Saint Benedict of Nursia- The noble saint who fled the world, but the world ran after him
Founder of western monasticism, born at Nursia, c. 480; died at Monte
Cassino, 543. The only authentic life of Benedict of Nursia is that
contained in the second book of Saint Gregory’s “Dialogues”. It is
rather a character sketch than a biography and consists, for the most
part, of a number of miraculous incidents, which, although they
illustrate the life of the saint, give little help towards a
chronological account of his career. Saint Gregory’s authorities for all
that he relates were the saint’s own disciples, viz. Constantinus, who
succeeded him as Abbot of Monte Cassino; and Honoratus, who was Abbot of
Subiaco when Saint Gregory wrote his “Dialogues”.
Benedict was the son of a Roman noble of Nursia, a small town near
Spoleto, and a tradition, which Saint Bede accepts, makes him a twin
with his sister Scholastica. His boyhood was spent in Rome, where he
lived with his parents and attended the schools until he had reached his
higher studies. Then “giving over his books, and forsaking his father’s
house and wealth, with a mind only to serve God, he sought for some
place where he might attain to the desire of his holy purpose; and in
this sort he departed [from Rome], instructed with learned ignorance and
furnished with unlearned wisdom” (Dial. Saint Greg., II, Introd. in
Migne, P.L. LXVI). There is much difference of opinion as to Benedict’s
age at the time. It has been very generally stated as fourteen, but a
careful examination of Saint Gregory’s narrative makes it impossible to
suppose him younger than nineteen or twenty. He was old enough to be in
the midst of his literary studies, to understand the real meaning and
worth of the dissolute and licentious lives of his companions, and to
have been deeply affected himself by the love of a woman (Ibid. II, 2).
He was capable of weighing all these things in comparison with the life
taught in the Gospels, and chose the latter, He was at the beginning of
life, and he had at his disposal the means to a career as a Roman noble;
clearly he was not a child, As Saint Gregory expresses it, “he was in
the world and was free to enjoy the advantages which the world offers,
but drew back his foot which he had, as it were, already set forth in
the world” (ibid., Introd.). If we accept the date 480 for his birth, we
may fix the date of his abandoning the schools and quitting home at
about A.D. 500.
Statues
of St. Benedict and his twin sister, St. Scholastica, above the
entrance of the Church of the Annunciation, also called “St. Gabriel
Church”, in Holečkova Street in Prague-Smíchov, Czechia.
Benedict does not seem to have left Rome for the purpose of becoming a
hermit, but only to find some place away from the life of the great
city; moreover, he took his old nurse with him as a servant and they
settled down to live in Enfide, near a church dedicated to Saint Peter,
in some kind of association with “a company of virtuous men” who were in
sympathy with his feelings and his views of life. Enfide, which the
tradition of Subiaco identifies with the modern Affile, is in the
Simbrucini mountains, about forty miles from Rome and two from Subiaco.
It stands on the crest of a ridge which rises rapidly from the valley to
the higher range of mountains, and seen from the lower ground the
village has the appearance of a fortress. As Saint Gregory’s account
indicates, and as is confirmed by the remains of the old town and by the
inscriptions found in the neighborhood, Enfide was a place of greater
importance than is the present town. At Enfide Benedict worked his first
miracle by restoring to perfect condition an earthenware wheat-sifter (
capisterium)
which his old servant had accidentally broken. The notoriety which this
miracle brought upon Benedict drove him to escape still farther from
social life, and “he fled secretly from his nurse and sought the more
retired district of Subiaco”. His purpose of life had also been
modified. He had fled Rome to escape the evils of a great city; he now
determined to be poor and to live by his own work. “For God’s sake he
deliberately chose the hardships of life and the weariness of labor”
(ibid., 1).
Subiaco
A short distance from Enfide is the entrance to a narrow, gloomy
valley, penetrating the mountains and leading directly to Subiaco.
Crossing the Anio and turning to the right, the path rises along the
left face oft the ravine and soon reaches the site of Nero’s villa and
of the huge mole which formed the lower end of the middle lake; across
the valley were ruins of the Roman baths, of which a few great arches
and detached masses of wall still stand. Rising from the mole upon
twenty five low arches, the foundations of which can even yet be traced,
was the bridge from the villa to the baths, under which the waters of
the middle lake poured in a wide fall into the lake below. The ruins of
these vast buildings and the wide sheet of falling water closed up the
entrance of the valley to Saint Benedict as he came from Enfide; to-day
the narrow valley lies open before us, closed only by the far off
mountains. The path continues to ascend, and the side of the ravine, on
which it runs, becomes steeper, until we reach a cave above which the
mountain now rises almost perpendicularly; while on the right hand it
strikes in a rapid descent down to where, in Saint Benedict’s day, five
hundred feet below, lay the blue waters of the lake. The cave has a
large triangular-shaped opening and is about ten feet deep. On his way
from Enfide, Benedict met a monk, Romanus, whose monastery was on the
mountain above the cliff overhanging the cave. Romanus had discussed
with Benedict the purpose which had brought him to Subiaco, and had
given him the monk’s habit. By his advice Benedict became a hermit and
for three years, unknown to men, lived in this cave above the lake.
