Benedicta Ward Explained

Sister Benedicta Ward
Honorific Suffix:	SLG
Birth Name:	Florence Margaret Ward
Birth Date:	4 February 1933
Birth Place:	Durham, England
Death Date:	23 May 2022 (aged 89)
Thesis Title:	Miracles and Miracle Collections, 1015–1215
Thesis Year:	1978
Doctoral Advisor:	R. W. Southern
Sub Discipline:	History of Christianity
Workplaces:	Harris Manchester College, Oxford

Benedicta Ward (born Florence Margaret Ward, 4 February 1933 – 23 May 2022^[1]) was a Church of England nun, theologian and historian. She was a member of the Anglican religious order, the Community of the Sisters of the Love of God and reader in early Christian spirituality at Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford.^{[2] [3]} She was particularly known for her research on the Desert Fathers, popularising the collection of their writings known as the Apophthegmata Patrum.^[4] She wrote extensively on Anselm of Canterbury and Bede.^[5]

Life

Florence Margaret Ward was born in Durham to Methodist parents; her father had left the Church of England to marry his Methodist wife and had become a minister in his new denomination.

She came to high church Anglicanism through the beauty of choral evensong. At the age of 22 she entered the Community of the Sisters of the Love of God, an enclosed community of Anglican contemplative nuns at Fairacres in East Oxford, as Sister Benedicta of Jesus.^[2]

Works

Ward wrote a number of books and articles, including translations of premodern texts. She was also a regular public speaker, including on the BBC series A History of the World in 100 Objects. A festschrift was published in her honour in 2014.^{[6] [7]}

Books

• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Penguin. 978-0-14-044278-6. The prayers and meditations of St. Anselm. Harmondsworth. Penguin classics. 1973.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Mowbray. 978-0-264-66124-7. The sayings of the Desert Fathers: the alphabetical collection. London. 1975.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. SLG Press. 978-0-7283-0034-7. The wisdom of the Desert Fathers: the Apophthegmata Patrum (the anonymous series). Oxford. Fairacres publications. 1975.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. SLG Press. 978-0-7283-0061-3. The Influence of Saint Bernard: Anglican essays. Oxford. 1976.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. SLG Press. 978-0-7283-0067-5. Anselm of Canterbury, a monastic scholar: an expanded version of a paper given to the Anselm Society, St. Augustine's College, Canterbury, in May 1973. Oxford. Fairacres publications. 1977.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. SLG Press. 978-0-7283-0028-6. Liturgy today: the Divine office and the eucharist. Oxford. Fairacres publications. 1978.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. 2. Scolar Press. 978-0-85967-731-8. Miracles and the medieval mind: theory, record and event, 1000–1215. Aldershot, Hampshire. 1987. [Revised version of her thesis: {{Cite document| publisher = University of Oxford| last = Ward| first = Benedicta| title = Miracles and miracle collections, 1015-1215| date = 1978}}]
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Mowbray. 978-0-264-67152-9. Harlots of the desert: a study of repentance in early monastic sources. London. 1987.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Darton, Longman and Todd. 978-0-232-51769-9. The desert of the heart: Daily readings with the Desert Fathers. London. 1988.
• Book: SLG Press. 978-0-7283-0122-1. Leech . Kenneth . Ward . Sr Benedicta SLG. Julian Reconsidered. Oxford. Fairacres publications. 1978.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Templegate. 978-0-87243-185-0. Daily readings with the desert fathers. Springfield, IL. 1990.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Chapman. 978-0-225-66574-1. The venerable Bede. London. Outstanding Christian thinkers. 1990.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Bealls. 1991. Bede and the psalter. Jarrow on Tyne. Jarrow lecture. 1991.
• Book: Hambledon Press. 978-1-85285-069-2. Lesley Smith, Benedicta Ward (eds.). Intellectual life in the Middle Ages: essays presented to Margaret Gibson. London. 1992.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Variorum. 978-0-86078-316-9. Signs and wonders: saints, miracles, and prayer from the 4th century to the 14th. Aldershot, Hampshire. Collected studies. 1992.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Mowbray. 978-0-264-67446-9. High king of heaven: aspects of early English spirituality. London. 1999.
• Book: SPCK. 978-0-281-05226-4. Ralph Waller, Benedicta Ward (eds.). An introduction to Christian spirituality. London. 1999.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. SLG Press. 978-0-7283-0159-7. Bede and the Psalter. Oxford. Fairacres publications. 2002.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. SLG Press. 978-0-7283-0155-9. Pilgrimage of the heart. Oxford. Fairacres publications. 2001.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Farmington Institute for Christian Studies. The English mystics revisited. Oxford. 2002.
• Book: SPCK. 978-0-281-05496-1. Benedicta Ward, Ralph Waller (eds.). Joy of heaven: springs of Christian spirituality. London. 2003.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Penguin Books. 978-0-14-044731-6. The Desert Fathers: sayings of the early Christian monks. London. 2003. [Systematic or thematically arranged collection of sayings from the Desert Fathers]
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Farmington Institute for Christian Studies. Bede, teacher of the English. Oxford. 2004.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. SLG Press. 978-0-7283-0170-2. A True Easter: The Synod of Whitby 664 AD. Oxford. Fairacres publications. 2007.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. 2. Cistercian Publications. 978-0-87907-213-1. Christ within me: prayers and meditations from the Anglo-Saxon tradition. Kalamazoo, MI. 2008.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. SPCK. 978-0-281-06104-4. Anselm of Canterbury: his life and legacy. London. 2009.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. SLG Press. 978-0-7283-0202-0. The Our Father. Oxford. Fairacres publications. 2012.
• Book: Bloomsbury. 978-1-4411-2354-1. Williams. Rowan. Ward. Benedicta. Bede's ecclesiastical history of the English people: an introduction and selection. London. 2012.
• Book: Cistercian Publications. 978-0-87907-172-1. Ward. Benedicta. Savage. Paul. Elder. E. Rozanne. The great beginning of Cîteaux: a narrative of the beginning of the Cistercian order: the Exordium magnum of Conrad of Eberbach. Trappist, KY. Cistercian fathers series. 2012.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. SLG Press. 978-0-7283-0283-9. Monastic hours of prayer. Oxford. Fairacres publications. 2016.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. SLG Press. 978-0-7283-0293-8. In Company with Christ. Oxford. Fairacres publications. 2016.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Paraclete Press. 978-1-64060-097-3. Give love and receive the Kingdom. Brewster, MA. 2018.

