The Lord As Their Portion: The Story of the Religious Orders and How They Shaped Our World

From their monastic prehistory in the Egyptian desert, through their political heyday in Medieval and Renaissance Europe, to their present-day work of education, human care, and the pursuit of social betterment, the Catholic religious orders have been a driving force in Western civilization.

In The Lord as Their Portion Elizabeth Rapley paints a broad portrait of the Roman Catholic religious orders spanning their vast and varied history.

Rapley shows how religious orders led the way in learning and inventiveness throughout the early periods of Western civilization, explores how religious orders contributed to Western politics and the global spread of Christianity; examines the ways in which religious orders have championed the poor, marginalized, and disenfranchised throughout history; and, lastly gives attention the ongoing work of religious orders today.

More than simply highlighting the sweeping progress of monasticism's past and present, however, Rapley also takes time to share, in a clear and engaging fashion, the fascinating stories of many of the men and women who chose to take "the Lord as their portion" - and whose piety, devotion, and energetic pursuit of a holy life profoundly shaped the course of world and ecclesiastical history.