Brother Lawrence(c. 1611 - 1691) was born Nicholas Herman in the Lorraine region of France. As a young man, he fought in the Thirty Years' War before joining the Carmelite order in Paris as a monk at the age of 24. The Practice of the Presence of God was originally compiled from his letters and conversations, immediately after his death. Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove is the author of New Monasticism, and forthcoming from Paraclete Press: The Wisdom of Stability.