Making a Heart for God: A Week Inside a Catholic Monastery

I really enjoyed reading this book. Of course, as a couple of the other comments pointed out, this book is not an in-depth presentation of life in a trappist monastery. But it is not pretending to be such a thing. This book gives a nice taste of life in the monastery for a monk and for a retreatant. You get just enough of the taste of the history of this monastery to whet your appetite for more.If you're interested in more, the author has a large, photo-illustrated history of Gethsemani. There are other books on trappist monasteries as well. If you've ever been to Gethsemani and had the pleasure to hear Fr. Matthew's evening talks, you'll want to look for some of the books of his writings. Matthew Kelty is his name.Also, I have read another book in this same series (A Week Inside) on a Buddhist Monastery. Very very interesting. As with Making a Heart for God, it gives you enough of a taste of Buddhism, the monastery itself and a retreat inside the monastery to whet your appetite for more.I hope to find more books in this series.

I don't know that this would be a very good description for"Making a Heart for God." I see it more as a glimpse at whatlife is like at the Abbey of Gethsemani. It is bits and piecesof what the author has seen and heard while on retreat. It issomething to give the reader just a taste of what the life mustbe like for the monks. As such, it told me quite a bit. If Iwould want more, I would most likely look for something writtenby a monk who lives in such an abbey. That would be more likelyto have the details about day to day life.

Making a Heart for God by Dianne Aprile surprised me, delighted me. I was expecting an in-depth day-by-day look at a monk's week, the perspective being from a lay person (albeit a person with much experience at the Abbey of Gethsemane) looking in on a religious person's life. And that is what I got but, oh, so much more! "A Week Inside" includes a look at the retreatants at the Abbey as well, as their days intertwine with the schedule of prayer and work that is the mainstay of Cistercian life. From her arrival to her departure, I felt as if I was following Aprile around the monastery, talking to monks and retreatants, praying the liturgical hours, keeping silence at the appropriate times, learning more and more about Benedictine spirituality. Her focus on a few brothers in particular was heart-warming, and showed the stuff of which they are made - flesh and blood, heart and soul - like the rest of us. I was as reluctant to finish the book as she was to leave the Abbey! Note: Aprile includes the daily schedule of Gethsemane as well as a lenghty list of monasteries and abbeys that welcome retreatants.