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The Convent

  • 21-06-2006 9:13pm
    #1
    Rev Hellfire
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,346 ✭✭✭


    Evening all,

    I'm not sure if any of you are watching The Convent on BBC2 which would appear to be a follow on to The Monastery which was shown last year.
    I must say I find it factinating watching and dare I say it somewhat moving. I'd be interested in your thoughts on the matter.

    For those who haven't seen either of them, its a sort of reality TV show where a group of people (christian and nonchristian, some atheists) spend time in a closed order (the Poor Clares in the case of the convent and the Benedictines for the monks). Some seem to have quite profond experiences from the duration.


Comments

  • #2
    robindch
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 24,452 Mod ✭✭✭✭robindch


    I didn't see any of The Convent, but I did see bits of The Monastery last year and enjoyed most of what I saw. Except the overly religious bits of course, but there were few of these, as the Benedictines value reason more than ritual and are known for an tradition at what would be called the liberal intellectual end of the church, were the word "liberal" not slanderous in most conservative or religious circles these days.

    And there's certainly a lot to recommend the contemplative life as a Benedictine: a well-built roof over one's head and a comfortable bed to dream in, a good diet, an untaxing career path, funding for further education and well-educated and frequently lively confrères, and the three vows of stability, obedience and poverty. Benedict does not require chastity or abstinence of his monks.

    Of all the many organized, and disorganized, offshoots of christianity, Benedictine monasticism is one of the very, very few which seems genuinely to practice the growth and decency that the rest can only talk about -- an uncharacteristic thumbs up from me!


  • #3
    Asiaprod
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,737 ✭✭✭Asiaprod


    robindch wrote:
    Of all the many organized, and disorganized, offshoots of christianity, Benedictine monasticism is one of the very, very few which seems genuinely to practice the growth and decency that the rest can only talk about -- an uncharacteristic thumbs up from me!
    They get one from me too. I have always had a crazy desire to live as a monk.... for the life style mind you! I wonder what the fatal attriction is, is it for the peace and solitude, as an escape from life as we know it, or is it a devotional issue. Oh, I would also stick the Jesuits in there to.


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