“He [Benedict] was simply doing in his way what we all do: he was seeking God.” The Rule of Benedict Had there been no St. Benedict, we would be less secure in our human rights, less civilized, and less religious than we are. Born 1500 years ago in 480 A.D., Benedict’s influence continues in our own day. How can that be? Briefly here is the answer. It all began without fanfare in a place called Subiaco, in central Italy, when Benedict was about 17 years old. For three years, he lived in a tiny cave high on the side of the Apennine Mountains. There’s something mysterious and holy about a remote and lonely mountain. It lifts the heart. High upon one, you feel as you can reach out to touch the face of God. Benedict wanted just 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: he was seeking God. Growth After leaving his hermit’s cell in the cliff, Benedict remained at Subiaco for nearly 30 years, teaching, working and praying. During that time, he attracted others and gradually a communal lifestyle 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 because a famous monastery—a center of Christian culture, learning and prayer. “The influence of Monte Cassino on European civilization is immeasurable.” (Columbia Encyclopedia) Over the course of the centuries, Benedictine women and men 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 and cleared land. They built hospitals and hospices adjoining 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 St. Benedict were often destroyed by wars, invasions and civil unrest; however, the monks always rebuilt their house of light and learning. Their lifestyle endured as an imperishable witness to God’s love and to the human determination to make the earth a better place for all of us.
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