Articles

• 2. 4. 25–29. Ward. Benedicta. The Wounds of Christ: Reflections on this Devotion in the Middle Ages and in the Methodist Revival. Fairacres Chronicle. 1970.
• 7. 154–159. Ward. Benedicta. Enthusiasm in the "Exordium magnum cisterciense". Cistercian Studies. 1972.
• 35. 149–151. Ward. Benedicta. La conférence internationale d'études sur S. Pierre Damien du 2 au 7 octobre 1972. Collectanea Cisterciensia. 1973.
• 35. 58–63. Ward. Benedicta. L'enthousiasme religieux dans le Grand Exorde cistercien. "Exordium Magnum Cisterciense", de Conrad, moine d'Eberbach. Collectanea Cisterciensia. 1973.
• 8. 72–81. Ward. Benedicta. The place of St Anselm in the development of Christian prayer. Cistercian Studies. 1973.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Cistercian Publications. 978-0-87907-823-2. 187–195. Bernard of Clairvaux: studies presented to Dom Jean Leclercq. St Bernard and the Anglican Divines: Reflections on Mark Frank's Sermon for the Circumcision. Washington, DC. Cistercian studies. 1973. https://archive.org/details/bernardofclairva0000unse/page/187.
• 9. 366–375. Ward. Benedicta. Charismatic prayer and monastic liturgy. Cistercian Studies. 1974.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. SLG Press. 978-0-7283-0022-4. 26–31. Julian of Norwich: four studies to commemorate the sixth centenary of the revelations of divine love.. 'Faith Seeking Understanding': Anselm of Canterbury and Julian of Norwich. Oxford. 1976.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. SPCK. 978-0-281-02949-5. 70–76. Gerald Bonner. Famulus Christi: essays in commemoration of the thirteenth centenary of the birth of the Venerable Bede. Miracles and history: a reconsideration of the miracle stories used by Bede. London. 1976.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Cistercian Publications. 978-0-87907-829-4. 183–199. M. Basil Pennington. One yet two: monastic tradition, East and West: Orthodox-Cistercian Symposium, Oxford University, 26 August–1 September, 1973. The desert myth: reflections on the desert ideal in early Cistercian monasticism. Kalamazoo, Mich. Cistercian studies. 1976. https://archive.org/details/oneyettwomonasti0000orth/page/183.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. SLG Press. 978-0-7283-0072-9. 54–63. A. M. Allchin . Solitude and communion: papers on the hermit life given at St David's, Wales in the autumn of 1975. The relationship between hermits and communities in the west with special reference to the twelfth century. Oxford. Fairacres publication. 1977.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Cistercian Publications. 978-0-87907-867-6. 1–14. E. Rozanne Elder. Benedictus, studies in honor of St Benedict of Nursia. The miracles of Saint Benedict. Kalamazoo, Mich. Cistercian studies. 1981.
• 18. 539–542. Ward. Benedicta. 'Signs and Wonders': Miracles in the Desert Tradition. Studia Patristica. 1982.
• 1. 177–184. Ward. Benedicta. 'Inward feeling and deep thinking': The Prayers and Meditations of St Anselm Revisited. Anselm Studies. 1983.
• 24. 1. 61–70. Ward. Benedicta. Traditions of Spiritual Guidance: Spiritual direction in the Desert Fathers. The Way. 24. 1984.
• 17. 1. 7–13. Ward. Benedicta. Laudabiliter vixit: The Death of the Saints in Some 12th-Century Sources. Fairacres Chronicle. 1984.
• 16. 63–66. Ward. Benedicta. Apophthegmata Matrum. Studia Patristica. 1985.
• 5. 1. 14–21. Ward. Benedicta. The desert of the heart: Importance of the desert fathers today. Holy Land. 1985.
• 16. 39–49. Ward. Benedicta. The image of the prostitute in the Middle Ages. Monastic Studies. 1985.
• 21. 1. 13–25. Ward. Benedicta. A Converting Ordinance: Some reflections on the hymns of Charles Wesley in the light of medieval biblical commentary. Fairacres Chronicle. 1985.
• 7. 34–46. Ward. Benedicta. Bede and the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons. Word and Spirit. 1985.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-504169-9. 277–280. Cheslyn Jones. Geoffrey Wainwright. Edward Yarnold . The Study of spirituality. Gregory the Great. New York. 1986.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-504169-9. 280–282. Cheslyn Jones. Geoffrey Wainwright. Edward Yarnold. The Study of spirituality. Anselm of Canterbury. New York. 1986.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-504169-9. 283–291. Cheslyn Jones. Geoffrey Wainwright. Edward Yarnold. The Study of spirituality. The new orders. New York. 1986.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Darton, Longman, and Todd. 978-0-915138-82-1. 