The Benedictines: An Introduction
by Abbot Primate Jerome Theisen, OSB STD
(eighth Abbot of Saint John's Abbey and seventh
Abbot Primate of the Benedictine Confederation)
Ancient Tradition
Benedictines carry on a monastic tradition that stems from the origins of the Christian monastic movement in the late third century. They regard Saint Benedict as their founder and guide even though he did not establish a Benedictine Order as such. He wrote a Rule for his monastery at Monte Cassino in Italy and he foresaw that it could be used elsewhere. Monte Cassino was destroyed by the Lombards about A.D. 577 and was not reestablished until the middle of the eighth century. Meanwhile the Rule found its way to monasteries in England, Gaul, and elsewhere. At first it was one of a number of rules accepted by a particular monastery but later, especially through the promotional efforts of Charlemagne and his son Louis, it became the rule of choice for monasteries of Europe from the ninth century onwards.
Communities
The early medieval monasteries of Europe, those for men and women, followed the Rule of Benedict with local adaptations needed in different climes and cultures. They continued, however, the tradition of community life with its common prayer, reading, and work. Some of the monasteries were founded as centers of evangelization of peoples; others carried on a program of education, art and architecture, and the making of manuscripts. Many monasteries were centers of liturgy and learning in the midst of chaotic times and shifting kingdoms.
The Splendor of Cluny
Benedictine monasteries are often characterized as local institutions with a great deal of autonomy. In the Middle Ages they were often founded by the nobility as centers of prayer, communities that would pray for the people, especially the nobles themselves. The monasteries had little contact with each other though eventually some of them began to relate to each other for the sake of protection from bishops and nobles and for common discipline. The most famous association was that of Cluny, named for the abbey in Burgundy; this monastery was founded in 909/910 and grew to include numerous dependencies. Cluny reformed congregations of black monks, as they were called, in practically all parts of Europe. The abbot of Cluny was in effect the superior of all the dependent monasteries though he administered the multitude of abbeys through appointed priors. Cluny excelled in the splendor and length of its liturgy, so much so that its monks had little time for manual labor or reading.
Medieval Twilight
The Benedictine monasteries waned at the end of the twelfth century, about the time the Church witnessed the rise of the "modern" orders of Franciscans and Dominicans. The Benedictines, though in decline in members and discipline, continued their round of monastic life but at times without their properly constituted head. Not a few monasteries were burdened by a commendatory abbot, a person who was appointed by the pope or a nobleman to oversee and to protect the goods of the monastery. Often, however, he appropriated the wealth of monastic lands without involvement in the actual life of the community.
Roman Reform
In the Middle Ages and up to modern times Benedictine monasteries for men and women often formed various associations or unions in order to promote discipline and mutual assistance. This was in fact mandated by the Council of Trent (1545-1563; Sess. xxv, cap. 8). Monasteries slowly and with much hesitation followed the directives of Pope Innocent III and the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) to establish visitations of monasteries and regular general chapters for the enactment of legislation.
The Reformers and Decline
Many Benedictine monasteries were closed at the time of the Protestant Reformation both because the reformers preached against monastic vows as unevangelical and because secular rulers coveted and seized the abundance of properties owned by the monastics. Congregations of Benedictines continued in the centuries after the Reformation, but most monasteries were closed and expropriated during the Napoleonic era. As a result, their numbers were very few at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
New Dawn
During the course of the 1800s, however, Benedictines experienced a revival. Some congregations, e.g., the Solesmes and BeuroneseCongregations, restored a kind of Benedictine monasticism that stressed the enclosed life with its round of liturgical prayer performed with great precision and splendor.
Modern Diversity
Other congregations; e.g., the St. Ottilien Congregation and groupings of American Benedictine women, stressed the missionary endeavors of evangelizing, teaching, and health care. Men and women Benedictines continued to establish new houses in many countries right up to the time of Vatican Council II (1962-1965). Since then the number of Benedictines has declined once again, at least in the First and Second World, but it has increased in other regions, e.g., East Africa and South Korea.
