“I thought I would read a book about monks for a change (having read about nuns). This is a memoir written by a French man who had a lonely, dysfunctional childhood and found solace in catholicism. His search for God led him to giving up everything to be a monk, shaving his head, taking vows of silence and chasity and poverty, and always observing the rules, which seem to be a minutae of everyday life. To me it sounds not too disimilar to buddhist renunciates (except without the deep breathing) the chants and mantras being replaced by prayers and responses in latin. One day Michel or rather Brother Iraenus starts reading the Bible, and then finds he can actually pray in his own language. He even starts teaching about Jesus. This is tolerated for a while but soon church politics gets in the way and the secluded nature of monasticism as well as clericalism starts suffocating his soul. He gets dismissed from the catholic church in a rather roundabout way and then finds there is more to life than striving to 'arrive' in a system that actually hinders his walk. In the book he is quite bitter about the catholic church and also rather introspective about his journey which seems to sense God's presence in fits and starts. I only hope he eventually found that peace and fellowship his soul yearns for.”
Selina C wrote this review Thursday, February 2, 2012.
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