For his own presentation, Fr. Driscoll drew upon the life and work of a 20th century Italian priest and monk, Don Divo Barsotti. He was a diocesan priest in Florence but went on to found a community called the Figli di Dio - or Sons of God – on the belief that monastic ideals could be applied to ordinary lay life.
“He wanted to share monastic spirituality with lay people and to really let them think of themselves as a sort of living an interior monastic life in the world.”
“He says that monasticism is nothing less than the Christian life intensely lived and lived,” Fr. Driscoll said.
Given that the work of Don Divo Barsotti is currently little known outside Italy, Fr. Driscoll said this week’s international conference presents an ideal opportunity to change that situation. He hopes that many more lay people will now attempt to live a spirit of monasticism. read...