Geographic Stability
Today Benedictines, both men and women, are still characterized as people who take root in a particular place and who are related to the culture and needs of a specific location. Most are associated together in congregations for purposes of mutual assistance and common discipline. At the same time they vary widely in the type of monastic life they lead. Some pursue an enclosed life with little involvement in the local Church and society; others insist on various degrees of involvement such as education, parochial ministry, evangelization, publication, health care, etc.
Roman Roots
In 1887 Pope Leo XIII, who was enamored of the Benedictines, reestablished the College of Saint Anselm in Rome. It continues today as an institute for Benedictine students and others who wish to obtain graduate degrees in philosophy, theology, liturgy, and monastic studies. In 1893 the same pope provided the "order" with an Abbot Primate to oversee the college and to provide spiritual leadership for the Confederation of Benedictine monasteries.
The Abbot Primate does not have direct jurisdiction in the monasteries of the order, though he is still charged with a general concern for the well-being of Benedictines around the world. Thus Benedictines differ from most modern religious orders who have a superior general in Rome.
Congregational Autonomy
Benedictines of today continue to group themselves in congregations of monasteries; some, however, especially many communities of nuns, are positioned outside congregations and relate directly to the local bishop and to the abbot primate in Rome. The followers of Saint Benedict vary much in the way they carry out the thrust of the sixth-century Rule, but in general they retain essential features of their origins -- local gatherings of monastics who endeavor to seek God in a common life of prayer, reading, and service.
The St. Benedict Medal
Initials | Latin | English | Position in medal |
PAX | PAX | Peace | Top |
C S P B | Crux Sancti Patris Benedicti | The Cross of our Holy Father Benedict | Four quadrants made by centre cross |
C S S M L | Crux Sacra Sit Mihi Lux! | May the holy cross be my light! | Center cross, vertical bar |
N D S M D | Non [Nunquam?] Draco Sit Mihi Dux! | "May the dragon never be my overlord!" "Let the devil not be my leader." | Center cross, horizontal bar |
V R S | Vade Retro Satana! | "Begone satan!" "Get behind me satan" | Clockwise around disk |
N S M V | Nunquam Suade Mihi Vana! | "Never tempt me with your vanities!" "Don't persuade me of wicked things." | Clockwise around disk |
S M Q L | Sunt Mala Quae Libas. | "What you offer me is evil." "What you are showing me is bad." | Clockwise around disk |
I V B | Ipse venena bibas! | "Drink the poison yourself!" "Drink your poisons yourself." | Clockwise around disk |
The Spirit of Benedictine Life
by Abbot Philip Lawrence, OSB
of the Monastery of Christ in the Desert, New Mexico, U.S.A.
"May my ways be firm in the observance of your laws"
(Ps.118:5)
"Do not be daunted immediately by fear and run away from the road that leads to salvation. It is bound to be narrow at the outset." (The Rule of St. Benedict, Prologue, verse 48)
What is Benedictine spirituality? For that matter is there really such a thing as a spiritual lifestyle and philosophy based upon the teachings of St. Benedict?
In attempting to answer this it must first be made clear that the only existing document we have penned by him is a fairly modest volume, his Rule. On even a cursory examination, it can be discerned that the author frequently refers the reader back to the Bible. This is the key, for there most certainly is a "Benedictine" life, with this same Rule as the cornerstone of a spirituality that is practiced on every continent of the world by thousands of monks, nuns, sisters and lay persons. The work began in the early years of the sixth century, and expanded and perfected at Monte Cassino is nothing if not a fulfilment of the promise, "seek first the kingdom [of God] and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you..." (Mtt. 6:33). Benedict sought God and the perfect service of God, and to this end every precept of the Rule was directed. Yet what is so unique about these teachings is not so much the content, for many others have espoused living in imitation of Christ, but their interpretation of this message.
Of one hundred twenty-six biblical citations to be found in the Rule, there are fifty-five from books of the New Testament, and seventy-one from the Old Testament. Of these seventy-one, fifty are taken directly from the Psalms. It is not for nothing that the Psalter has been called the prayer book of the Benedictines. This then is the pool from which Benedict fished his spiritual life and teachings. It is from this same source that he intended we draw our strength, that we might through perseverance discover both the desire and necessary stamina to proceed in the way of the Gospel. This is the challenge put before us by St. Benedict.
