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Hidden in every human heart is a “monk.” For men and women in the cloister and in the world, Augustine Roberts explores the inner meaning of the conversatio morum, conversion of life, that underlies Benedictine life. The first, Spanish, edition of this book drew heavily on novitiate notes by Thomas Merton; in this third, completely revised edition, the author takes into account two new factors—Vita Consecrata, Pope John Paul II’s 1996 Apostolic Exhortation, and the postmodern secularization which has deeply affected Christians. By clarifying various aspects of monastic living, Augustine Roberts explains how the signs of monastic living and commitments of monastic profession relate to the “evangelical counsels,” Jesus’s invitation to leave all things and follow him.
The son of missionaries to China, Augustine Roberts entered monastic life in 1953 in Massachusetts. Over the years he has served as Novice Master and Superior in Argentina, Superior in Belgium, and Procurator General at the Generalate in Rome. He is now Abbott of the Cistercian-Trappist community at Azul, Argentina.
