This work is an ideal introduction to the beautiful writings of St. Aelred, an English Cistercian and one of the great masters of the spiritual life.
This work is an ideal introduction to the beautiful writings of St. Aelred, an English Cistercian and one of the great masters of the spiritual life.
Written in the middle of the twelfth century, On Jesus at Twelve Years Old is an exposition of St. Luke's account of the finding of Our Lord in the Temple, showing how our model of life is to be found in Christ's life on earth. St. Aelred uses the classic "fourfold" interpretation of Scripture favoured by the Fathers and Medieval Doctors and recently endorsed by the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Firstly there is the literal exposition of the text, in which he fills in imaginatively the details which St. Luke does not record. Thus he asks, "Where did He lodge?", "Whose company did He enjoy?" And there is a delightful reconstruction of the journey to the holy city. Secondly, Aelred sees in the search of Mary and Joseph for their Child an allegory of the synagogue as it seeks for the Holy One of Israel, Who has taken up His abode in the church of the Gentiles. Next, Aelred sets out the spiritual meaning as applied to Christ's work of Redemption.
Finally, we come to the most important sense in which we are to understand the Gospel story: the life of Christ, from Bethlehem to Nazareth, and from Nazareth to Jerusalem, is treated as a figure of the soul's conversion and journey to God.
This is the second title in the Columba Series.
On Jesus at Twelve Years Old, by St. Aelred of Rievaulx (trans. G. Webb and A. Walker).
71 pages, paperback. ISBN 1 901157 51 2.
£3.95 ; $5.00 in the U.S.A.
Published by The Saint Austin Press.
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