John completed the sermon-meditations on the Song of Songs which had been begun by Bernard of Clairvaux and continued by Gilbert of Hoyland. In one-hundred twenty sermons, he brings the task to its conclusion, in the process demonstrating the persistence of the patristic-monastic exegetical tradition and the influence of the early thirteenth-century intellectual tradition.

John of Forde’s Life of Wulfric of Haselbury—priest, healer, seer, mystic, who lived in a cell abutting a village church from 1125 until his death in 1154—is a classic of its kind. It portrays the daily life of the recluse, his austerities, the hours of prayer, his familiar companionship with his God, as well as his place in the community, a network of relationships stretching country-wide and friendships maintained over many years with both women and men. John, prior and later abbot of Forde, is the devoted guide opening up the treasures of his Wulfric to any who care to listen. The work, too little read or studied for want of a translation, is now made available not only to the medievalist but to anyone with an interest in the spiritual life. Pauline Matarasso is a scholar, translator, and poet, now living in Oxford. Her writings include: The Quest of the Holy Grail; The Redemption of Chivalry: A Study of the "Queste del Saint Graal"; The Cistercian World: Monastic Writings of the Twelfth Century; "John of Forde as Portrait Painter," A Gathering of Friends; Bernard of Clairvaux: On Baptism and The Office of Bishops; Queen’s Mate: Three Women of Power in France on the Eve of the Renaissance.

John completed the sermon-meditations on the Song of Songs which had been begun by Bernard of Clairvaux and continued by Gilbert of Hoyland. In one-hundred twenty sermons, he brings the task to its conclusion, in the process demonstrating the persistence of the patristic-monastic exegetical tradition and the influence of the early thirteenth-century intellectual tradition.

John completed the sermon-meditations on the Song of Songs which had been begun by Bernard of Clairvaux and continued by Gilbert of Hoyland. In one-hundred twenty sermons, he brings the task to its conclusion, in the process demonstrating the persistence of the patristic-monastic exegetical tradition and the influence of the early thirteenth-century intellectual tradition.

Simple and direct, John of Forde writes in a way that is also profound and often distinctly original. He is a theologian with a flair for language that appeals to ordinary readers, a monk in a very masculine world who is not afraid of deep emotional feelings. Few other spiritual writers can achieve his poignancy without trailing into sentimentality. Yet for seven hundred years John has remained largely unknown and ignored. He passed much of his life at the Cistercian abbey of Forde in southwest England at the end of the twelfth century, active in the Order and well-known among his contemporaries. Only with the publication of his sermons on the Song of Songs, first in Latin and then in English, has he become known to moderns, even modern Cistercians. Here in one volume is an introduction to his spirituality, typical of his age and Order and yet ageless. His charm for readers today lies in the genial simplicity of his style, which speaks directly to the heart. Hilary Costello, OCSO, is a monk of Mount Saint Bernard Abbey in England, where he currently serves as guestmaster, and the editor of the critical Latin edition of the Sermons of John of Forde on the Song of Songs.

John completed the sermon-meditations on the Song of Songs which had been begun by Bernard of Clairvaux and continued by Gilbert of Hoyland. In one-hundred twenty sermons, he brings the task to its conclusion, in the process demonstrating the persistence of the patristic-monastic exegetical tradition and the influence of the early thirteenth-century intellectual tradition.

John completed the sermon-meditations on the Song of Songs which had been begun by Bernard of Clairvaux and continued by Gilbert of Hoyland. In one-hundred twenty sermons, he brings the task to its conclusion, in the process demonstrating the persistence of the patristic-monastic exegetical tradition and the influence of the early thirteenth-century intellectual tradition.

John completed the sermon-meditations on the Song of Songs which had been begun by Bernard of Clairvaux and continued by Gilbert of Hoyland. In one-hundred twenty sermons, he brings the task to its conclusion, in the process demonstrating the persistence of the patristic-monastic exegetical tradition and the influence of the early thirteenth-century intellectual tradition.

John completed the sermon-meditations on the Song of Songs which had been begun by Bernard of Clairvaux and continued by Gilbert of Hoyland. In one-hundred twenty sermons, he brings the task to its conclusion, in the process demonstrating the persistence of the patristic-monastic exegetical tradition and the influence of the early thirteenth-century intellectual tradition.