This book is a guide for seekers of meaning between extraordinary experiences and their developing a more personal relationship with God. The honest and sincere revelations of the monastics whose stories appear within invite you to reflect on how your experiences may draw you closer to Jesus. These are the inside storiesjourneys of monks and nuns from the budding of their calls to follow the path of Jesus to the blooming of their final vocationsthat are often not known beyond the cloistered and sacrosanct walls of the monastery. The stories sprang from recorded narrations collected by the author during her travels to Benedictine monasteries around the world. Some reveal a pattern of a crisis or a turning point that incited the pursuit of a spiritual vocation. Others show the slow but steady work of the Holy Spirit, guiding aspiring monastics on their intended paths. Often the monastics give examples of surprise messengers they encountered or spiritual nourishment they received along their paths to God. Reading these stories may ignite within you a spiritual yearning that will encourage changes in your consciousness and awaken you to the closeness between the material and spiritual worlds. You may begin to better understand some of the unusual events that occur in life that can deepen your relationship with God. By paying attention to these experiences, as did the monastics in this book, you can better hear the divine messages that you receive from within, discovering a secret door into your spiritual and sacrosanct world.
