This is a timely biography of the original St. Benedict, patron saint of Europe, father of Western monasticism, and inspiration to our new pope. Towards the close of the fifth century, when young intellectual elites at the finest rhetoric schools in Rome were mastering the art of saying-the-expected-thing-in-the-right-way and squandering their free hours in self-indulgent partying and drunkenness, 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...

Meet the incomparable St. Hildegard: nourishing, challenging, and idea-bursting. This essential reader includes selections from her songs, theological texts, liturgical music, and letters and will stir and awaken your soul. Combined with an introduction to Hildegard s life and era, a map of Hildegard s Germany, chronology, and a thorough bibliography/discography, "Hildegard of Bingen" provides the ideal introduction to the thought of this fascinating medieval mystic and the newest Doctor of the Church."