This moving study grew out of Fr. Stead"s conviction that the Rule of Saint Benedict-an ancient collection of instructions on the attitudes behaviors and observances that constitute a truly spiritual life-is relevant to the realities of the late twentieth-century. Fr. Stead creates a depth portrait of Benedict weaving passages of Gregory the Great"s and of the Rule with his own commentary. The result is a work that sheds light on how to live the gospel without being called to the priesthood or religious life.