The Life of Jesus Christ - (Cistercian Studies) by Ludolph of Saxony (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

The Vita Christi of Ludolph of Saxony, fourteenth-century Carthusian, is the most comprehensive series of meditations on the life of Christ from the late Middle Ages. Ludolph assembles a wealth of commentary from the fathers of the church and the great medieval spiritual writers and weaves them into a seamless exposition of the Gospel.

This is the full English translation of this classic work and, while it will be of great interest to students of Christian spirituality, it is intended for ordinary believers seeking to enter more deeply into the meaning of the life of Christ. Ludolph divided his work into two parts; the present volume contains the second half of Part One.

Review Quotes

"The Life of Jesus Christ, Part One, volume 2, may have been written 700 years ago, yet it reads with as much relevance today as ever before. The reader will find Ludolph's purpose fulfilled as he or she is drawn into closer union with God."
Cistercian Studies Quarterly

"As a window into the fourteenth-century, a summary of earlier works on the gospels, and as an object of lectio divina, this is a fascinating set of books."
American Benedictine Review

"Milton Walsh has committed himself to a labor of love which is of great benefit to the scholarly world and also to the believing Christian."
The Downside Review


"This is a book for those of us who value deep and sustained reflection which inevitably leads us into silent prayer and adoration, having on the way reminded us of all that is involved in our calling to be followers of Christ. I have rarely found such powerful words to ponder and savor. Even only a paragraph or two always leads me to silence and prayer."
Gill Butterworth, CJN, Julian Meetings Magazine