Robert Hugh Benson (1871-1914) was a prolific author of fiction, apologetics, and devotional works, best remembered for the apocalyptic novel Lord of the World. He was the youngest son of Edward White Benson, the Archbishop of Canterbury and his wife Mary. In 1903 he became a prominent convert to the Roman Catholic Church from Anglicanism, and in 1904 he was ordained a Catholic priest, over time rising to the title of monsignor and appointed a supernumerary private chamberlain to Pope Pius X. Confessions of a Convert is the Monsignor’s personal story of his journey to the Catholic faith, containing comparisons between Catholicism and the Anglican religion, and ranks among his best works. It’s no exaggeration to call it a minor classic. The book concludes with a stretch of melodic prose recording the author’s jubilant response to the incarnational Catholicism he encountered in the Holy City. “A sojourn in Rome means an expansion of view that is beyond words,” he writes.
3 Hours and 49 Minutes.
