Avant-propos - Studia Moralia

84 DENNIS J. BILLY
his readers to foster intimate friendships among themselves and
with Christ. One does not journey long into the treatise, however,
before discovering that the two kinds of relationships are intimately
related – and in a circular way. Spiritual friendships
lead those involved into an intimate relationship with Christ.
Christ, in turn, makes such relationships possible and orients
them from the very beginning toward himself. Spiritual friendships,
in other words, “…begin in Christ, continue in Christ, and
are perfected in Christ.” 51 They lie at the heart of Aelred’s spiritual
doctrine and have much to offer those who enter into a critical
yet constructive dialogue with their underlying literary and
theological premises. Only by examining these contexts, will the
reader discover the influence that Aelred’s own monastic background
had on the shaping of his teaching. Only then will he or
she be ready to begin to make appropriate adaptations of this
teaching to the present day.
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DENNIS J. BILLY, C.SS.R
The author is an Ordinary Professor at the Alphonsian Academy.
El Autor es profesor ordinario de en la Academia Alfonsiana.
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51 DSA 1:10 [CCCM 1:29171-73); SF 53].