Sounds of Silence

The author was a cloistered contemplative monk for a total of twenty years in the most strict and austere Order of the Church, the Carthusian Order. He writes under the name Father Benedict out of continuing respect for Carthusian anonymity. In his first published book, he tells of his calling to the religious and monastic life, his training in a Spanish Carthusian monastery, and his being sent to the Carthusian monastery in Vermont soon after it opened. He was trained to live to the letter of the rule, and compares that training to what he actually lived as a fully trained monk. He was appointed to the offices of Novice Master and Vocation Director soon after his arrival in Vermont, and exercised several other positions of authority within the community. Unfortunate difficulties within that monastic community contributed to his eventual departure and ultimate severance of legal ties with the Carthusians. By a special determination of the pope, he was released from the obligations of his vows and the priesthood. Now married, he lives in Florida with his wife and Shih Tzu, Rudolph.