Saint Gregory tells us little of these years, He now speaks of Benedict
no longer as a youth (
puer), but as a man (
vir) of
God. Romanus, he twice tells us, served the saint in every way he could.
The monk apparently visited him frequently, and on fixed days brought
him food.
St. Benedict in prayer & solitude with food provided by the monk Romanus. 16th century painting by Meister von Meßkirch
During these three years of solitude, broken only by occasional
communications with the outer world and by the visits of Romanus, he
matured both in mind and character, in knowledge of himself and of his
fellow-man, and at the same time he became not merely known to, but
secured the respect of, those about him; so much so that on the death of
the abbot of a monastery in the neighborhood (identified by some with
Vicovaro), the community came to him and begged him to become its abbot.
Benedict was acquainted with the life and discipline of the monastery,
and knew that “their manners were diverse from his and therefore that
they would never agree together: yet, at length, overcome with their
entreaty, he gave his consent” (ibid., 3). The experiment failed; the
monks tried to poison him, and he returned to his cave. From this time
his miracles seen to have become frequent, and many people, attracted by
his sanctity and character, came to Subiaco to be under his guidance.
For them he built in the valley twelve monasteries, in each of which he
placed a superior with twelve monks. In a thirteenth he lived with “a
few, such as he thought would more profit and be better instructed by
his own presence” (ibid., 3). He remained, however, the father or abbot
of all. With the establishment of these monasteries began the schools
for children; and amongst the first to be brought were Maurus and
Placid.
The remainder of Saint Benedict’s life was spent in realizing the
ideal of monasticism which he has left us drawn out in his Rule. How
long he remained at Subiaco we do not know. Abbot Tosti conjectures it
was until the year 529. Of these years Saint Gregory is content to tell
no more than a few stories descriptive of the life of the monks, and of
the character and government of Saint Benedict. The latter was making
his first attempt to realize in these twelve monasteries his conception
of the monastic life. We can fill in many of the details from the Rule.
By his own experiment and his knowledge of the history of monasticism
the saint had learnt that the regeneration of the individual, except in
abnormal cases, is not reached by the path of solitude, nor by that of
austerity, but by the beaten path of man’s social instinct, with its
necessary conditions of obedience and work; and that neither the body
nor the mind can be safely overstrained in the effort to avoid evil
(ibid., 64). Thus, at Subiaco we find no solitaries, no conventual
hermits, no great austerities, but men living together in organized
communities for the purpose of leading good lives, doing such work as
came to their hand – carrying water up the steep mountain-side, doing
the other household work, raising the twelve cloisters, clearing the
ground, making gardens, teaching children, preaching to the country
people, reading and studying at least four hours a day, receiving
strangers, accepting and training new-comers, attending the regular
hours of prayer, reciting and chanting the Psalter. The life at Subiaco
and the character of Saint Benedict attracted many to the new
monasteries, and their increasing numbers and growing influence came the
inevitable jealousy and persecution, which culminated with a vile
attempt of a neighboring priest to scandalize the monks by an exhibition
of naked women, dancing in the courtyard of the saint’s monastery
(Dial. Saint Greg., 8). To save his followers from further persecution
Benedict left Subiaco and went to Monte Cassino.
Monte Cassino
Upon the crest of Monte Cassino “there was an ancient chapel in which
the foolish and simple country people, according to the custom of the
old Gentiles, worshipped the god Apollo. Round about it likewise upon
all sides there were woods for the service of devils, in which, even to
that very time, the mad multitude of infidels did offer most wicked
sacrifice. The man of God, coming hither, feat in pieces the idol,
overthrew the altar, set fire on the woods and in the temple of Apollo
built the oratory of Saint Martin: and where the altar of the same
Apollo was, he made an oratory of Saint John: and by his continual
preaching he brought the people dwelling in those parts to embrace the
faith of Christ” (ibid., 8). On this spot the saint built his monastery.
His experience at Subiaco had led him to alter his plans, and now,
instead of building several houses with a small community in each, he
kept all his monks in one monastery and provided for its government by
appointing a prior and deans (Rule, 65, 21). We find no trace in his
Rule, which was most probably written at Monte Cassino, of the view
which guided him when he built the twelve small monasteries at Subiaco.
