The monastic experience demystified—an essential guide to what it’s like to spend a week inside a Catholic monastery.

A life of quiet, work and prayer, monasticism has been a part of the Christian spiritual tradition for over 1,700 years, and it remains very much alive today. This book offers you a personal encounter with daily life inside the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani, Kentucky, as you might encounter it on a one-week retreat. Including a detailed guide to the monastic places in North America that receive visitors, as well as a detailed glossary, Making a Heart for God is an excellent introduction for anyone interested in learning about monastic spirituality—and it is also the perfect preparation for your first retreat experience.

Whether you’re simply curious about what’s behind the mystery, or interested in experiencing it firsthand, this is the ideal handbook.

Also included are a helpful glossary of terms and a listing of monasteries throughout North America that receive visitors.

"A true personal encounter brings us not only knowledge of another, fellowship with another, but also a deeper comprehension of our own inner self."

—Thomas Merton

"Reading Dianne Aprile’s account of a week at the Abbey of Gethsemani is almost like being there, with the added benefit of her sharp insights and observations."

—Marcia & Jack Kelly, authors of Sanctuaries: A Guide to Lodgings in Monasteries, Abbeys, and Retreats

"In our overstimulated society, Dianne Aprile’s glimpse into abbey life offers us a view of spiritual refreshment without rival."

—Rabbi Howard A. Addison, author of Show Me Your Way: The Complete Guide to Exploring Interfaith Spiritual Direction

"Dianne Aprile has breathed deeply the fresh, life-giving air of a remarkable place where God is more than a topic of casual disinterest."

—Timothy Jones, author of Nurturing a Child’s Soul and A Place for God: A Guide to Spiritual Retreats and Retreat Centers

Dianne Aprile is an award-winning journalist and one of the few women ever given access to the enclosure of a men’s Trappist monastery. This privilege was originally granted her for research on her book The Abbey of Gethsemani: Place of Peace and Paradox. She teaches creative non-fiction on the faculty of the Spalding University Master of Fine Arts in Writing program and has been a writer for the Louisville Courier-Journal for more than twenty years. She is the recipient of a Kentucky Arts Council fellowship and a writer’s grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women. She lives with her family in Louisville, Kentucky.