Recommended Article by Park Hyun-dong Abbas (Benedictine Abbey of Waegwan) 4
Letter of Recommendation by Father Oh Hak-jun (Little Brothers) 8
Introduction 11

Part 1: Rain of Grace

Chapter 1: Monastery on the Road 28
Human Spirituality on the Path to God 29
Rebuild My Church, Order of St. Francis, Among the People 41
The Hill of Hell Becomes the Hill of Heaven Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi 58
The Mysterious Journey of St. Francis of Assisi, Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels 120

Chapter 2: A Dream Achieved with Confidence 142
The Life of Saint Clare, a Medieval New Woman 143
The Order of St. Clare, the Mysterious Epiphany, establishes a Gospel altar in the Basilica of San Damiano 153
St. Clare Cathedral, a land for the poor and pilgrims, the root of Christ 175

Part 2 Three Stones

A New Era and a Beginner's Mind 194
The first heart that opened its eyes with the Renaissance, the Abbey of Monte Oliveto 195
The Power of Prayer and Work: The Life of Saint Benedict in Pictures 210

Note 238

★ As you slowly tour the monastery under his guidance, you will realize that this is not just a tourist attraction, but a mystical space.
- Abbot Park Hyeon-dong of the Benedictine Order

☆ Even if I receive guidance from the same person and visit the same course every time, I am still impressed.
There is such power in a pilgrimage with the author.
- Father Oh Hak-jun of the Little Brothers

The two words 'travel' excite people's hearts.
Regardless of where you decide to set that destination, the mere thought of leaving your current location and space and heading off to a new place is thrilling.
Even if the excitement stems from the unknown or fear of being away from everyday life, if appropriate compensation is provided, such as a beautiful view, delicacies from the mountains and sea, or comfortable rest, the fear will disappear as if it had never existed.
From that return journey, we gain the strength to live in the present.


The emergence of the Order of St. Francis
A beginner's mind found in a new era

The second book to cover the vast subject of Italian monasteries, 『Travels through Italian Monasteries 2 - A Mysterious Journey to God』, covers the life and monastic order of St. Francis, who led the reform of the pilgrim monasteries and churches on the road and lived a life of poverty, sharing, and humility, the life and monastic order of St. Clare, a new woman of the Middle Ages and a close friend of St. Francis, and the life of the Monte Oliveto Monastery and St. Benedict, who returned to their original intentions with the Renaissance.


The author, a theologian and pilgrimage guide who has lived in Rome, Italy for over 30 years, has been walking the path toward God. He majored in theology at the Salesian University of Rome and pilgrimage studies at the Pontifical Lateran University.
While traditional tours of Italy's major cities are certainly valuable, a trip to a monastery with the author offers a valuable opportunity to see God's image even more clearly.
For those who live by faith, this pilgrimage journey offers an opportunity to draw closer to the Kingdom of God and for a foretaste of God's time. For non-believers, it offers the intellectual enrichment of the history and evolution of Italy's medieval monasteries, as well as the opportunity to discover hidden treasures boasting breathtaking scenery.


“I hope that the journey to the monastery that we embark on together in this book will serve as a microscope through which we can peer into that mysterious realm.
“We can discover God, who came as Kairos, in the lives of the monastics of the 1,000 years before the Reformation, who actively waited for God’s time within the secular world.”
- Introductory remarks

Encountered on the way to the monastery
Medieval Church History and Vivid Materials

This book, which began with the theme of a pilgrimage to Italian monasteries, provides material not only on the history of monasteries but also on medieval and church history.
The history of Western civilization today, which began with the roots of ancient Greek and Roman culture, was able to progress through absolute monarchy and the Industrial Revolution to modern society because of the grand history of the Middle Ages that lasted a thousand years.
The medieval society and culture that had continued for such a long time were closely related to the church, and the point where they met was the monastic order.
In response to the economic and social changes brought about by the conflict between the Pope and the Emperor, the monastic orders experienced repeated decline and reform.
『Travels to Italian Monasteries 2 - A Mysterious Journey to God』 provides vivid material that examines such changes.


Part 1 features stories of pilgrims on the road, the Order of St. Francis, the Basilica of St. Francis and the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels in Assisi, the life of St. Clare and her Order, the Basilica of San Damiano and the Basilica of St. Clare, and Part 2 introduces the Abbey of Monte Oliveto and the life of St. Benedict, the founder of communal monastic life, through vivid photos and floor plans, illuminating the past and present of Italian monasteries through the lives of monks.

