Seventy-Four Tools for Good Living

"Ancient monastic authors often stressed their wish to be of useto readers. Like them, Michael Casey has written a useful volume, a volume to live by. Drawing on a wealth of sources, and reading deeply in the book of experience, he shows what a vast perspective is indicated in the 'little Rule' of Benedict, what fullness of life is in store for those who follow it with courage and coherence." Eric Varden, OCSO Mount Saint Bernard Abbey

"Tolle lege (pick up this book) if you want a sustained conversation with a master teacher of the Rule of Benedict. I am shocked how superficially I habitually read chapter 4 of the Rule of Benedict. Those seventy-four tools are no longer a list but a loving invitation." Meg Funk, OSB Our Lady of Grace Monastery

"Michael Casey brings a deep lived knowledge of the monastic tradition to this splendid set of reflections on Benedict's Rule. He manages to marry faith commitment to pastoral common sense in such a manner that monks and laity as well can find answers to that request made to the old desert dwellers: Give me a good word. Casey, in fact, gives us many good words."Lawrence S. CunninghamJohn A. O'Brien Professor of Theology (Emeritus)The University of Notre Dame

"In my regular university course on the Rule of St. Benedict as a mirror to present-day culture there is close reading of some chapters of the Rule. To my shame I tended to neglect chapter four a bit. Michael Casey's deep reflections in this remarkable book are nourished by a half century of monastic reading and deep psychological and existential insight. I can now draw from nearly 300 pages of wisdom on the fourth chapter of Benedict's Rule. Just to quote from Fr. Michael's preface: 'There is much more in Benedict's Rule than meets the superficial eye.'" Wil Derkse
Andreas van Melsen Chair for Science, Society and Worldviews (retired)
Catholic Radboud University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands

"This book is not an exegetical study; one goes elsewhere for such. Rather this is a wisdom text, exploring each tool in a search to comprehend these pithy sayings for good living. . . . It is his own lived experience that brightens up the text. Casey's years of cenobitic living, coupled with his perceptive eye and peppered wit give life to the seventy-four tools."
Timothy Joyce, OSB, Glastonbury Abbey, Hingham, MA, American Benedictine Review
"The incomparable Casey has done it again. He seems to deliberately choose the most unlikely sections of the Rule of Benedict and make them into something appealing, even compelling, for the modern reader."Terrence Kardong, OSB, Tjurunga