Description
A Man of Blessing: A Life of Saint Benedict
Paperback
180 Pages
Benedict left behind a life of privilege to live in a cave and learn how to be silent. There, he also learned how to walk the way of truth and be God’s friend. Set against the bloody backdrop that was Italy in the mid-first-millennium, Benedict’s life charts a course far different from the violent struggles of his day. In a time of war and want, this monk and abbot aimed to establish and nurture community, cultivate the wilderness, and feed the poor.
He also left us his famous Rule, seventy-three short chapters that are the foundation for Western monasticism and remain a spiritual classic. Man of Blessing answers these questions:
- What is in St. Benedict’s Rule? (A brief chapter-by-chapter summary of the rule of St. Benedict is presented.)
• Why did Pope Benedict XVI choose the name “Benedict”?
• What other popes have taken the name, Benedict?
• What were the important events in the life of St. Benedict?
• What are St. Benedict’s lasting legacies?
“The difference with Butcher’s book…is the exploration of Benedict’s unusual life; his relationship with his twin sister, Scholastica; and the illumination of the saint’s miracles. The book’s readability will make it easy for patrons to escape into late Roman Culture and find peace in monastic simplicity.”
—Library Journal starred review
“This remarkable book is a delightful blend of legend and solid history.” —Sr. Lenora Black OSB
Carmen Acevedo Butcher has spent the last twenty years studying and teaching medieval Christianity. She earned her Ph.D. in medieval studies and teaches at Shorter College. She is also the author of Hildegard of Bingen: A Spiritual Reader.
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