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This luminous, revelatory novel by a cloistered monk traces a young man's search for wisdom among the inhabitants of a Cistercian monastery of strict observance. In 1973, Paul Seneschal, a shy nineteen-year-old from rural Manitoba, takes flight from the world behind the wrought iron gates of St. Norbert Abbey. Here he is immersed in an austere, centuries-old culture where silence and prayer are governing forces. Forty monks grow their own food, wake at three in the morning to pray, and converse largely through a spare but expressive vocabulary of hand signals. As Brother Antoine, Paul strives for wisdom and holiness, learning poverty, chastity, and obedience. But life within the cloister can't block out all of humanity's foibles. One monk lapses into pyromania; another, a French Canadian, attacks any English speaker who gets too close; still another looks like "a bald Martha Ray." Amid a daily routine that meshes worship with hard work, Brother Antoine's preconceived ideas of holiness fade as he finds himself progressing along a crooked road to enlightenment. He comes to realize that the most mundane occurrences reveal the divine at least as often as they conceal it. In simple, beautiful prose full of striking imagery, ALL WE KNOW OF HEAVEN brings a rarefied realm where human folly nestles cheek by jowl with the divine brilliantly to life.… (more)
User reviews
Considering this is a book about monks, the emphasis on religion, faith, and beliefs is soft-pedaled. Instead we get a very personal look at how it is for a young man looking for his place in the world and wondering when, how and if he will ever achieve any sort of 'holiness.' We see him fighting the temptations of the flesh when he develops a physical crush on a handsome fellow monk (who subsequently leaves the order) and wonders if he is homosexual. We learn of the various jobs and duties he assumes within the community - housekeeping, working in the kitchen, the bakery, the cheese-making room. And with the cows in the order's dairy barn - a job he especially loved. And he finally takes over as the community's cook, another job he comes to love and takes pride in doing well. We go with him to meetings in the chapter room, where the Abbot gives news from the outside world. He experiences debilitating migraines for a time, until an old monk dispenses what may be a miraculous cure. He observes a pyromaniac priest who nearly burns down the barn. In one chapter, the monastery grounds are blocked off and taken over by a squad of Royal Canadian MP's hunting for an armed robber. In another, Brother Antoine becomes the liaison for a visiting group of Tibetan Buddhist monks, and wonders why his own brothers weren't more like the Buddhists, reflecting -
"They did not sit still for a moment, fussing and passing gas in choir during the most sacred moments of the liturgy."
(Yes, there is plenty in this 'holy' book to chuckle about.)
Over a period of several years, Antoine watches his community shrink as older priests and brothers begin to die off and few to replace them, causing him to reflect on a much-read Psalm -
"A short span you have made my days, O God, and my life is as naught before you. Only a breath is any human existence. You dissolve like a cobweb all that is dear to him."
Yes, indeed. Life is short. Something Antoine comes to know well. Because there are also plenty of serious matters upon which to reflect here. Remy Rougeau has given us an intimate look inside a religious life, and yet he does not attempt to rub our faces in religious doctrine or beliefs. Instead he gives us a very good story about what it is to be a human being, trying to find one's place in the world. Well done, Brother. Very highly recommended.
- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER