A hidden life led Benedictine way

By Tony Staley
Compass Editor

	St. Benedict When: c.480-c.550 Where: Italy What: Founder of Western monasticism Feast: July 11 Patron: Europe, monks, speleologists (the study of caves), farmworkers and victims of poisoning

Few have affected the lives of more people than St. Benedict of Nursia. Not only was he the founder of Western monasticism and the author of a rule of life that is still used, but he also helped preserve Western culture.

Benedict was born to wealthy parents in Nursia, a Sabine town northeast of Rome. He parents sent him to Rome to attend college, but the rampant immorality there caused him to flee.

He settled in Enfide, a mountain village 30 miles from Rome, but soon decided that God was calling him to be a hermit.

He found a remote mountain cave at Subiaco, where his only human contact was a monk, Romanus, who brought him bread daily, which Benedict received by pulling a rope tied to a basket.

Despite his hidden life, some shepherds found him and word spread. Next, a group of monks asked him to succeed their old abbot, who had died. He reluctantly agreed, but fled after the monks tried to poison his wine when they found him too severe.

He returned to Subiaco to form another community. He placed 12 monks each into 12 wooden monasteries, each with its own prior and Benedict in charge overall.

He abruptly left there - it's thought an enemy was trying to kill him and he wanted to spare his monks - and moved to Monte Cassino where he started another abbey.

This time, he had all the monks live in the same house because he believed that the road to salvation required a team effort.

It is thought that Benedict wrote his rule while at Monte Cassino, drawing ideas from Ss. Basil, John Cassian, Augustine, the Desert Fathers and others.

The rule itself emphasizes moderation in all things. It calls for prayer, work, study, obedience, community life, self-discipline and stability (that is, each monk belongs to the abbey he joins).

He saw abbeys as centers of hospitality and service for travelers and people living nearby. They became centers of learning that preserved Western culture throughout the Middle Ages.

Liturgy played a major role in Benedictine life and the Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours) - the center of their lives - is prayed in common.

Over the centuries, the Rule of St. Benedict gradually became the standard for monastic life in the Western Church. The rule also has an application for laity with its emphasis on combining prayer and work and relying on a central person - the abbot for monks, but for laity the bishop could certainly fill that role - for wise and holy leadership.

As abbot, Benedict, who was never ordained, cured the sick, helped the poor and counseled the poor and the powerful. He died in the chapel with his hands raised in prayer as his monks helped him stand.