A Deep and Subtle Joy: Life at Quarr Abbey

By Luke Bell

Quarr Abbey is a historic and beautiful Benedictine Monastery founded on the Isle of Wight in 1132. Along the way it was home to Father Joe, celebrated in Tony Hendra's New York Times bestselling... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1587680378
• ISBN13: 9781587680373
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: HiddenSpring
• Length: 153 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A joy to read

What do monks do? What is the meaning of and purpose of what they do? If you are looking for the answers to these questions, you will find them in this book, and more besides. You will be welcomed by the author to the beautiful Quarr Abbey on the Isle of Wight in England, and shown around the monastery with an explanation of the meaning of every place and every time for the spiritual life of the monks. The meanings of the signs of nature are complemented with corresponding quotations from the signs of revelation. The book is written in a very appealing, simple and direct way, and contains some touching anecdotes from the personal life of the author. At a time when there are so many misleading and deviant books masquerading as spiritual treatises, it is a joy to find a completely orthodox contemporary spiritual work. It has a general message that goes beyond the cloistered life. It is not at all difficult to read, as the spiritual content is woven into your stay at the monastery, as you are guided through the places of interest there. Quarr was also a special place of prayer for three hundred years in the middle ages, and the author often speaks of the blessing from the prayers of the monks of the original monastery there. At the end of the book we are standing together on the shore of the sea pondering on the beauty to be found on the island, and the uncreated beauty of God. "It is a beauty unknown yet known: known in the still depths of the soul by the deep and subtle joy that radiates from it; known from the gestures of generous love that come from others... It is the beauty of the distant sky...The blue of the sea is murky and eddying; the blue of the beyond is crystal and still. To reach the horizon, the point of intersection of the timeless with time, we need to leave the earth we know... `Then shall I know even as I am known.'"