The Golden String

This book is the life story of Dom Bede Griffiths, a British priest, Benedictine monk, and notable member of the Christian Ashram movement. Born in 1906 to an impoverished family, Griffiths attended a school for boys from such backgrounds and excelled so much that he earned a scholarship to Oxford. Upon graduation, he and several close friends moved to a small cottage in the countryside, where they began what Griffiths called an "experiment in common living," involving farm work, fasting, and reading of the scriptures. In his autobiography, Griffiths details how this led to an increasing interest in Catholicism, an interest which gradually led to a spiritual crisis, during which he discovered the works of John Henry Newman. This discovery eventually led to his conversion. Written in 1931 shortly before his entrance into the Benedictine Order, The Golden String is a profound story of spiritual struggle and conversion.