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Ann W. Astell is professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame. The author of six books on medieval literature and spirituality, she has published recently on Aelred of Rievaulx in Cistercian Studies Quarterly. She and Joseph Wawrykow directed the Catena Scholarium in its translation and annotation of the five sermons in the Lincoln Collection included in this volume. Elias Dietz has been a monk of the Abbey of Gethsemani since 1988. He has published studies on early Cistercian authors in various journals, including Cistercian Studies Quarterly,of which he was editor from 2003 to 2007. Since 2008 he has served as abbot of his community. With regard to Isaac of Stella, his main contributions have been a study of his biography (CSQ, 2006) and an edition and translation of his Letter on the Canon of the Mass (Cîteaux, 2014). He is currently collaborating with Sources Chrétiennes on a volume of Isaac’s letters.
Like many great spiritual writers, Bernard of Clairvaux had a number of works pseudonymously ascribed to him after his death. In Bernard's case the total is said to be as high as 177. In modern times we rightly value authentic works over pseudonymous ones, but this should not lead us to neglect the `pseudo-Bernard, ' who has much to tell us about the saint's fame and the subsequent history of his ideas. This valuable translation provides readable and well-annotated versions of three pseudo-Bernardine meditative texts particularly useful for the religious formation of monks. It is a welcome addition to our knowledge of Bernard's afterlife and the history of the medieval monasticism. Bernard McGinn, Divinity School, University of Chicago Why should we know about texts once wrongly attributed to St. Bernard? The fact that some of them were extremely popular, while others were not or were in vogue only regionally suggests that readers looked beyond the name Bernard to the contents of the manuscripts. Lovingly translated and beautifully annotated, these works offer new and valuable glimpses into twelfth- and thirteenth-century religious mentalities. Barbara H. Rosenwein, Professor Emerita, Loyola University Chicago
