The French speak of ‘A Benedictine work’ - by this they mean a work which is slow, methodical and done to
the highest standards. The phrase is inspired by the magnificent monastic manuscripts of the Middle Ages.
Saint Benedict tells us that we are truly monks when we live by the work of our hands. Craft work is
therefore traditional to monasteries and ours is no exception.
Saint Michael’s Abbey houses in excess of 100,000 books. In addition to the binding and repair of their
own library books, the monks undertake the restoration and repair of books for individual clients. With
the decline in traditional crafts, the monasteries find themselves preserving skills and attitudes in the
way they did through the so-called 'Dark Ages'.
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