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Former Disney star David Henrie is opening up about how he rejected the “secular” Hollywood lifestyle after going on a life-changing monastery visit.
Earlier this week, the “Wizards of Waverly Place” star was a guest on Raymond Arroyo’s “Arroyo Grande” podcast and discussed how his friendship with fellow actor Kevin James led to him discovering his faith.
“I started changing my whole perspective on life and faith. I so craved an objective belief system. I grew up in relativistic Hollywood and, you know, a partying lifestyle, secular life, worldliness, materialism, and it left me empty,” Henrie said.
David Henrie credits a monastery visit in 2012 for changing his life. (Chris Haston/WBTV via Getty Images)
“I call it the bubblegum theory of pleasure. Every time you eat a piece of bubblegum, it loses its flavor. In a few moments, you pop another one in. At the end of the day, you’ve gone through the whole pack, and now you just feel worse than you did when you started. That was me before I met Kevin,” he continued.
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Henrie detailed that he found God during this time, and James extended an invitation to him to visit St. Michael’s Abbey in Orange County in 2012 and do his general confession.
“And I was like, ‘What’s that?’ So, I learned about what it was, and I wrote a whole chapter book to bring to the priest there,” Henrie said.
The “Wizards of Waverly Place” cast included Jake T. Austin, Selena Gomez, Maria Canals-Barrera, Jennifer Stone and David Henrie. (Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic)
Henrie told Arroyo that he felt “so relieved” after his monastery visit with James.
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“It was the monastery that changed my life,” he added.
Kevin James took David Henrie to his first monastery. (Roy Rochlin/FilmMagic)
The actor tied in his first monastery visit to his documentary series, “Seeking Beauty,” where he explores the deeper meaning behind the art, architecture, food, music and culture of some of Italy’s most beautiful places.
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David Henrie hosts “Seeking Beauty,” which premiered on Jan. 19 on EWTN+. (EWTN+)
The first season debuted in January on EWTN+ and the second season is based in Spain and is in the works.
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