sed faithfully to keep his secret. Then he went away.

What happened in the time that followed no one knows--it is a secret
between God and St. Benedict. But we can guess that God made known many
wonderful things to His faithful young servant--things that later he was
to teach to thousands of men; and that He filled him with grace and
strength to do what he would have to do, to make the world a better
place. Also, we can be sure that he was very, very happy, in spite of
the loneliness, and the dark, cold nights, and the hard ground he had
for his bed.

Three years St. Benedict lived like this, and then one sunny Easter
morning God made known St. Benedict's secret to a certain holy man who
lived in those parts, and told him to go to the cave and take St.
Benedict some of his Easter fare. St. Benedict was very pleased to see
him, but surprised to hear it was Easter, for he had lost all count of
time. So the priest laid out the good things he had brought, and they
said grace, and then they had a meal together, and then a talk. After
the priest had gone some shepherds and country-folk climbed up the steep
little path to see where he had been, and they found St. Benedict. He
welcomed them, and spoke so wonderfully to them that they saw he was a
man specially taught by God. They felt he was their true friend and
loved them for God's sake, and so they often climbed the steep path to
visit him and ask his help and advice. But very soon news of him spread
beyond the mountain shepherds, and people of all sorts from far and near
flocked to see the holy man and ask his prayers and his advice. Sad,
wicked people went away with sorrow for their sins, and became good.
Cowards went away full of strength and courage. And many people began to
learn a new way of serving God truly, always _doing their best_ for love
of Him, and never "giving in to themselves."

It was then that God allowed St. Benedict to have a terrible temptation,
to test him. Suddenly he felt within him a great desire to give up all
he was doing for God and return to the wicked city he had left and live
a life of ease and pleasure. It was the Devil who put this thought into
his mind, but God's grace in St. Benedict was stronger than the Devil.
With all his heart he vowed that he would _never_ give up doing God's
will, and, to punish himself for the thoughts that had entered his mind,
he threw himself into a mass of sharp, thorny briars and
stinging-nettles, so that hi