"Your Hearts Will Rejoice"

The Vita Christi, a spiritual classic of the fourteenth century by the Carthusian Ludolph of Saxony, was an early and extremely comprehensive book of meditations on the events recorded in the gospels. A popular and influential book for centuries, it was instrumental in the conversion of Ignatius Loyola, and Teresa of Avila directed that every convent of her reform include “the Carthusian” in its library. This volume, which consists of excerpts from the full Vita Christi (forthcoming from Cistercian Publications), presents Ludolph’s meditations on the resurrection and the appearances of the risen Christ, concluding with Pentecost. Although shelves of books are dedicated to Christ’s passion, comparatively little spiritual reading for the Easter Season exists. This book is intended to help fill that lacuna and to introduce readers to this classic text.