In writing this allegory to help explain the religious life to the boy oblates in his charge, Dom Bede drew upon the struggles he experienced during his conversion, as well as an experience from his Oxford years, when shipwrecked off the coast of Spain. Left clinging to the wreckage along with his fellow passengers for 17 hours, upon being rescued, he decided to consecrate his life to the service of God in thanksgiving.
The Voyage of the PAX, then, is a thrilling seafaring allegory portraying the journey of life, with its many threats to our souls, as a voyage of several young men,...