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The Life of St. Benedict by Pope Gregory I

Pope Gregory I

A volunteer audio reading in English of Gregory the Great's near-contemporary account of Benedict's life, the main early narrative source about him.

This is the earliest detailed account of Benedict's life, written by Gregory the Great shortly after his death.

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Pope Gregory I, The Life of St. Benedict, translated by P. Aurelius McMahon. LibriVox volunteer reading, read by Patrick Randall.

About this source

What it is

This audio is a modern volunteer reading, made for LibriVox, of an English translation of the Life of St. Benedict. The text was written by Pope Gregory I, taken from the second book of his Dialogues, and translated by P. Aurelius McMahon.

Why it matters

Gregory the Great wrote this account not long after Benedict's death, and it remains one of the only ancient sources about his life. It shaped how later Christians understood Benedict as the founder of Western monasticism.

Look closer

  • Why is it important to know this reading is a recent volunteer recording, not Gregory's or Benedict's own voice?
  • What kind of events might Gregory have included or left out when writing about Benedict?
  • How might hearing the text aloud change how you understand it compared to reading it?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Saint Benedict on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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