“We will examine the precious history of medieval monasteries that actively acted within God’s time, from Saint Benedict, who opened the way for Western monasticism with the Universal Rule, and the monastic orders named after him; from the monastic orders that tried to reform by emphasizing the hermitic life when it seemed too close to the world; from the monastic orders that tried to live by God’s providence and love for neighbors rather than rules and monastic buildings; and even from the monastic orders that tried to return by re-examining the spirituality of the early Saint Benedict. We will examine this within the time of Chronos, the history of precious medieval monasteries that actively acted within God’s time.” - Introduction

The mystery hidden in the title
Rain of Grace and Three Stones

The two parts of 『Travels to Italian Monasteries 2 - A Mysterious Journey to God』 are titled 'Rain of Grace' and 'Three Stones' respectively.
Even within this simple title, the process of formation, development, decline and progress of medieval monasteries is implied.
The Rain of Grace is also closely related to the title of Volume 1, Part 2, “The Well of Mystery.”
Christ is the water of life, and water signifies the presence of God.
While the Mystic Well symbolized God's grace and presence for the sedentary monks living in the cloistered monastery, the Rain of Grace represents the lifestyle of the mendicant monks who had to live in the streets, relying solely on God's providence.


They wanted to find living water, not from stagnant water collected in a well, but from the providential rain water that God sends down.
This was a return to the life of poverty and obedience advocated by the early monastic communities, and it was also the wish of Saint Francis to share with all people in the world the love and grace that would lead to the kingdom of heaven, like rain that falls equally everywhere.
Meanwhile, the Franciscan monastery collected rainwater from the cloister roof of the central square garden in an underground cistern and used it as water, so the rain of grace was not just a metaphor but also a real life experience.


The flow of history called the Middle Ages was pushed into the past by the new era.
The time in the monastery was the same.
Starting as a community for monastic life in search of God, monasteries, as institutions that reached the pinnacle of earthly power, gave rise to reformed monasteries that sought to return to their original purpose.
As the dawn of the Renaissance dawned over Europe, the scourge of the Black Death also brought with it the emergence of monasteries where everyone prayed and worked together in an equal brotherhood, like the early Benedictine communities.
Among the miracles of Saint Benedict, one is said to have occurred while he was obtaining water for use in the monastery.
It is a miracle that after praying for a long time, an adult placed three stones in that spot and the next day had monks dig there, and water gushed out abundantly.
The three stones are reminiscent of the Benedictine Order's desire to return to its original intention of seeking the Trinity, based on the teachings of the saints, which were left as lessons in the murals.


In the journey of 'I came, I saw, I took pictures.'
A journey towards God, step by step

People return from difficult journeys with many memories.
Yes, that's right.
Travel is a 'departure' that presupposes a 'return'.
If you go somewhere in the world and don't come back, it's not a trip.
In other words, a journey that is a repetition of leaving and returning is bound to be tied to the 'present moment' in which we live.
This is why the meaning of ‘pilgrimage’, a journey toward faith, cannot but be special.
Pilgrimage, a journey that looks back on the 'beginning' of faith, aims for eternity, not the moment.
Pilgrimage allows modern people to reflect on their inner peace and the meaning of life, and the grace of pilgrimage draws our lives closer to God, leading us to the ultimate blessing of meeting Him.
If travel is tied to the moment, pilgrimage is a 'mystical journey' that moves us toward God with an elasticity toward eternity.


A mystical journey to the monastery,
How to understand Italy most deeply

Italy is a place of great religious and cultural importance in the history of the Church, which boasts a long tradition.
This is because it is home to Vatican City, the seat of the Holy See, and historically, it is home to numerous relics of the Roman Empire, and it was the springboard for the growth of the Catholic Church, which was able to influence all of Europe after it was established as an institutional religion.
Among these, the emergence and development of monasteries over the long period of the millennium of the Middle Ages is of great value in terms of church history and cultural history, and a tour of the monasteries of Italy, the main stage of this process, is the most profound way to understand Italy.
In his recommendation for this book, Abbot Park Hyeon-dong, the Benedictine abbot of Waegwan, tells us that our faith today can be seen in a new light through a trip to an Italian monastery.


“When we think of traveling in Italy, we think of the Colosseum in Rome, the Vatican, and the beautiful art of Venice and Florence, but the monasteries dotted throughout Italy offer deeper, more tranquil spaces for reflection.
… small moments of solitude and silence within the monastery offer modern people a precious opportunity to re-evaluate their inner peace and the meaning of life.”
- From the recommendation of Park Hyun-dong and Blasio Abbas