The life which we have witnessed at Subiaco was renewed at Subiaco was
renewed at Monte Cassino, but the change in the situation and local
conditions brought a corresponding modification in the work undertaken
by the monks. Subiaco was a retired valley away in the mountains and
difficult of access; Cassino was on one of the great highways to the
south of Italy, and at no great distance from Capua. This brought the
monastery into more frequent communication with the outside world. It
soon became a centre of influence in a district in which there was a
large population, with several dioceses and other monasteries. Abbots
came to see and advise with Benedict. Men of all classes were frequent
visitors, and he numbered nobles and bishops among his intimate friends.
There were nuns in the neighborhood whom the monks went to preach to
and to teach. There was a village nearby in which Saint Benedict
preached and made many converts (Dial. Saint Greg., 19). The monastery
became the protector of the poor, their trustee (ibid., 31). their
refuge in sickness, in trial, in accidents, in want.
Thus
during the life of the saint we find what has ever since remained a
characteristic feature of Benedictine houses, i.e. the members take up
any work which is adapted to their peculiar circumstances, any work
which may be dictated by their necessities. Thus we find the
Benedictines teaching in poor schools and in the universities,
practicing the arts and following agriculture, undertaking the care of
souls, or devoting themselves wholly to study. No work is foreign to the
Benedictine, provided only it is compatible with living in community
and with the performance of the Divine Office. This freedom in the
choice of work was necessary in a Rule which was to be suited to all
times and places, but it was primarily the natural result of the which
Saint Benedict had in view, and which he differs from the founders of
later orders. These later had in view some special work to which they
wished their disciples to devote themselves; Saint Benedict’s purpose
was only to provide a Rule by which anyone might follow the Gospel
counsels, and live, and work and pray, and save his soul. Saint
Gregory’s narrative of the establishment of Monte Cassino does little
more for us than to supply disconnected incidents which illustrate the
daily life of the monastery. We gain only a few biographical facts. From
Monte Cassino Saint Benedict founded another monastery near Terracina,
on the coast, about forty miles distant (ibid., 22). To the wisdom of
long experience and to the mature virtues of the saint, was now added
the gift of prophecy, of which Saint Gregory gives many examples.
Celebrated among these is the story of the visit of Totila, King of the
Goths, in the year 543, when the saint “rebuked him for his wicked
deeds, and in a few words told him all that should befall him, saying
‘Much wickedness do you daily commit, and many sins have you done: now
at length give over your sinful life. Into the city of Rome shall you
enter, and over the sea shall you pass: nine years shall you reign, and
in the tenth shall you leave this mortal life.’ The king, hearing these
things, was wonderfully afraid, and desiring the holy man to commend him
to God in his prayers he departed: and from that time forward he was
nothing so cruel as before he had been. Not long after he went to Rome,
sailed over into Sicily, and in the tenth year of his reign he lost his
kingdom together with his life.” (ibid., 15).
Scenes from the life of St. Benedict, with St. Benedict visiting his sister. Painting by Lorenzo Monaco
Totila’s visit to Monte Cassino in 543 is the only certain date we
have in the saint’s life. It must have occurred when Benedict was
advanced in age. Abbot Tosti, following others, puts the saint’s death
in the same year. Just before his death we hear for the first time of
his sister Scholastica. “She had been dedicated from her infancy to Our
Lord, and used to come once a year to visit her brother. To whom the man
of God went not far from the gate to a place that did belong to the
abbey, there to give her entertainment” (ibid., 33). They met for the
last time three days before Scholastica’s death, on a day “when the sky
was so clear that no cloud was to be seen”. The sister begged her
brother to stay the night, “but by no persuasion would he agree unto
that, saying that he might not by any means tarry all night out of his
abbey…. The nun receiving this denial of her brother, joining her hands
together, laid them on the table; and so bowing her head upon them, she
made her prayers to Almighty God, and lifting her head from the table,
there fell suddenly such a tempest of lightening and thundering, and
such abundance of rain, that neither venerable Bennet, nor the monks
that were with him, could put their head out of door” (ibid., 33). Three
days later, “Benedict beheld the soul of his sister, which was departed
from her body, in the likeness of a dove, to ascend into heaven: who
rejoicing much to see her great glory, with hymns and lauds gave thanks
to Almighty God, and did impart news of this her death to his monks whom
also he sent presently to bring her corpse to his abbey, to have it
buried in that grave which he had provided for himself” (ibid., 34).
It would seem to have been about this time that Saint Benedict had
that wonderful vision in which he came as near to seeing God as is
possible for man in this life. Saint Gregory and Saint Bonaventure say
that Benedict saw God and in that vision of God saw the whole world.
