St. Benedict of Nursia ~ Page 2

�t. Bene�i ct o� Nursia BORN 480; DIED For three BETWEEN 547 years he lived AND 550 in a cave ABBOT AND near Subia- FOUNDER co about for- FEAST DAY: ty miles east JULY 11 of Rome, in contact only T. BENE- with his spir- DICT itual director. Si s o n e However, from of those time to time oth-

saints known P ers sought him A U L K from his impact, E out, attracted by R R rather than from IS his saintly example, his personality. Yet teaching, and uncom- his impact is so enor- monly wise advice from so mous that an idea of him can young a man. Sanctity did not be gained from what he did. He is come easily to him, however, and the recognized as the “Father of Western Monas- story is told of his once having to throw himself into ticism” — that is, the form of life in a religious a thicket of nettles and roll around in the briars until community found throughout the Roman Cath- he was torn everywhere, to conquer his overwhelm- olic Church. The religious family he founded, ing sexual desire for a women he had once seen. the monks and nuns of the Benedictine tradi- Eventually he agreed, with misgivings, to be- tion, profoundly affected the development of come abbot of a nearby community but was strict Western civilization. enough that they tried to kill him by poisoning Benedict and his twin sister St. Scholasti- his wine; this failed because his jug broke as he ca were born of a Roman noble family in the was blessing it. He left the community and re- mountain village of Nursia (modern Norcia in turned to Subiaco, where a community gradual- the Umbrian region of central Italy), at a time ly formed around him, and he began to develop, when the Roman empire was disintegrating and at first by example, what later became known as barbarian hordes ravaged the land. He grew the Rule of St. Benedict. The monastery became up in Rome at a time when every ruler seemed known as a place to live a life dedicated to God to be a heretic, a pagan, or an outright atheist. without distinction of noble or barbarian birth. He completed his education when he was about Benedict also taught that manual labor was not twenty, and fled the vice-ridden city to a village degrading but a path to holiness — “Ora et Lab- in the nearby mountains. Yet fleeing evil is not ora,” that is, prayer and work. He required ev- seeking God, and Benedict soon realized that he eryone to undertake manual labor, regardless of was called to a more radical departure from the his previous station in life. world and became a hermit. After an unknown period of time in Subiaco,

The Association for Catechumenal Ministry (ACM) grants the original purchaser (parish, local parochial institution, or individual) permission to reproduce this handout. “When he was about fifty, he set about building what became one of the most famous monasteries in the world, Monte Cassino, the fountainhead of one of the greatest means given by God to Christianize and restore civilization to the ruined lands of the Roman empire.”

Benedict again encountered a problem, this time around what today is called the Liturgy of the with an envious priest who resorted to slander, Hours. The rule emphasized not mere external another attempt to poison Benedict, and mali- trappings but a true seeking of humility and per- cious efforts to tempt the monks with prostitutes. sonal love of our Lord. While each monk vowed Benedict’s solution was to leave Subiaco for a site obedience to his abbot, the abbot’s role was to be about eighty miles south of Rome then used as a that of a father rather than a ruler, and his rule was temple to the pagan god Apollo. There, when he of love rather than mere law. Monks were, ideal- was about fifty, he set about building what be- ly, to model themselves more completely on Christ came one of the most famous monasteries in the than was possible in the wider world; its purpose world, Monte Cassino, the fountainhead of one was to form a community of charity, of brothers of the greatest means given by God to Christian- (or sisters) in Christ. Service not only to each oth- ize and restore civilization to the ruined lands of er but also to the larger community in which the the Roman empire. It was at Monte Cassino that monastery was situated was a mark of Benedictine Benedict wrote his rule, that is, his instructions monasteries, which provided care of the poor and on the why, the what, and the how of monastic the sick. life. This became the basis for the Order of St. Benedict was raised up by God at a critical time Benedict (OSB), or Benedictines. St. Scholas- in the history of the early Church. The organized tica established a convent about five miles away communal religious life under the that lived under the same rule. rule of St. Benedict super- The rules of most religious orders, for both seded the ideal of the men and women, are in some way mod- desert hermit in the eled after the Rule of St. Benedict. Western Church and, Among its distinctive features are a as the Roman Empire balanced daily alternation among became a memory, Bene- prayer, study, and labor; an avoid- dictine monasteries became ance of extremes of fasting or self- the self-sustaining commu- mortification; and a good deal nities around which the of common sense. continent of Europe C o m m u n i t y became Christian prayer was and civilization structured was rebuilt.

St. Benedict, by Timothy Schmalz

St. Benedict of Nursia ~ Page 2