A Light to Enlighten the Darkness: Daily Readings for Meditation during the Winter Season (Volume 227)

by Emma Cazabonne (Editor)

God is light, says Saint John, and in him there is no darkness at al. These passages from the works of early Cistercian monks and nuns reflect on the mystery of that divine light. If we have the light of Christ in our heart, we discover, it is there to shine both for ourselves and for others and to guide us ever closer to the mystery of God. Emma Cazabonne compiled her selections over twenty years of lectio divina and a growing fascination with similarities between Cistercian and Orthodox spirituality.

152 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Born in France, she prepared for the entrance examination to the École Normale Supérieure, then pursued university studies in English.
She taught English and published several articles relevant to her interest in Cistercian spirituality, the Middle Ages, and Orthodoxy.
She translated many documents related to these disciplines.
She moved to the United States in 2001 and converted to Orthodoxy in 2008.
She continued to publish articles, a Cistercian texts anthology, then finally launched her career in literary translation, while teaching French.
If you are interested in having your book translated into French, she can be contacted here https://wordsandpeace.com/contact-me/

Née en France, elle poursuit des études universitaires en anglais après la préparation au concours d'entrée à l'École Normale Supérieure.
Elle enseigne l'anglais et publie plusieurs articles attestant de son intérêt pour la spiritualité cistercienne, pour le Moyen Âge et pour l'Orthodoxie.
Elle traduit de nombreux documents relevant de ces disciplines.
Elle émigre aux États-Unis en 2001 et se convertit à l'Orthodoxie en 2008.
Elle continue de publier quelques articles, un florilège de textes cisterciens, puis se lance finalement dans la traduction littéraire, tout en enseignant le français.

Reviews

[Lucy Pollard-Gott · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect devotional for the winter months (in the northern hemisphere) when days are growing shorter or still lengthening only imperceptibly after the solstice. Editor Emma Cazabonne has introduced and collected a set of short readings on "the light to enlighten the darkness" for each day from December 21 through March 20. These selected excerpts are drawn from the treasure house of Cistercian spirituality with its emphasis on the biblically grounded mysticism of light. In Orthodox spirituality, it is often called the Uncreated Light or the light of Tabor, in which Christ was transfigured and the vision of his disciples was opened. Cazabonne has made a lifelong study of both strands of spirituality and their deep connection, but in this book she offers us food for meditation from Cistercian writers, eleven monks and three nuns, including Bernard of Clairvaux, Aelred of Rievaulx, Guerric of Igny, John of Forde, Gertrude of Helfta, and nine others. As she says, all of these texts "aim at nourishing the love of light, the light of the world to come, the light who is our God, the God who shines in our hearts, the divine light which has attracted our Cistercian Mothers and Fathers as many other spiritual men and women." This small book is for anyone who has felt drawn to paying deeper attention to the nuances of that light.

[Benjamin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Difficult to connect to, though the concept was fantastic for the dark season of winter. The readings for each day felt too dense, too abstract for my simple self. There are some who would connect to that abstraction well and they would love this book of daily readings. I wanted to like the readings, wanted to connect to the depth of what they said, but my winter mind was far gone.