Saint Thomas will not allow that this could have been. Urban VIII,
however, does not hesitate to say that “the saint merited while still in
this mortal life, to see God Himself and in God all that is below him”.
If he did not see the Creator, he saw the light which is in the
Creator, and in that light, as Saint Gregory says, “saw the whole world
gathered together as it were under on beam of the sun. At the same time
he saw the soul of Germanus, Bishop of Capua, in a fiery globe carried
up by the angels to Heaven” (ibid., 35). Once more the hidden things of
God were shown to him, and he warned his brethren, both “those that
lived daily with him and those that dwelt far off” of his approaching
death. “Six days before he left this world he gave orders to have his
sepulcher opened, and forthwith falling into an ague, he began with
burning heat to wax faint; and when as the sickness daily increased,
upon the sixth day he commanded his monks to carry him into the oratory,
where he did arm himself receiving the Body and Blood of our Savior
Christ; and having his weak body holden up betwixt the hands of his
disciples, he stood with his own hands lifted up to heaven; and as he
was in that manner praying, he gave up the ghost” (ibid., 37). He was
buried in the same grave with his sister “in the oratory of Saint John
the Baptist, which [he] himself had built when he overthrew the altar of
Apollo” (ibid.). There is some doubt whether the relics of the saint
are still at Monte Cassino, or whether they were moved in the seventh
century to Fleury. Abbot Tosti in his life of Saint Benedict, discusses
the question at length (chap. xi) and decides the controversy in favor
of Monte Cassino.
St. Benedict and Totila, King of the Goths. Painting by Spinello Aretino
Perhaps the most striking characteristics in Saint Benedict are his
deep and wide human feeling and his moderation. The former reveals
itself in the many anecdotes recorded by Saint Gregory. We see it in his
sympathy and care for the simplest of his monks; his hastening to the
help of the poor Goth who had lost his bill-hook; spending the hours of
the night in prayer on the mountain to save his monks the labor of
carrying water, and to remove from their lives a “just cause of
grumbling”; staying three days in a monastery to help to induce one of
the monks to “remain quietly at his prayers as the other monks did”,
instead of going forth from the chapel and wandering about “busying
himself worldly and transitory things”. He lets the crow from the
neighboring woods come daily when all are at dinner to be fed by
himself. His mind is always with those who are absent; sitting in his
cell he knows that Placid is fallen into the lake; he foresees the
accident to the builders and sends a warning to them; in spirit and some
kind of real presence he is with the monks “eating and refreshing
themselves” on their journey, with his friend Valentinian on his way to
the monastery, with the monk taking a present from the nuns, with the
new community in Terracina. Throughout Saint Gregory’s narrative he is
always the same quiet, gentle, dignified, strong, peace-loving man who
by the subtle power of sympathy becomes the center of the lives and
interests of all about him. We see him with his monks in the church, at
their reading, sometimes in the fields, but more commonly in his cell,
where frequent messengers find him “weeping silently in his prayers”,
and in the night hours standing at “the window of his cell in the tower,
offering up his prayers to God”; and often, as Totila found him,
sitting outside the door of his cell, or “before the gate of the
monastery reading a book”. He has given his own portrait in his ideal
picture of an abbot (Rule, 64):
The Death of St. Benedict. A scene from Stories from the Legend of St Benedict by Spinello Aretino.
“It beseemeth the abbot to be ever doing some good for his brethren
rather than to be presiding over them. He must, therefore, be learned in
the law of God, that he may know whence to bring forth things new and
old; he must be chaste, sober, and merciful, ever preferring mercy to
justice, that he himself may obtain mercy. Let him hate sin and love the
brethren. And even in his corrections, let him act with prudence, and
not go too far, lest while he seeketh too eagerly to scrape off the
rust, the vessel be broken. Let him keep his own frailty ever before his
eyes, and remember that the bruised reed must not be broken. And by
this we do not mean that he should suffer vices to grow up; but that
prudently and with charity he should cut them off, in the way he shall
see best for each, as we have already said; and let him study rather to
be loved than feared. Let him not be violent nor over anxious, not
exacting nor obstinate, not jealous nor prone to suspicion, or else he
will never be at rest. In all his commands, whether spiritual or
temporal, let him be prudent and considerate. In the works which he
imposeth let him be discreet and moderate, bearing in mind the
discretion of holy Jacob, when he said: ‘If I cause my flocks to be
overdriven, they will all perish in one day’. Taking, then, such
testimonies as are borne by these and the like words to discretion, the
mother of virtues, let him so temper all things, that the strong may
have something to strive after, and the weak nothing at which to take
alarm.”
(adapted from the article by Hugh Edmund Ford, Catholic Encyclopedia, 1907)
