Abba, give me a word!' So young monks and visitors to desert monasteries would often address an 'elder' at the beginning of the fourth century. These seekers believed that a word originating outside oneself would descend into the heart and give direction to one's inner life. Enzo Bianchi has tried to let himself be guided by the biblical and patristic tradition in Words of Spirituality, his response to the requests of those who ask him for 'a reason for his hope'. These 'words' of Fr Bianchi are not listed alphabetically or by theme. Rather they are arranged to take us on a journey. Through the use of a method of allusions and cross-references, one term evokes another, explains it in part, and sets aside some elements of its definition to be taken up further on. At the heart of the book is the conviction that our life has meaning: it is not our task to invent or determine that meaning, but simply to discover it - present and active - in and around us.

Enzo Bianchi

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Author information

Dedication

Title page

Imprint

Series Foreword by Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury

Introduction

1. Spiritual life

2. Asceticism

3. Holiness and beauty

4. Senses and spirit

5. Vigilance

6. Spiritual struggle

7. Akedia

8. Desert

9. Waiting for the Lord

10. Patience

11. Faithfulness and time

12. Conversion

13. Attention

14. Listening

15. Meditation

16. Memoria Dei

17. Prayer, a journey

18. Lectio divina

19. Contemplation

20. The word of the cross

21. Prayer, a relationship

22. First listen

23. Prayer and the image of God

24. Prayer of interession

25. Praying within history

26. Prayer of request

27. Prayer of praise

28. Prayer of thanksgiving

29. Silence

30. Chastity

31. Obedience

32. Poverty

33. Fasting

34. Hope

35. Forgiveness

36. Loving our enemies

37. Humility

38. Knowing ourselves

39. Solitude

40. Communication

41. Communion

42. Illness

43. Old age

44. Death and faith

45. Epilogue: Joy

References

Bianchi, Enzo

Enzo Bianchi has tried to let himself be guided by the biblical and patristic tradition in Words of Spirituality, his response to the requests of those who ask him for 'a reason for his hope'. These 'words' of Fr Bianchi are not listed alphabetically or by theme. Rather they are arranged to take us on a journey.

'Abba, give me a word!' So young monks and visitors to desert monasteries would often address an 'elder' at the beginning of the fourth century. These seekers believed that a word originating outside oneself would descend into the heart and give direction to one's inner life. Enzo Bianchi has tried to let himself be guided by the biblical and patristic tradition in Words of Spirituality, his response to the requests of those who ask him for 'a reason for his hope'. These 'words' of Fr Bianchi are not listed alphabetically or by theme. Rather they are arranged to take us on a journey. Through the use of a method of allusions and cross-references, one term evokes another, explains it in part, and sets aside some elements of its definition to be taken up further on. At the heart of the book is the conviction that our life has meaning: it is not our task to invent or determine that meaning, but simply to discover it - present and active - in and around us.

Enzo Bianchi is founder and prior of the ecumenical monastic Bose Community in Italy, which receives thousands of visitors a year. His books on the spiritual life have been translated into many languages, and Fr Bianchi has dedicated himself to the search for spirituality capable of giving vitality to Christians today and furthering communion among all people.

The Good Book Stall

In some ways I think this book is mistitled, as the author has much practical advice about living in the world, but perhaps the process of exploring the inner life fits one to make the correct judgments about life as it is lived in the world. Bianchi speaks profoundly of how to "be" in the world and how Christian identity is formed and grown in community with others, attentive to the word of God as expressed in the Scriptures and lived out in the world. There is honesty about the spiritual life right from page one: life with God is to be experienced and lived, not just thought about.  
  
This is a book to be read from cover to cover – including the Series Forward by Rowan Williams and the Introduction – but not in one sitting, as the words deserve time and thought, as well as prayer, to make their way into the heart of each person who reads them, to emerge in a life more attuned to listening to God and lived out in being and action.

Words of Spirituality

Exploring the Inner Life

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Words of Spirituality

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