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The Life of St. Benedict
The famous, classic life of St. Benedict, filled with miracles, holy stories and inspiring idealism. Delightful reading for all ages. Describes much of what is known about St. Benedict, including the founding of the Benedictine order.
82 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 590
About the author
Pope Gregory I
270 books45 followersPope Gregory I, commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great (born in 540), became Pope in 590 and was a vigilant guardian of the Church’s doctrine. He was the founder of numerous monasteries including a school for the training of church musicians. He collected the melodies and plain chant so associated with him that they are now known as Gregorian Chants. In his lifetime, he was a Monk, an abbot, a leader of Italy. Also, a momentous influence on the Catholic Church through doctrine, organization and discipline. Gregory of Tours tells us that in grammar, rhetoric and dialectic he was so skillful as to be thought second to none in all Rome. Gregory became a patron saint of England for sending St. Augustine of Canterbury on missions there. One of Gregory's greatest accomplishments were his writings Dialogues, a book on the Lives of the Saints. He was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Boniface VIII in 1295.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
April 26, 2024
We need to return as society to biographies being written like this. Don’t spend time on tiny details, motives, and relationships. Instead the tone should be like this, just a guy (traditionally Pope Gregory the Great) telling stories about a famous person. Who cares if the exact details are correct? Lots of good little and often fun stories here instead. It’s more entertaining, and still gives a great picture into the kind of life St Benedict led. Highly recommend audiobook format for this one
June 1, 2021
Easy-to-read and short, this booklet was an enjoyable look into the life of an incredible saint.
May 16, 2015
Concise little biography of St. Benedict that is perfect for those who want to learn what this saint was about. I would have liked for it to go into more detail about the Benedictine Rule, as this saint is known for setting up numerous monasteries and establishing the traditions for Christian monastic life.
June 20, 2023
Aufgrund meines Studiums musste ich schon einige Viten lesen (vor allem die Vita Antonii von Athanasius und die Vita Brunonis), das ist mit Abstand die beste Vita, die ich je lesen durfte.
Sie ist zwar relativ schlicht gehalten und wird immer wieder durch Dialoge zwischen Petrus und Gregor unterbrochen, aber das ist genau der Grund, weshalb es für den Leser interessant bleibt und noch mehr von den "Wundern" Benedikts erfahren möchte. Trotz ihrer Schlichtheit ist sie dennoch sehr gut inszeniert: Mit Petrus wollte Gregor meiner Meinung nach die Leserschaft im 8. Jahrhundert darstellen, da Petrus immer wieder mit interessanten Fragen unterbricht; zudem sind die Wunder z. T. antithetisch aufgebaut und steigern sich immer weiter (siehe auch das Nachwort von Gisela Vollmann-Profe).
Wer Heiligenviten mag, wird diese Vita sicherlich auch mögen!
Nachtrag: Ich arbeite hauptberuflich als Historikerin mit Viten. Für den Laien ist es deswegen wichtig zu wissen, dass dies selbstverständlich nicht das Leben Benedikts von Nursia darstellt und dass Viten nur verfasst wurden, um andere Viten zu übertrumpfen und um Exempel zu statuieren.
Sie ist zwar relativ schlicht gehalten und wird immer wieder durch Dialoge zwischen Petrus und Gregor unterbrochen, aber das ist genau der Grund, weshalb es für den Leser interessant bleibt und noch mehr von den "Wundern" Benedikts erfahren möchte. Trotz ihrer Schlichtheit ist sie dennoch sehr gut inszeniert: Mit Petrus wollte Gregor meiner Meinung nach die Leserschaft im 8. Jahrhundert darstellen, da Petrus immer wieder mit interessanten Fragen unterbricht; zudem sind die Wunder z. T. antithetisch aufgebaut und steigern sich immer weiter (siehe auch das Nachwort von Gisela Vollmann-Profe).
Wer Heiligenviten mag, wird diese Vita sicherlich auch mögen!
Nachtrag: Ich arbeite hauptberuflich als Historikerin mit Viten. Für den Laien ist es deswegen wichtig zu wissen, dass dies selbstverständlich nicht das Leben Benedikts von Nursia darstellt und dass Viten nur verfasst wurden, um andere Viten zu übertrumpfen und um Exempel zu statuieren.
July 26, 2021
Not necessarily a biography in chronological order of the events of St. Benedict’s life but more so many different stories of miracles performed through him by God.
This does not take away from the profound goodness this book brings to the soul of the reader including myself. I recommend to anyone looking to understand the holiness of St. Benedict.
Includes section of a vision of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich of Sts. Benedict & Scholastica’s lives, explanation of St. Benedict medal, and prayers related to St. Benedict.
This does not take away from the profound goodness this book brings to the soul of the reader including myself. I recommend to anyone looking to understand the holiness of St. Benedict.
