Clothed in Language

“With Clothed in Language Pauline Matarasso has written a modern Wisdom book. If much of the biblical Wisdom literature teaches a person how to act, Matarasso offers numinous insights into how to be. Just as importantly, she pushes aside the iron curtain of the Enlightenment and modern Scientism, with their excessive emphasis on rationalism, in order to show us how to learn—or relearn—and use theological imagination. Many of her brief reflections remind me of the apophthegmata, the sayings of the early Christian monks, the abbas and ammas of the desert. Matarasso pushes beyond genre; Clothed in Language is part journal, part linguistic and spiritual autobiography. It is, thus, very fitting to have this volume as part of Cistercian Publications' Monastic Wisdom Series. This book will last. It is a good book for lectio—whether in refectory, office, school, or the quiet place Jesus tells us to go to when we pray.” Tim Vivian, Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies, California State University, Bakersfield