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BM_33-2_INGL.indb 1 25/05/2018 14:45:20 FRANCESCA PARI, St Sylvester, Abbot (Egg tempera and gold on wood, 2017. Private Collection) BM_33-2_INGL.indb 2 25/05/2018 14:45:21 BIBLIOTHECA MONTISFANI 33/2 ST SYLVESTER THE RELEVANCE OF A CHARISM PROCEEDINGS OF THE SYMPOSIUM HELD AT FABRIANO MONASTERY OF ST SYLVESTER, ABBOT 1-3 JUNE 2017 EDITED BY UGO PAOLI PRESENTATION BY HIS EMINENCE CARDINAL PIETRO PAROLIN FABRIANO MONASTERO SAN SILVESTRO ABATE 2018 BM_33-2_INGL.indb 3 25/05/2018 14:45:21 BIBLIOTHECA MONTISFANI DIRECTOR Vincenzo Bracci SECRETARY Ugo Paoli DRAFTING COMMITTEE Giuseppe Avarucci, Bruno Bianchi, Leonardo Bux, Daniele Cogoni, Vin- cenzo Fattorini, Manuela Morosin, Andrea Pantaloni, Giacomo Ruggeri, Lorenzo Sena, Cleto Tuderti ISBN 978-88-87151-53-4 All rights reserved © COPYRIGHT BY MONASTERY OF ST SYLVESTER, ABBOT - FABRIANO PRINTED IN ITALY BM_33-2_INGL.indb 4 25/05/2018 14:45:21 BM_33-2_INGL.indb 5 25/05/2018 14:45:23 MESSAGE OF POPE FRANCIS VERY REVEREND FR MICHAEL KELLY, OSB ABBOT GENERAL MONASTERY OF SAINT STEPHEN PROTOMARTYR VIA SAINT STEFANO DEL CACCO, 26 00186 ROME ON THE OCCASION OF THE SYMPOSIUM HELD AT FABRIANO TO COMMEMORATE THE 750TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH OF SAINT SYLVESTER ABBOT, FOUNDER OF THE SYLVESTRINE BENEDICTINE CONGREGATION, THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS IMPARTS TO THE PARTICIPANTS HIS GREETING OF BEST WISHES, EXPRESSING APPRECIATION FOR THE INITIATIVE UNDERTAKEN TO STUDY IN DEPTH THE PERSONALITY AND SPIRITUALITY OF THE VENERATED MONK AND, WHILE HOPING THAT HIS MEMORY AROUSES IN HIS SPIRITUAL SONS A GENEROUS COMMITMENT TO EVANGELICAL WITNESS IN THE TRADITION OF THE CHARISM OF THE HOLY FOUNDER, INVOKES MANY HEAVENLY BLESSINGS ON THE WORK OF THE CONGRESS AND SENDS TO THE WHOLE MONASTIC FAMILY, TO THE PROMOTERS, THE SPEAKERS AND ALL PRESENT HIS APOSTOLIC BLESSING. CARDINAL PIETRO PAROLIN VATICAN SECRETARY OF STATE BM_33-2_INGL.indb 6 25/05/2018 14:45:23 REPRESENTATIVE MEDAL OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC Medal in bronze struck by the State Polygraphic Institute and Mint Front: Italia Turrita (National Personification of Italy). Representation taken from an ancient coin of Syracuse inspired by the work of the designer Vittorio Grassi (1878-1958). Around it is the inscription « THE PRESIDENT OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC » and below is the signature of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella. Reverse: Quirinal Palace. View of the Gregorian Wing from the Courtyard of Honour. BM_33-2_INGL.indb 7 25/05/2018 14:45:24 GENERAL SECRETARIAT OF THE PRESIDENCY OF THE REPUBLIC SECTION FOR PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENTS Dear Father Bracci, I am happy to send the attached medal which the Head of State wished to forward, as a sign of his adherence, to the Symposium of Studies for the 750th anniversary of the death of the founder of the Congregation, St Sylvester Abbot, to take place at Fabriano from 1 to 3 June 2017. I welcome the opportunity to convey, together with best wishes for the success of the occasion, most cordial greetings. Head of Section Dr Cinzia Raimondi __________________ Father Vincenzo Bracci Conventual Prior Monastery of St Sylvester Abbot Sylvestrine Benedictine Congregation Via San Silvestro Abate, 66 60044 FABRIANO (AN) Ref. SGPR 12/04/2017 BM_33-2_INGL.indb 8 25/05/2018 14:45:24 PRESENTATION The renewal of religious life entails at the same time both the continual return to the sources of every form of Christian life and to the original spirit of the institutes, as well as their ad- aptation to the changed situations of the times (...). It is to the advantage of the Church that institutes have their own physi- ognomy and proper function. Thus the spirit and purpose of the founder should be faithfully interpreted and observed, as also the sound traditions, all of which constitute the patrimony of each institute (Perfectae caritatis, 2). Maintaining the char- acteristics of their institute, monks should renew their ancient and beneficial traditions and adapt them to the contemporary needs of people, so that monasteries are like nurseries for the edification of the Christian people (ibid., 9) In the wake of the indications of the second Vatican Ecu- menical Council, the Abbot General and the General Curia of the Benedictine Sylvestrine Congregation OSB organized a symposium on the occasion of the 750th anniversary of the death of their founder, St Sylvester Abbot of Osimo (1267-2017). The symposium, held from 1 to 3 June 2017 at the monastery of San Silvestro in Montefano near Fabriano, mother house of the Sylvestrine monastic family, represented the high point of the jubilee celebrations. The conferences, entrusted to Italian and overseas experts noted for their scientific and theological- spiritual profile, were able to deepen the figure and work of St Sylvester, through a re-reading of his charism (« return to the sources ») in the light of the epochal change of the