Abbot, Patron saint of Europe and father of Western Monasticism
Today we celebrate the feast of Saint Benedict, Patron saint of Europe and father of Western Monasticism. The thought of St. Benedict is the lifeblood of Europe.
Born in the central Italian mountain town of Nursia around AD 480, St. Benedict became one of the most important catalysts for the creation of a new European culture after the fall of the Roman Empire in the West. The system of monastic life he developed and nourished spread centers of prayer and hospitality throughout the continent. Benedictine monasteries were not only spiritual and cultural centers, but also a source of sustenance and relief for pilgrims and the poor.
St. Gregory the Great – who wrote the only ancient biography of St. Benedict that we have – called St. Benedict “a bright light” in an age marked by the most serious crisis. From his youth, Benedict’s life was marked by prayer. His wealthy parents send him to Rome to provide him with adequate training. There, however, Benedict found young people shaken, ruined by the ways of vice. So, he left Rome for a place called Enfide, and then lived as a hermit for three years in a cave at Subiaco, which would become the heart of the Benedictine monastery Sacro Speco. This period of solitude preceded another crucial milestone on Benedict’s journey: his arrival at Monte Cassino. There, among the ruins of an ancient pagan acropolis, St. Benedict and some of his disciples built their first abbey.
Benedict composed his Rule around AD 530. It is essentially a manual, a code for monastic life. Written in a familiar style, Benedict throughout the prologue and 73 chapters of the Rule exhorts his monks to reach out with “the ear of the heart” to “never despair of the mercy of God”.
Idleness,” writes St. Benedict in the Rule, “is an enemy of the soul; That is why the brothers have to devote themselves to manual work, in some hours, in others, to reading books containing the word of God.” Prayer and work are not in opposition, but establish a symbiotic relationship. Without prayer, it is not possible to encounter God. The monastic life, however, defined by Benedict as “a school of the service of the Lord,” cannot be without concrete commitment. Work is an extension of prayer. “The Lord,” St. Benedict reminds us, “expects us daily to respond with facts to the doctrines of his holy teachings.”
Saint Benedict devoted himself to evangelizing the local population who practiced pagan worship. Shortly before he died, Saint Benedict saw the soul of his sister Saint Scholastica rising to heaven in the form of a dove. This vision happened a few days after their last talk together at the foot of Montecassino. In a vision, Benedict saw the soul of Bishop Germanus of Capua taken by angels in a fire globe. These visions, for Pope Saint Gregory the Great, showed a close union between Benedict and God, a union so intense that the Saint was given the share of an even more magnificent vision, the whole of creation as gathered in a sunbeam.
In the end, a life so noble was justifiably followed by a much-glorified death. According to tradition, Saint Benedict died on March 21, 547 AD. He foresaw his coming death, informing his close and faraway disciples that the end was near. Six days before dying, he had the grave which he was to share with his deceased sister Saint Scholastica, opened. Then, completely exhausted, he asked to be taken into his oratory where, after taking his last Holy Communion, he died supported by his monks.
Today let’s remember Saint Benedict as he exhorted his monks by saying “Listen carefully, my child, to your master’s precepts, and incline the ear of your heart. Receive willingly and carry out effectively your loving father’s advice, that by the labor of obedience you may return to Him from whom you had departed by the sloth of disobedience.”
Heaven is our goal.
Sources: St. Benedict, Abbot, Patron of Europe – Information on the Saint of the Day – Vatican News
Who is Saint Benedict? — Saint Benedict Church