The Shattering of Loneliness ― On Christian Remembrance

In the modern world of lightning-speed communication, of social turbulence and financial skulduggery, most people know that something is missing from their lives. The revival of interest in monastic life is no accident. The Rule of St Benedict set down how to achieve personal and communal "stability," something we seem to lack.

The author of this book is Abbot of the only Cistercian monastery in England: Mount St Bernard, situated in the hills above Coalville, Leicestershire. The young Abbot is a man of extraordinary gifts; intellectually brilliant but fully attuned to the needs outside his enclosed community. The theme of this book is "Remembrance." Taking half a dozen instances from the Bible where the word 'Remember' is most poignant, Varden embarks on exposition of these texts but then draws parallels with literature of the present day. Such topics include Lot's Wife, Remember You Are But Dust, Remember You Were Slaves in Egypt, and the instruction from Jesus "Do this in remembrance of me." Though this sounds a little unusual, Varden turns his theme into something, a great spiritual force which is intelligible to believers of all sorts and conditions.