“There was a man of venerable life, Benedict by name and grace, who from the time of his very childhood carried the heart of an old man. His demeanour indeed surpassing his age, he gave himself no disport or pleasure, but living here upon earth he despised the world with all the glory thereof, at such time as he might have most freely enjoyed it. He was born in the province of Nursia of honourable parentage and sent to Rome to study the liberal sciences. But when he saw there many through the uneven paths of vice run headlong to their own ruin, he drew back his foot, but new-set in the world, lest, in the search of human knowledge, he might also fall into the same dangerous precipice. Contemning therefore learning and studies and abandoning his father’s house and goods, he desired only to please God in a virtuous life. Therefore he departed skillfully ignorant and wisely unlearned.”
– St. Gregory the Great
Statue of St. Benedict in the Cloister at Clear Creek
On July 11 we celebrate the Feast of our Blessed Father Saint Benedict here at Clear Creek, and we would like to share with you some recommended books on the life, the rule and the spirituality of the great Patriarch of Western Monasticism.