214–225. Geoffrey Rowell. Tradition renewed: the Oxford Movement Conference papers. A Tractarian inheritance: the religious life in a patristic perspective. London. 1986.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Penguin Books. 978-0-14-009226-4. 206–262. William Radice. Barbara Reynolds . The Translator's art: essays in honour of Betty Radice. Translator's charity. Harmondsworth, Middlesex. 1987.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Boydell Press. 978-0-85115-510-4. 65–76. Gerald Bonner. D. W. Rollason. Clare Stancliffe . St. Cuthbert, his cult and his community to AD 1200. The spirituality of St. Cuthbert. Woodbridge, Suffolk. 1989.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. 196–205. Christian spirituality 1. The religious world of the twelfth century, II: Anselm of Canterbury and his influence. 1989.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Marshall Pickering. 978-0-551-02039-9. 103–118. Janet Martin Soskice. After Eve: Women, theology, and the Christian tradition. Saints and Sybils: Hildegard of Bingen to Teresa of Avila. London. 1990.
• 13. 41–53. Ward. Benedicta. Theodore of Tarsus: a Greek archbishop of Canterbury. Sobornost. 1991.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Hambledon Press. 978-1-85285-069-2. Lesley Smith, Benedicta Ward (eds.). Intellectual life in the Middle Ages: essays presented to Margaret Gibson. London. 1992. 175–184. Two letters relating to relics of St. Thomas of Canterbury.
• Supplement 64. 10–18. Ward. Benedicta. Discernment: a rare bird. The Way. 1992.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Ikon. 978-1-871805-01-7. 47–63. Geoffrey Rowell. The English religious tradition and the genius of Anglicanism. Lady Julian and her audience: "mine even-Christian". Wantage. 1992.
• 25. 189–193. Ward. Benedicta. 'In medium duorum animalium': Bede and Jerome on the Canticle of Habakkuk. Studia Patristica. 1993.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Brewer. 978-0-85991-420-8. 105–111. Lesley Smith. Jane H. M. Taylor. Women, the book, and the godly: selected proceedings of the St. Hilda's conference, 1993. "To my dearest sister": Bede and the educated woman. Woodbridge, Suffolk. 1995. https://archive.org/details/womenbookgodlyse0000unse/page/105.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Darton, Longman and Todd. 978-0-232-52176-4. 3–10, 278. Henry Wansbrough. Anthony Marett-Crosby. Benedictines in Oxford. St Frideswide of Oxford. London. 1997.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. University of Notre Dame Press. 978-0-268-01217-5. 127–137. John C. Cavadini . Miracles in Jewish and Christian antiquity: imagining truth. Monks and miracle. Notre Dame, IN. Notre Dame studies in theology. 1999.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Eerdmans. 978-0-8028-2442-4. 110–146. Adrian Hastings. A world history of Christianity. The medieval West. Grand Rapids, MI. 1999.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Cassell. 978-0-225-66840-7. 77–91. G. R. Evans . A history of pastoral care. Pastoral care and the monks: 'Whose feet do you wash?'. London. 2000.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. 57–64. The medieval theologians. Bede the theologian. 2001.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Jaca. 978-88-16-40624-7. 135–156. Inos Biffi. Costante Marabelli. Stefano Maria Malaspina. Ermanno Bencivenga . Anselmo d'Aosta, educatore europeo: convegno di studi, Saint-Vincent, 7-8 maggio 2002. Anselmo di Canterbury: maestro di preghiera. Milan. Biblioteca di cultura medievale. 2003.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Ferdinand Schöningh. 978-3-506-70423-8. 533–542. Johannes Arnold. Rainer Berndt. Ralf M. W. Stammberger. Väter der Kirche: ekklesiales Denken von den Anfängen bis in die Neuzeit: Festgabe für Hermann Josef Sieben, SJ, zum 70. Geburtstag. Beda Venerabilis: "Doctor Anglorum". Paderborn. 2004.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Brill. 978-90-04-17122-0. 243–254. Roy Hammerling . A history of prayer: the first to the fifteenth century. The prayers and meditations of St. Anselm of Canterbury. Leiden. Brill's companions to the Christian tradition. 2008. 10.1163/ej.9789004171220.i-460.68.
• 10.1080/1474225X.2010.506763. 1474-225X. 10. 4. 274–286. Ward. Benedicta. Relics and the medieval mind. International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church. 2010. 170413618.
• Book: Ward, Benedicta. Cambridge University Press. 978-0-511-97639-1. 149–164. Graham H. Twelftree. The Cambridge Companion to Miracles. Miracles in the Middle Ages. Cambridge. 2011. 10.1017/CCOL9780521899864.009.

