it first hand and the willingness to devote the time and effort to explaining its development and its unusual and creative spirituality.
In the later chapters the author links all this experience to the vision of Vatican II for the laity, showing its vital relevance to everyone, not only in South America but wherever Christians are truly seeking their own role for the laity in bringing the Gospel to all mankind. Vital to this story is the role of Benedictine spirituality in the development of the lay Chilean Catholic Movement. The story of how Saint Benedict's Rule has played an essential role, not only in the Movement but in other lay Movements and groups throughout the world, is explained by the author before he ends with living examples of how many young people have been affected by the Rule and the Manquehue Movement.
Abbot Patrick Barry OSB had known the Movement and its founder José Manuel Eguiguren Guzman for 19 years when he wrote this account. He is a monk of Ampleforth Abbey in England, where after being Housemaster and Headmaster of Ampleforth College he served as Abbot of Ampleforth for 13 years. During a number of visits to the Manquehue community in Santiago Abbot Barry had the unique opportunity of observing it first hand and the willingness to devote the time and effort to explaining its development and its unusual and creative spirituality.
Purchase here from
amazon.com
Read a Selection from Chapter 13. The Movement's Educational Vision [PDF]
Read a Selection from Chapter 16. Structure and Spirituality of the Movement [PDF]
Read a Selection from Chapter 16. Structure and Spirituality of the Movement - Liturgy of the Hours and RB [PDF]
Read a Selection from Chapter 16, Structure and Spirituality of the Movement - Acogida [PDF]
Read Appendix 1, Lectio Divina [PDF]
Read a prayer by Cardinal Raul Silva Henriquez, quoted in
A Cloister in the World [PDF]
A Cloister in the World may
also be obtained from:
Development Office, St. Louis Abbey, 500 South Mason Road, St. Louis, MO 63141. Tel: 314-434-0031.
Saint Benedict's Rule
"And so to prepare ourselves for the journey before us, let us renew our faith and set ourselves high standards by which to lead our lives. The gospel should be our guide in following the way of Christ to prepare ourselves for his presence in the kingdom to which has called us. If we want to make our lasting home in his holy kingdom, the only way is to set aright the course of our lives in doing what is good."
-from the Prologue
Benedict of Nursia (c. 480-543), born into a wealthy family, renounced his life of privilege to live an eremitic life of extreme asceticism. He founded and was the first abbot of the monastic community of Monte Cassino, where he wrote the Rule, acknowledged as a masterpiece. Modestly referring to the work that would chart the course of Western monasticism as "a little rule for beginners," in a prologue and seventy-three brief, intensely focused, and sympathetically written chapters, Benedict prescribed for his monks a monastic life in community that is essentially the Christian life of the Gospel based on mutual support, obedience, hospitality, tolerance, and moderation.,
Saint Benedict's Rule, translated into contemporary English by Abbot Patrick Barry, OSB speaks eloquently to lay people of all denominations as well as to monks and nuns. Freed of scholarly notes, except for those absolutely necessary to clarify the text and relevant scriptural references, this volume is unencumbered and very clear-perfect for reading aloud, group study, or private devotions.
This is a text that predates the divisions in the Church. It has the power to draw its readers, through the guidance and instruction of St. Benedict, nearer to the presence and radiance of Christ himself and to a clearer understanding of how to lead an ordered Christian life today. Abbot Barry's translation takes a text of great antiquity and brings it right here to us, now, as support and inspiration, encouraging us to bring all aspects of our lives into the presence, guidance, and protection of a loving God.
The new edition is even more valuable than the first, published in England, since Abbot Barry has included a magnificent forty-page introduction in which he explains the relevance of Saint Benedict's Rule to our lives today and clarifies the often misunderstood concepts of obedience, humility, and silence so essential not only to monastic life but also to the daily experience of all lay people on a spiritual path.
Saint Benedict's Rule, translated into contemporary English by Abbot Patrick Barry, OSB speaks eloquently to lay people of all denominations as well as to monks and nuns. Freed of scholarly notes, except for those absolutely necessary to clarify the text and relevant scriptural references, this volume is unencumbered and very clear-perfect for reading aloud, group study, or private devotions.
This is a text that predates the divisions in the Church. It has the power to draw its readers, through the guidance and instruction of St. Benedict, nearer to the presence and radiance of Christ himself and to a clearer understanding of how to lead an ordered Christian life today. Abbot Barry's translation takes a text of great antiquity and brings it right here to us, now, as support and inspiration, encouraging us to bring all aspects of our lives into the presence, guidance, and protection of a loving God.
The new edition is even more valuable than the first, published in England, since Abbot Barry has included a magnificent forty-page introduction in which he explains the relevance of Saint Benedict's Rule to our lives today and clarifies the often misunderstood concepts of obedience, humility, and silence so essential not only to monastic life but also to the daily experience of all lay people on a spiritual path.
Other writings
© Jean & Katharine Le Mée 2006