For those seeking an introduction to our way of life, it could be proposed that the spiritual path of perfection as delineated by St. Benedict is outlined most eloquently in the Prologue to the Rule and in the chapter concerning humility. This chapter, the seventh, is by far the longest and in many ways the first among equals, for it presents a virtue that must by definition include all others. It is in confronting humility that we are forced, often against our own will, to couple it first with obedience, and then with good zeal, etc., etc., until the canon is complete. Ultimately, we find that all the virtues are so closely linked that, when properly interwoven, they produce a truly indestructible fabric; prayer is the loom on which this cloth is crafted by the monk. He understands this intrinsically, for without this final element self-will would forever retain mastery over him.
It is in chapter 7 of the Rule that Benedict provides us with the metaphor of a twelve-step ladder, kindling in us the desire to "attain speedily that exaltation in heaven to which we climb by the humility of this present life" for which "by our own ascending actions we must set up that ladder on which Jacob in a dream saw angels ascending and descending (Gen.28:12)." (RB 7:6)
Benedict then describes precisely what each step represents and, by so doing provides us not only with an exquisite example of Judeo-Christian symbology on which to meditate, but also a dozen profound lessons in daily living, applicable to monk and lay person alike.
The chapter begins with the exhortation, "everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted" (Lk. 14:11), and quickly builds on this premise, both admonishing us and placing us as individuals within a context: "Lord, my heart is not proud; nor are my eyes haughty. I do not busy myself with great matters, with things too sublime for me. Rather, I have stilled my soul, hushed it like a weaned child. Like a weaned child on its mother's lap, so is my soul within me." (Ps. 131:1)
The final step is attained only when a monk can at all times show humility not only in his appearance and actions, but also in his heart.
St. Benedict felt that it is only upon climbing all twelve steps that a monk can hope to find that perfect love of God that casts out fear; only then will he be capable of acting solely out of love for Christ. Indeed, the initial fear which may have been necessary as a motivator can inspire the renunciation of all externals, including ownership; this in turn may lead to an inner renunciation that is the very essence of humility. Fear is eliminated by love, which is revealed as the very pinnacle of life on earth: upon successfully climbing the twelve steps one discovers what can only be called an unspeakable respect for God. It is then that his word is listened to with veneration and his law lovingly observed.
Accordingly, the person who fears God "guards himself at every moment from sins and vices." For Benedict, this struggle against the vices of body and mind is the monk's greatest task (RB 1:5); the prospect of the amendment of these vices is the greatest hope of the abbot (RB 2:40). The totality of the battle to be constantly waged is emphasized by the saint's listing of the human elements to be guarded: thoughts, tongue, self-will and fleshly desires.
There is, moreover, one specific fault to be denounced above all others by Benedict: murmuring. In fact, in the Prologue he cites Psalm 94[95], "today you would hear his voice; do not harden your hearts". With this he recalls the entire salvation history of the Israelites. This quotation serves to remind the monk that an entire people, chosen and formed by God, ultimately through its murmurings turned away from him, losing its privileges in the process and eventually failing even to recognize its savior. For a Benedictine community this is a lesson to be learned and not forgotten; for us it is a matter of spiritual life and death.
To a student of the Gospel, the exhortation that begins the Prologue to the Rule, "Listen carefully, my son, to the master's instructions, and attend to them with the ear of the heart..." can be summed up as an urgent invitation for a return to God. Each of its elements: listening, the call, the promise of true life, is an echo of the cry of Jesus to his contemporaries. It is as a response to this cry that Benedict asks us to seek through prayer, renunciation and a conscious sharing in the sufferings of Christ, a share in his kingdom.
The total spiritual poverty that is demanded of us and to which as monks we must respond without hesitation, is lovingly granted through the Beatitudes. It is, according to the teachings to which we adhere, the door to our own resurrection. It is for this reason we ultimately follow him. After all, who has trodden the path as he has: from his baptism in the Jordan through the trials, misunderstandings and humiliations of rejection, to his glowing obedience to his Father and the final unblinking act of sacrifice. Truly did he say, "I am the Way."
This is the very heart of biblical spirituality; this is the core of the Benedictine spirit.
