Zena Hitz, A Philosopher Looks at the Religious Life

This short book is an excellent, substantial introduction to life in a religious order or a monastic setting. Refreshingly free of references to ideological camps or much recent theological writing, the author’s approach is personalistic and rigorously philosophical, yet written in an flowing style that avoids jargon. She regularly introduces examples from the lives of the saints, using quite a few “new” saints you won’t have heard of. Catherine Doherty, the founder of the Ontario community called Madonna House, also makes a fascinating appearance.  

Zena Hitz makes some unconventional points, noting that a life of service is not about changing the world, that affective love will probably not be a strong feature of healthy community life, and that one of the first things a novice should do is learn to die. Her style is, however, never saccharine or moralizing. 

The author got her master’s degree at Cambridge University and her doctorate at Princeton University and then embarked on a successful career as a philosophy professor, until she realized that it wasn’t enough. She converted to Catholicism. Then she spent several years in a religious community in Ontario. Though she never made solemn vows at Madonna House, Hitz writes of religious life with respect and admiration. This book is the second for a general audience, published three years after Lost in Thought: The Hidden Pleasures of an Intellectual Life. More information about A Philosopher Looks at the Religious Life here.