Includes section of a vision of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich of Sts. Benedict & Scholastica’s lives, explanation of St. Benedict medal, and prayers related to St. Benedict.
July 26, 2024
His Life urges us to Devotion
Having visited his cave near Subiaco, and his monastery at Monte Cassino, I am nowamazed at his complete dedication to God and to those who sought his help. His life inspires us to imitation of his spiritual life. Unfortunately his monastery was bombed during the Second World War (but now rebuilt), yet in the earlier bombing devastation his statue was untouched. A good read.
Having visited his cave near Subiaco, and his monastery at Monte Cassino, I am nowamazed at his complete dedication to God and to those who sought his help. His life inspires us to imitation of his spiritual life. Unfortunately his monastery was bombed during the Second World War (but now rebuilt), yet in the earlier bombing devastation his statue was untouched. A good read.
January 26, 2019
With some amazement I read what Pope Gregory the Great thought was true enough to spread around. Miracles done by almost contemporary saints up to and including the raising of the dead apparently were part of the everyday belief.
May 27, 2017
This is by Gregory the Great, not Gregory of Nyssa.
June 4, 2017
Informative and compact. With a lot of history that other similar text lack.
January 17, 2018
Only three stars because of the writing style and readability, it’s five star content and subject matter.
November 13, 2018
Great introduction to St Benedict. Would be excellent for nighttime stories for children
September 18, 2019
One of my favorites.
January 29, 2020
This book help me to have a truly faith
March 12, 2023
Holy Storytelling
I came to the book expecting something less than a biography. That sense of biography, but not, from the reviews really ratcheted down my expectations.
I ended up thoroughly loving this short book. St. Gregory is a great holy storyteller in the very best sense of the term. Almost every February 10th, St Gregory’s account of St. Scholastica’s final days shows up in someone’s homily or preaching. It’s funny, it’s pious and it’s uplifting—and it’s included in this collection. His other writings have that same sense of filling the mind with holy sentiments without being overly heavy or technical. As it becomes less and less possible to seek innocent entertainment from the world, this tiny book grows more and more valuable as a tiny aid to the virtue of eutrapelia.
I came to the book expecting something less than a biography. That sense of biography, but not, from the reviews really ratcheted down my expectations.
I ended up thoroughly loving this short book. St. Gregory is a great holy storyteller in the very best sense of the term. Almost every February 10th, St Gregory’s account of St. Scholastica’s final days shows up in someone’s homily or preaching. It’s funny, it’s pious and it’s uplifting—and it’s included in this collection. His other writings have that same sense of filling the mind with holy sentiments without being overly heavy or technical. As it becomes less and less possible to seek innocent entertainment from the world, this tiny book grows more and more valuable as a tiny aid to the virtue of eutrapelia.
November 2, 2022
Really, it's a collection of occurrences and miracles. However, these are some of the greatest miracles i have ever read about. It's certainly worth a read.
January 26, 2012
My low rating of this text is about this particular edition. Not only is this an old text, written in "Old English" (I spent just as much time looking up terms like "durst" as I did trying to comprehend the truths of the text), it was riddled with typos. The content (on the life of St. Benedict) is really only valuable for historians, monastics, and oblates (like me).
April 5, 2012
This was a good introduction to St. Benedict. It is told somewhat as an interview of Pope Gregory. Basically short snippits of the miracles he was involved with along with some basics of his life. There is a time line of his life at the end.
Recommended for those interested in the life of St. Benedict.
Recommended for those interested in the life of St. Benedict.
January 22, 2019
I really enjoyed this. It was amazing to learn more about st Benedict especially by someone who was from around the same time. Not sure who Peter was but he kept asking St Gregory everything I was thinking which was very helpful and made the story even more personal and spiritual. I've always had a devotion to St Benedict and reading this has only made be more devoted
September 1, 2012
Very good introduction to St. Benedict from Gregory the Great. I was struck by the parallels between wonder workers of more recent days (Padre Pio, Monks on Mt. Athos, and Solanus Casey) and St. Benedict.
January 26, 2015
An interesting and outstanding writing by ST Gregory the Great about the life and miracles of St Benedict. Describing the many miracles he performed, St Gregory's fondness for this man is evident in this writing. Also described is the power of the medal of St Benedict and his prayers.
October 16, 2010
I am currently reading this in Latin for my Patristic Latin course and am really enjoying it!
July 24, 2020
A classic.
Read
August 16, 2024An enjoyable and informative read on the life of the Saint.
Read
August 31, 2015Just purchased as a reference copy. Keep in on the Kindle and so have it with me almost all the time. The basic work on monastacism.
December 5, 2019
82/100 (= 4.7/6) ≈ 4 Stars
August 28, 2024
Required reading for a class I took on Benedictine Spirituality. Historically significant hagiography.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews