291 PART TWO AN EMPIRICAL ACCOUNT: MONASTIC EXPERIENCES DOCUMENTED Chapter 3 describes what the practice of Eucharistic hospitality in Taizé and Bose looks like today, and how and why it has emerged in these particular contexts. After introducing the monasteries’ common context as New Monastic Communities (based on the analysis provided by Stefania Palmisano) (3.1), it employs literary review, ethnographic fieldwork, and the interview data to describe the respective histories and characteristics of Taizé (3.2) and Bose (3.3), with special attention to the evolution of their Eucharistic customs and their current practice of Eucharistic hospitality. Chapters 4-8 explore how the monastics inhabiting these communities articulate their experiences with Eucharistic hospitality and what theological rationale is embedded in it. Each chapter clusters a number of categories that resulted from the content analysis of the in-depth interviews conducted with six interviewees. Apart from the sections explicitly mentioned below, each chapter is concluded by an additional section summarizing and connecting the content of the chapter. Chapter 4 presents the motivation articulated by the interviewees for the monastic life, for ecumenical engagement, and for Eucharistic sharing. They indicate that their desire for a monastic common life has been the primary motivation for joining their respective community, not the ecumenical nature of that community, let alone the practice of Eucharistic sharing (4.1). However, active participation in this common life in an ecumenical context – lived ecumenism – sparked or invigorated their ecumenical interest (4.2). Their responses to the differences they encountered varied, ranging from discovery to recognition and alienation (4.3). Yet, despite the ambiguous feelings caused by these differences, they prioritize the unity they experience in their liturgical practice and monastic common life, considering past convergence and consensus sufficient to sustain them (4.4). Chapter 5 explores the relationship between common life and a common celebration of the Eucharist. On the one hand, sharing all aspects of life logically (at least for the monastics) results in a common Eucharist (5.1). On the other hand, the Eucharist and all that it embodies constitutes the very reason for engaging in a monastic common life to begin with (5.2). The monastics indicate that their way of life enables their ecumenical relations (both individual and communal) to grow organically, with ‘learning by doing’ being an important aspect (5.3). This is only possible through a deep sense of trust in God, their fellow monastics, the communities as a whole, and the sacraments
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