Today people find the monastic life exceptionally compelling. The Rule of St. Benedict is widely studied and applied outside the confines of the monastery. Following the huge success of the BBC TV series The Monastery, people have looked at the monastic life as a means of healing, of disciplined living and of people coming to terms with themselves and their own personal truths. Here are ten people who have taken monastic vows giving a deeply personal and honest account of what the monastic life is actually like and how it brings them closer to God. Includes contributions by Joanna Gilbert (Postulant, Monastery Of Bose, Italy), Dame Monica Mead (Benedictine Abbey of Curzon Park, Chester, UK), Dom Alban Hood (Douai Abbey, Berkshire, UK), Dom Martin Mcgee (Worth Abbey, Sussex, UK), Dom David Foster (Downside Abbey, Bath, UK), Dame Agnes Wilkins (Stanbrook Abbey, Worcester, UK), Dom Simon McGurk (St. Anselm's Abbey, Washington D.C.), Michael Brunner (Saint Louis Abbey, Missouri) and Andrew Nugent (Glenstal Abbey, Limerick, Ireland)