References

1. Web site: Benedicta Ward SLG (1933-2022) . 2022-05-25 . www.hmc.ox.ac.uk . en.
2. News: Sister Benedicta Ward, medievalist and Anglican nun who explored early Christian spirituality – obituary . The Telegraph . 2 June 2022 . Obituaries . Telegraph .
3. Book: Mattos, Dominic. T&T Clark. 978-0-567-08295-4. 329–334. Santha Bhattacharji. Dominic Mattos. Rowan Williams. Prayer and thought in monastic tradition: essays in honour of Benedicta Ward SLG. Benedicta Ward, SLG, in a few words: nun, scholar, teacher. Edinburgh. 2014. 10.5040/9780567659620.ch-022. http://tandtclark.typepad.com/files/chapter-22-1.pdf.
4. Book: SPCK. 978-0-28107-936-0. Liz Hoare. Twelve Great Spiritual Writers. London. 2020.
5. Book: Stoudt, Debra L.. University of Wisconsin Press. 978-0-299-20750-2. 945–954. Jane Chance. Women medievalists and the academy. Benedicta Ward, S.L.G. (1933–): The love of learning and the love of God. Madison, WI. 2005.
6. Book: T&T Clark. 978-0-567-08295-4. Santha Bhattacharji, Dominic Mattos, Rowan Williams (eds.). Prayer and thought in monastic tradition: essays in honour of Benedicta Ward SLG. Edinburgh. 2014. 10.5040/9780567659620.
7. Web site: Launch of Prayer and Thought in Monastic Tradition: Essays in Honour of Sr Benedicta Ward SLG. 2014-03-19. The T&T Clark Blog: Theology and Biblical Studies. 9 January 2018.