Cristiana Piccardo was the long-time abbess of an unusual Cisterciancommunity in Italy. "We have always believed," she writes, "that themonastic charism can be a precious 'talent' offered to our contemporaryworld, and there are moments in history when what normallyremains hidden should come into the light." These words accuratelydescribe both the force behind the story of the Vitorchiano monasticfamily and the account of it given in Living Wisdom, her refl ection onthe meaning of that story. Over the course of four decades, theAbbey of Vitorchiano founded no fewer than six new monasteriesaround the world, from Argentina to Indonesia, and today thisvibrant oasis of prayer and Christian living still has some eightysisters of its own.Living Wisdom reveals the vitality of these communities andinitiates us in a most concrete way into a wisdom that seeks thekingdom of God ardently yet realistically, without ever bypassing theessential human foundations that the life in Christ transforms andelevates but never supplants: hard work, communal striving, friendshiphonesty in communication, a sense of humor, and, above all, lovethe willingness both to ask for forgiveness and to give it with joy.