The Lord As Their Portion
Number of pages: 342
A guided tour through the vast history of Catholic religious orders and their influence on modern-day civilization.
In this book, Ottawa-based history professor Elizabeth Rapley gives a broad history of the full spectrum of religious orders and their influence on civilization. From their monastic prehistory in the Egyptian desert through their zenith in medieval and Renaissance Europe to their present-day work in education, health care and the pursuit of social justice, Catholic religious orders have been a driving force in Western civilization.
The author shows how religious orders were pioneering forces in health care and medicine, education, art, leadership, creative innovation and the global battle for social justice through the early periods of Western civilization. The book explores how religious orders contributed to Western politics and the global spread of Christianity. It examines the ways in which religious orders have championed the poor, marginalized and disenfranchised. Finally, it pays homage to the ongoing work of religious orders in the modern world.
Elizabeth Rapley is adjunct professor of history at the University of Ottawa. Her other books include The Dévotes: Women and Church in Seventeenth-Century France and A Social History of the Cloister: Daily Life in the Teaching Monasteries of the Old Regime.