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   St Benedict's Gifts

Had there been no St. Benedict, we would be less secure in our human rights, less civilized, less religious than we are. Born 1,500 years ago (480 A.D.), his influence continues strong in our day.

How can that be? Briefly, here is the answer.

It all commenced without fan-fare at a place called Subiaco, in central Italy, when Benedict was about seventeen. For three years he lived in a tiny cave high on the side of the Apennine Mountains. There is something Mysterious and holy about a remote and lonely mountain. It lifts the heart. High upon one, you feel as if you can reach out to touch the face of God. Benedict wanted that.

So off the beaten path was his first dwelling, that food had to be lowered to him by friendly shepherds from a plateau jutting out over his cave. Benedict was not trying to escape from anything or anyone. He was simply doing in his way what we all do: seeking God.

GROWTH

After leaving his hermit's cell in the cliff, Benedict remained at Subiaco for nearly 30 years, teaching, working, praying. During that time he attracted others as bees are drawn to clover, and gradually a monastic life-style evolved. When the number of his followers became still larger, this primitive Benedictine community pulled up its stakes and headed south to another location, Monte Cassino. This became a famous monastery, a center of Christian culture, learning and prayer. "The influence of Monte Cassino on European civilization is immeasurable" (Columbia Encyclopedia).

In the course of the centuries, Benedictine monks evangelized the pagan Anglo-Saxons of England, the barbaric tribes of Germany, the Franks, the Celts. Everywhere they went, these civilizers built their houses, thriving centers of education, moral guidance and social betterment.

The monks developed and taught new and effective means of agriculture and animal husbandry. They drained marshes, cleared land, built hospitals and hospices adjoined to their monasteries. Benedictine houses were, in effect, oases of learning, of human improvement and of Gospel light, even amid wastelands of darkness, dire poverty and ignorance. Pax (Peace) was their motto. Christ's Word was their message.

The monasteries of the spiritual sons (and later, daughters) of St. Benedict were often destroyed by wars, invasions and civil unrest. But the monks always rebuilt and their life-style endured, an imperishable witness to God's love and to the human determination to make, the earth a better place for all of us.

The Rule

When people form communities, they need an agreed structure. And so the Founder wrote his Rule for Monasteries. (Have you read it?) Although there had been earlier monastic rules, none can be compared to St. Benedict's for its spirit of Christian humanism, plain common sense, simple moderation and soul-warming wisdom. His Rule breathes deep faith in Christ, together with respect for the individual monk and prudent concern for the common good of the community.

St. Benedict's Rule stands as one of the half-dozen fundamental documents of our Western civilization. Its profoundly Christian and humanitarian thrust has filtered through many channels into the very fabric of society; and countless men and women have, for these fifteen centuries, found in the Rule clear directions for the Gospel's call to service of God and neighbor.

Benedictine monasticism is expressed in three basic elements: prayer, reflective reading, work.  They make the life fruitful and attractive.  The monk or nun converses with and worships God By prayer; is illumined by God's Word in contemplative reading; employs time and strength and skill in the tasks of the monastery and in active apostolates.

The Rule is not a quaint relic suited only for the musty shelves of the library or the files of some museum. It is, instead, an up-to-date invitation to open the heart to the Lord and to work for the up building of His Kingdom among our fellows. It summons us to recognize the dignity of labor, the challenge of responsibility, the proper use of resources.  Above all, the Rule reminds us of the paramount value of a life lived in the search and service of God, preferring nothing to the love of Christ.

Who Are They?

There are many different families of Benedictines, and while all rightly claim the Father of Western Monasticism as their own, their life-styles vary. While some stress apostolic engagement, others' opt for more seclusion. Some groups emphasize studies, others manual labor or liturgical prayer.  Benedictine is indeed a wide-ranging title.  It includes the Order of St. Benedict (O.S.B.), the largest and best known; the Cistercians (O.C.S.O. and O. Cist.); the Camaldolese  (Cam.), and other more loosely federated communities.

The Church honors St Benedict and thanks God for the 1,500 years of blessings received through his life, example and Rule.  Because of him, we are more attuned to the saving power of the Gospel of Christ and more responsive to human needs.

Do you perhaps feel that you can assist the Benedictines to make the world a better place, more Christ-centered?