The Monastic Theology of Aelred of Rievaulx

This book on St Aelred by Fr Amédée Hallier is set in the context of a renewal that is in reality a rediscovery. In the Church today there is a growing interest in the origins and in the early witnesses of Christianity, as a result of which we are becoming more and more aware that the doctrinal tradition stemming from these sources was preserved, developed and enriched by the representatives of what can justly be called medieval patristic theology. Many of these were monks, in particular those who lived in the twelfth century and came under the magnetic influence of St Bernard, “the last of the Fathers.” But before they wrote, indeed in order to be able to write, these men had lived and experienced what they taught. The work presented here puts us in touch with one such life in all its exuberant vitality.