Saint Aelred's Prayer; An Abbot's Prayer for His Monks
Worcester: Stanbrook Abbey Press, [1965]. Original green printed wrapper (6 inches tall), folded and printed in black, housing single printed leaf (5 by 3 1/8 inches), printed in black, red and green and tipped inside wrapper. Very faint toning to edges, sheet itself Fine. Item #1264
"THOU KNOWEST MY HEART LORD"
Stanbrook Abbey printing of Saint Aelred's Prayer—"An Abbott's Prayer for his Monks" by the medieval "Bernard of the North." A fine example of three-color printing by the Stanbrook Abbey Press.
The twelfth-century revival of Cistercian spirituality in northern England was centered at Rielvaux Abbey. "Founded as it was directly from Clairvaux by St. Bernard's own monks....it became at once in general esteem the premier abbey of the order in England, and its reputation was enhanced still further by the prestige of its third abbot St. Ailred (1147-66), the 'Bernard of the North'" (David Knowles). Rielvaux's position was a credit to "Aelred's distinctive style of leadership. He called the monastery a school of love, and he encouraged the cultivation of true friendship among his monks as a reflection of their friendship with an love for Christ. Traditionally, monks had been warned of the dangers of forming 'particular friendships.' Aelred, however, believed that a monk who had suppressed his natural capacity for friendship was incapable of truly loving God" (Robert Ellsberg). Subtitled "An Abbot's Prayer for his Monks," this prayer was first printed by Stanbrook in 1960. This smaller version (leaf size 135x85mm) was printed for the elevation of the new Archbishop of Birmingham in 1965 (and then subsequently issued for sale). Printed in 12-point Romanee Italic in black, red and green on Barcham Green Medieval handmade paper, mounted in green card wrappers with the title printed in black to the front and the colophon to the back. David Butcher. The Stanbrook Abbey Press D4b; Knowles. Monastic Sites from the Air, 39; Ellsberg. All Saints: Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time.
Price: $50.00