Cistercian Monasdcism in the Silver Age: Two Texts on Practical Advice^ MARK DELCOGLIANO INTRODUCTION AMONG THE PSEUDO-BERNARDiNE Writings—texts once attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux but now restored to their rightful authors or rel- egated to anonymous authorship—are several short works that offer practical guidance for the spiritual life.^ Such works were written to help translate the principles of the monastic life into concrete practices.^ Two of these short pseudo-Bernardine works are Speculum monachorum and Octo puncta perfectionis assequendae {Mirror for Monks and Eight Points 1. Thanks to John Penniman, for his research assistance, and to Dr- Mirko Breitenstein, for graciously sending me a pre-publication version of his "Consulo tibi speculum monachorum. Ge- schichte und Rezeption eines pseudo-bernhardinischen Tracktates (mit vorläufiger Edition), RMab 20 (2009): 113-49.1 also thank two anonymous CSQ reviewers whose comments helped me improve this study. 2. On the pseudo-Bernardine writings in general, see F. Cavallera, "Bernard (Apocryphes at- tribués à saint)," DSpir 1.1499-1502. 3. On such literature, see Jean Leclercq, "Textes sur la vocation et formation des jeunes moines au moyen âge," Corona gratiarum. Miscellanea patristica, histórica, et litúrgica Eligió Dekkers O.S.B. XII lustra complenti oblata (Brugge: Sint Pietersabdej, 1975) 2:169-98; Caroline Walker Bynum, 'Do- cere verbo et exemplo'. An Aspect of Twelflh-Century Spirituality (Missoula: Scholars Press, 1979) 10-14 and 99-106, and Jesus as Mother. Studies in the Spirituality of the High Middle Ages (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982) 267-68.; P. Riche, "Sources pédagogiques et traités d'éducation," Les entrées dans ¡a vie: initiations et apprentissages (Nancy [France] : Presses Universitaires de Nancy, 1982) 15-29; P. Riche, "Les traités pour la formation des novices XI'-XIII' siècle," Papauté, monach- isme et théories politiques (Lyon: Presses universitaires de Lyon, 1994) 1:371-77. Thanks to Breiten- stein, "Consulo tibi" 114, n. 4, for these references. Cistercian Studies Quarterly 45.4 {2010)