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St. Benedict:Named Patron Saint of Europe Scott 414-415 (1965) July 11 marks the Feast of Saint Benedict of Nursia. He was the founder of the Benedictine Order, the Abbot of Monte Cassino, the Father of Western Monasticism and, in 1964, was named by Pope Paul VI a patron saint of Europe. For a person so important in Church History, little specific is known about St. Benedict and his dates are somewhat uncertain. The main, somewhat contemporary source, of our knowledge of Benedict comes from the Dialogues of St. Gregory, the Great. Benedict was born in Nursia, around the year 480 AD. He studied for a time in Rome, and at approximately age 14 he became a hermit at Subiaco in Lazio, near Tivoli, overlooking the River Aniene or Teverone (ca. 494). The Sacred Grotto (Sacro Speco) is a part of St. Benedict’s Abbey and the nearby Abbey of St. Scholastica, Benedict’s sister. He was invited to organize groups of hermits into a monastic foundation at Subiaco, occasionally meeting with resistance, including attempts on his life.  Abbey of Monte Cassino as depicted in Giovan Battista Pacichelli's "Il regno di Napoli in prospettiva" (1703) From the Old Collection of the University of Seville Library (Seville, Spain) From Wikimedia Commons, used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license Around the year 529, St. Benedict relocated to Monte Cassino to establish the famous monastery, located 80 miles (130 km) southeast from Rome, on a high plateau overlooking a broad plain. The abbey was built on a former Roman pagan site. The monks that gathered there were guided by "The Rule of St. Benedict", a series of 73 chapters or precepts which directed monastic life, a path which was followed in other future European monasteries, and which eventually spread world-wide. The Rule sets down organizational principles, patterns of monastic life, roles and functions within a monastic community. In writing his Rule, St. Benedict stated: "[We] intend to establish a school for the Lord’s service. In drawing on its regulations, we hope to set down nothing harsh, nothing burdensome"He also admonished the monks that they 'prefer nothing whatever to Christ, and may He bring us together in everlasting life." A principle of Benedictine hospitality is that ‘all guests…are to be welcomed as Christ.’ The principles of the Rule are adaptable to time and circumstance, even to our own day, adopted by laypeople as Benedictine Oblates, who follow the rule in daily, secular life. Benedictine Monasticism would eventually spread throughout Europe. This has been deemed to be one of the especially important factors influencing the development of “Europe” as we now know it. He died around the year 550 AD.  Panoramic View of the Abbey of Monte Cassino As seen from the Polish Cemetery Photo by Adrian104 (2007) From Wikimedia Commons, in the Public Domain Monte Cassino, like many monasteries, experienced periods of vicissitude during its long existence. Allied planes bombed the abbey during World War II because German troops occupied the area and, after the bombing, occupied the ruins of the monastery. A bitterly fought assault by Free Polish brigades finally won the day for the Allied Forces on May 16, 1944. The abbey’s treasures and documents were evacuated to Rome before its destruction. Monte Cassino was restored after the war and rededicated by Pope Paul VI. Portions of its buildings and grounds are open to visitors by schedule. St. Benedict’s reputed tomb is located behind the high altar of the Abbey, said also to contain the relics of his sister, St. Scholastica, the founder of an order of sisters who follow the Rule of St. Benedict. Another tradition holds that these relics (or some of them) were transferred to France (in ca. 673) during years that Monte Cassino had been abandoned following a 580 Lombard sack of the monastery. St. Benedict and/or St. Scholastica have been depicted not only on Vatican City stamps, but on stamps issued by Italy, San Marino, Austria, and Germany, among others. During a 2008 Wednesday audience, Pope Benedict XVI stated that Benedict contributed: "a fundamental influence on the development of European civilization and culture. …[Benedict’s life and Rule]…were to prove heralds of an authentic spiritual leaven, which in the course of centuries, far beyond the boundaries of his country and time, changed the face of Europe following the fall of the political unity created by the Roman Empire, inspiring a new spiritual and cultural unity, that of the Christian faith shared by the peoples of the Continent. This is how the reality we call ‘Europe' came into being."Considered the “Patriarch of Western Monasticism”, Saint Benedict was named Patron of Europe by Pope Paul VI in 1964. In 1980, along with Saints Cyril and Methodius, he was named Co-Patron of Europe by St. John Paul II (on the 1,500th anniversary of his birth). In addition to the stamps shown at the top of this article, issued in 1965 to commemorate the naming of Saint Benedict as a Patron Saint of Europe, the set below was issued in 1980 to honor the 1500th anniversary of his birth. 
St. Benedict of Nursia: 1500th Anniversary of BirthIlluminated Letters and Illustrations: Vatican Apostolic Library 80 L: Abbot Desiderius giving Codex to Saint Benedict 100 L: Saint Benedict writing The Rule 150 L: Page from the Rule 220 L: Death of Saint Benedict 450 L: Montecassino Scott 668-672 (1980) References: |
