The Meditations with a Monastic Commentary

The Meditations, written over a period from 1125 to 1137, are a personal account of William of Saint-Thierry’s ascent into Trinitarian intimacy. Writing to the monks of Mont Dieu sometime around 1144, he proposed the Meditations as helpful in forming minds in prayer. These Meditations, with their accompanying commentary, are now presented as helpful in forming an intimate relationship with the triune God.

William of Saint-Thierry (ca. 1080–1148) was a Benedictine abbot of the Abbey of Saint-Thierry and a close friend of Bernard of Clairvaux. Because of this friendship, toward the end of his life he became a Cistercian monk at Signy l’Abbaye in the Ardenne forest. Twenty-one of his writings extant today establish his enduring legacy as a distinguished theologian of Trinitarian doctrine, Christology, and contemplative prayer.

Thomas X. Davis, OCSO, has translated two works of William—The Mirror of Faith (1979) and The Nature and Dignity of Love (1981)—and published several articles on William and monastic subjects. He is the abbot emeritus of the Trappist-Cistercian Abbey of New Clairvaux.