St. Benedict of Nursia, Founder of Monasticism
(480 - 550)
Benedict was born at Nursia, in Umbria, in central Italy, and studied in Rome. In 500, repelled by the vices of the city, he took refuge in Enfide, a small community of about 30 students just outside of Rome. He became a hermit at Subiaco and remained there for three years under the care of a monk named Romanus.
Benedict's reputation spread, and some monks arrived to study with him. They asked him to be their abbot, but they did not like the discipline he imposed and tried to poison him.
Benedict organized several small communities of monks and nuns in various places, including the great monastery of Monte Cassino. He drew up a set of rules to guide the communal life of monasteries, and, though not the first monastic rule ever, the Rule of St Benedict has proved so wise and balanced that it has served as the foundation for practically every attempt at communal living ever since. The Divine Office -- the daily liturgical prayer of the Church-- was made the core of the monastic routine.
To visit a Benedictine monastery of almost any kind is to find oneself spending time among a group of people who, by their strivings to live and grow together, have become more and more themselves, as God intended them, instead of being crushed into false uniformity by some idealistic and authoritarian regime. For those of us in the world, too, the Rule of St Benedict has much to say: it drags our eyes up to the stars but keeps our feet firmly on the ground; it calls us to perfection but keeps us sane.
(480 - 550)
Benedict was born at Nursia, in Umbria, in central Italy, and studied in Rome. In 500, repelled by the vices of the city, he took refuge in Enfide, a small community of about 30 students just outside of Rome. He became a hermit at Subiaco and remained there for three years under the care of a monk named Romanus.
Benedict's reputation spread, and some monks arrived to study with him. They asked him to be their abbot, but they did not like the discipline he imposed and tried to poison him.
Benedict organized several small communities of monks and nuns in various places, including the great monastery of Monte Cassino. He drew up a set of rules to guide the communal life of monasteries, and, though not the first monastic rule ever, the Rule of St Benedict has proved so wise and balanced that it has served as the foundation for practically every attempt at communal living ever since. The Divine Office -- the daily liturgical prayer of the Church-- was made the core of the monastic routine.
To visit a Benedictine monastery of almost any kind is to find oneself spending time among a group of people who, by their strivings to live and grow together, have become more and more themselves, as God intended them, instead of being crushed into false uniformity by some idealistic and authoritarian regime. For those of us in the world, too, the Rule of St Benedict has much to say: it drags our eyes up to the stars but keeps our feet firmly on the ground; it calls us to perfection but keeps us sane.
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