Mirror for Monks

Name: Mirror for Monks
Author: Louis of Blois (Blosius)

Louis of Blois (1506–1566), known in Latin as Blosius, was a Flemish Benedictine abbot and spiritual writer. Educated as a page at the court of the future emperor Charles V, he entered Liessies Abbey at fourteen and became its abbot in 1530, declining an archbishopric to devote himself to reforming his monastery and writing. Our library holds his Mirror for Monks and other spiritual works in English translation.

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First published: 1550
Category: Devotional
Length: 19k words · about 1 hour
Chapters: 12

About this book

A devotional guide for monks by Louis of Blois, the Flemish Benedictine abbot known as Blosius, written in the sixteenth century. In short chapters he sets before religious readers a mirror for examining their lives: prayer, humility, patience, and the faithful keeping of their rule. Its plain counsel has also served lay readers seeking a more ordered devotion.

A Mirror for Monks. · Chapter I.
Chapter II. How We Ought to Bestow Our Time from Our First Rising to Matins in the Morning.
Chapter III. God Hath Two Sorts of Servants, and the Description of Both. 🔒
Chapter IV. That for Every Hour of the Day We Ought to Cleave to Some Settled Exercise, Lest Our Mind Grow Sluggish. 🔒
Chapter V. How Powerful and Efficacious the Remembrance of Christ’s Life and Passion Is. 🔒
Chapter VI. We Must Daily Call to Mind the Manifold Sins Which We Have Committed. 🔒
Chapter VII. Every One Ought to Consider His Own Ability, and to Proceed Accordingly. 🔒
Chapter VIII. A Very Good Means to Obtain Humility. 🔒
A Mirror for Monks. · Chapter IX. 🔒
Chapter X. Martha May Serve as a Mirror for Imperfect Religious Men; Mary for Such as Are Grown to Perfection. 🔒
Chapter XI. Perfect Mortification Is the Certain and Only Short Way to Perfection. 🔒
Chapter XII. A Monk or Nun, by Virtue of Their Profession, Is Bound to Tend to Perfection. 🔒