Man of Monte Cassino
by Mike Oettle
THE father of Western monasticism is one of the many
titles given to Benedict of Nursia, whose day falls on 11 July. (However,
monks keep it on 21 March, the traditional date of his death.) A more recent
title is patron of all
His most enduring physical monument is the
abbey at Monte Cassino, remembered by many South Africans as the scene of a
drawn-out and hellish Second World War battle between the British (and Allied)
8th Army[1]
and nazi Germany in 1944. But the abbey has been destroyed (notably, and in
error, by Allied action in ’44) and rebuilt many times. It is his rule of
monastic life for which we remember Benedict.
Born at Nursia (now Norcia) near Spoletium
(Spoleto, in Umbria) around AD 480, Benedict saw in his lifetime the final
collapse of imperial Roman authority in Italy (the emperor in his day ruled
from Constantinople) and its replacement with barbarian lawlessness and papal
rule. He was sent to
For three years he was fed and clothed by a
monk called Romanus, who lived in one of a number of nearby monasteries, but
he was then persuaded to become abbot of one of the monasteries. However, his
reforming zeal led to an attempt to poison him and he returned to his cave.
Followers flocked to him nonetheless, and he founded 12 new monasteries.
Eventually trouble broke out again and around
527 he moved to the hill above the village of Cassino, halfway between Rome and Naples, in
a region still largely pagan – indeed, the hilltop had an altar dedicated to
Apollo. Here he lived out his life, achieving the conversion of most of the
neighbouring population to Christianity.
His twin sister, Scholastica, came to live
nearby and founded a convent. Legend has it that brother and sister saw each
other once a year, for one day only. Scholastica, who looked forward to these
annual meetings, often tried to persuade Benedict to stay longer, but always he
would go at the end of the day. On one occasion (it was to be the last) she
prayed that he would be forced to stay the night, and her prayer was answered
by a terrible storm that kept him in the convent. They spent the night in
prayer and deep spiritual fellowship before Benedict returned home in the
morning. Three days later she died, and Benedict had her buried in the grave he
had prepared for himself at Monte
The date of his death is not known, but it was
around AD 547 – indeed, the only date known for certain about Benedict’s life
is the visit in 542 of the Gothic king Totila, who was to sack Rome in 546.
Benedict developed his Rule over the years,[2]
as he gained experience in living in community. He always regarded the
solitary life as the crown of monasticism for one mature and experienced, but
developed the Rule as a matter of necessity. It subjects members to a strict
discipline that requires them to remain within the walls of the monastery, and
to work, study and rest at given times, with plenty of prayer through the day.
Complete silence is required at mealtimes, so that the brothers may hear one of
their number nominated to read aloud from Scripture or the lives of the
saints.
A major advance was the introduction of a
novitiate, allowing a recruit to a monastery a year’s communal living before
committing himself to this way of life. Also significant are the absolute authority
of the abbot and the complete denial of private property – brothers are only
permitted clothing and equipment allocated to them by the abbot.
While such a rule of community life was a vast
improvement over the monasticism that prevailed when Benedict left Rome, and
especially over the solitary lives of the Desert Fathers, it remains a contemplative
way of life that does little to encourage members to go out into the world.
(While Benedict himself brought his pagan neighbours to Christ, his
successors have not been renowned for missionary work.)
It was left to later orders, particularly the Franciscans and Dominicans, to be active in evangelism.
Yet the Rule is such a complete and well founded pattern for orderly life in
community that it has been followed and adapted ever since.
