Abbot's Shoes

Out of the organised chaos of a radio station newsroom and into the silence of an austere Trappist monastery. In The Abbot’s Shoes Peter recounts his journey and brings into our view the hidden day-to-day life within an enclosed contemplative community. Now almost 50 years later (after careers as a Catholic journalist, Presbyterian preacher, and Pentecostal revivalist) Peter writes about his “return” to this other world.

In the monastery we “stood, bowed and knelt in the ‘death zone’ of 3am … we prayed for everyone and anyone”. Now the house of prayer in which Peter “lives” is very small … “only a few feet square”. “My singing of the Psalms morning, noon and night is my occupation. I am dreaming of many tiny monasteries, ‘invisible’ in urban and rural wildernesses. In holy obscurity such will shape the sinews of history.”

The Abbot’s Shoes is a poignant expression of gratitude to Our Lady of the Southern Star Abbey. But it also contains hints and clues for younger people especially, who are drawn and haunted by the mysterious, ancient and perpetually renewed “allure into the desert”.

Radical and beautiful, witty and blinding, it’s a perfect kick in the arse for the “I want it now”, social media-driven times we live in. This book is the most inspiring and thought provoking I’ve read in a long while. — Miriam Clancy, Singer-songwriter, New York City, USA

A beautifully scripted work that deserves to stand with writers such as Thomas Merton and C.S. Lewis — David Williams, Chaplain, Sydney, Australia

About the author

Having worked as a newspaper and radio journalist, Peter Robertson embarked on a 35 year career in Christian ministry, involving parish, lecture hall and itinerant preaching. His ‘final quest’ is for a contemplative life in which prayer is work and work is prayer. Other books he has written include The Tribulation Church and A Great Sign. Peter lives in New Zealand with his wife and family.