Fr. Columba Stewart, Executive Director of HMML, describes the first printed edition of the conferences of John Cassian. John Cassian was an important early 5th century monastic author and was a major influence on St. Benedict. This edition was printed in Brussels in 1476/1477 by the Brethren of the Common Life. The Brethren of the Common Life were members of a lay association that was dedicated to deepening the piety of lay people in the Church. They started by copying manuscripts for the poor and eventually embraced the new technology of printing. With the printing press they could create numerous copies for the poor who otherwise would not have had access to books.