third mil- lennium (« adaptation to the changed situations of the times »). Therefore it was not simply a case of an « examination of the past » but of a « spiritual evaluation based on the guiding prin- ciples of Vatican II », as was the hope of the organizers. Through the study of the sources referring to the person of the Founder, in particular the Vita Silvestri, the biography writ- ten a few years after the death of the saint, there was deepened BM_33-2_INGL.indb 9 25/05/2018 14:45:24 X PRESENTATION the experiential journey of his disciples down to our days. This illustrated the practical elements of the charism of St Sylvester for today’s multiethnic and multicultural society in the five con- tinents where Sylvestrine monks currently work (Europe, North America, Australia, Asia, Africa). There emerged from the symposium the perennial validity of the spiritual values of the Benedictine Rule, chosen by Sylvester for his monastic family in a period when there were flourishing the two new movements of the Franciscans and Dominicans. In fact, beyond the contingent elements tied to the situation of the times, the values of the monastic tradition remain unchanged: the search for God above all else; the deep relationship with Jesus the Lord (« to prefer nothing to the love of Christ ») under the guidance of the Holy Spirit along the ladder of humility (Rule of Benedict, 7); the primacy of the Word of God; the common life by the exercise of brotherly love that overcomes differences of nationality, race, culture and language. As was indicated in the Symposium, the sons of St Sylvester are present above all in Asia (Sri Lanka, India, Philippines), where they carry out predominantly educational work among the local population, for the greatest part non-Catholics: in fact, the numerous schools conducted by the monks are attended mostly by pupils whose religion is Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam. Thus the students are called to practise tolerance, reciprocal respect and peaceful coexistence. These are values found in the Rule of Benedict, which St Sylvester made his own and which his monks continue to transmit. The recent foundations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo-Kinshasa) and in the Re- public of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville) require Sylvestrine monks to face the problems of the reality of Africa. This is a new and difficult challenge that awaits the heirs of St Sylvester, called to realize today the original intuitions and evangelical intentions of the Founder. I hope that this important volume of the Proceedings will have a wide circulation, contributing to a better knowledge of St Sylvester and his spiritual inheritance. PIETRO CARD. PAROLIN Secretary of State of His Holiness BM_33-2_INGL.indb 10 25/05/2018 14:45:24 FOREWORD XI FOREWORD The Order of Saint Benedict has been enriched deeply by the presence of Sylvestrine monks since the hermit Saint Syl- vester Guzzolini first built his hermitage by the mountain of Montefano in the area now known as the town of Fabriano. From these humble roots, the community that Saint Sylvester had founded strictly followed the Rule of Saint Benedict, extend- ing eventually to dozens of monasteries throughout the Sylves- trine Congregation in the Italian regions of Marche, Umbria, and Tuscany, and beyond Italy with its presence in Sri Lanka, the Americas, Australia, India, the Philippines, and Congo. Per- haps Saint Sylvester would not have been able to imagine that his humble movement, first called the Order of Saint Benedict of Montefano, would have such wonderful, far-reaching impact on the religious and lay life of five continents across the globe. It has been my joy as Abbot Primate to represent the Ben- edictine Confederation through participation in this important Conference of Studies at the Motherhouse of Saint Sylvester at Fabriano. This Conference has sought to deepen our under- standing of the original charism of Sylvester as the holy Founder of the Sylvestrine Congregation, with various presentations ex- amining the essential elements of Sylvestrine life and their im- pact on the world over the past 750 years. Through the studious work of this Conference’s many prominent speakers, we are able to appreciate the profound influence that Saint Sylvester and the monks of the Sylvestrine Congregation have had on world monasticism, providing inspiration for monastic religious life for many years to come. During this international Conference that took place be- tween 1-3 June 2017 at Fabriano, participants greatly benefited from a deeply spiritual and highly cultured series of talks that highlighted the ecclesial and religious context of the Sylvestrine Congregation’s founding. Specific aspects of the life of Saint Sylvester, and of the Congregation’s development following the death of its Founder, help us to understand monastic life as BM_33-2_INGL.indb 11 25/05/2018 14:45:24 XII FOREWORD practiced throughout the centuries into the present day, as well as its vital role in contemporary society.