A MUCH NEEDED RENAISSANCE IN THE 21ST CENTURY
DOM PIUS MARY NOONAN, OSB
Notre Dame Priory
Colebrook, Tasmania, Australia
A SCHOOL OF THE DIVINE SERVICE
The influence of Benedictine monasteries on the creation of western civilisation is a solidly established fact of history. After the fall of the Roman empire, and the ensuing decadence that led through what has come to be called the “Dark Ages”, Benedictine monasteries became centres not only of prayer, but also of learning and civilisation. In the silence of their cloisters, the monks maintained the culture, both secular and religious, of the ancients and passed it on to succeeding generations until the great universities were established in the high Middle Ages, making it then possible for the expansion of culture at the time of the Renaissance. Many have pointed out the similarities of our time with that of St Benedict. The pax romana which had guaranteed a peaceful coexistence and prosperous undertakings for centuries, was gone, dissipated by the invasion of the barbarians from the north, and causing the total breakdown of the order that had reigned theretofore. Today, the values of our western Christian civilisation, which continue to have some influence, are fast vanishing, leaving our society prey to new ideologies which differ from barbarianism only in their stealthiness in imposing new structures through fallacies of the mind rather than through the force of arms.ORA (PRAY)
Benedict, whose only desire, according to St Gregory the Great, was to please God (soli Deo placere cupiens), tells his monks that they must prefer nothing to the love of Christ (nihil amori Christi praeponere). Such desire for God and love for Christ gives direction to the monk’s life, orients it continually towards our final goal. Preferring nothing to the love of Christ means that Christ is loved above all things; it also means that the human heart finds in love for Him the stability, the point of reference, the anchor which allows it to subordinate all other loves to it. If the monk’s heart is solidly established in Christ, he can then love others, all others, with the very love of Christ, without the risk of these other loves causing prejudice to the unique love of his life. Loving Christ above and in all things also entails spending time with Him. And so it is that love for Christ gives shape to the everyday life in the monastery. Even though St Benedict did not invent the eight-fold prayer of the divine office (Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, Compline), his legislation in the Rule did set the standard for all subsequent legislation in religious orders. Eight times a day — the first being in the final hours of the night, — the monk goes to choir, where he offers his mind and heart and body to the Lord of all things, proving by his deeds that God is his all.LABORA (WORK)
The other half of the Benedictine motto is “labora”. St Benedict specifies that “Idleness is an enemy of the soul; and hence at stated hours the brethren ought to occupy themselves in the labour of their hands” (Rule, ch. 48). He goes on to prescribe just how much time is to be devoted to this labour according to the diverse seasons of the year. Thanks to manual work, the monk conforms himself to the example of the Apostles, St Joseph, nay Christ himself, obeying the common law and preaching the dignity of humble work by which man is associated with the work of the Creator. He finds therein the sure and excellent way of self-denial and humbly takes part in helping the monastery provide for its needs and those of the poor. Manual work also teaches the monk solidarity with all the working sectors of people and makes him personally experience what it means to earn a living. It is easy to see how such an ethos of work has contributed to building up Western civilization and to this day inspires solidarity among various classes of people. Perhaps this is one of the aspects of the monk’s life which favoured in a special way the implantation of monastic communities in missionary countries: the monks, being men of work, not only gave the good example of making a living for themselves, but also taught the people of other countries the skills they had developed in Europe.LABORA (WORK)
The other half of the Benedictine motto is “labora”. St Benedict specifies that “Idleness is an enemy of the soul; and hence at stated hours the brethren ought to occupy themselves in the labour of their hands” (Rule, ch. 48). He goes on to prescribe just how much time is to be devoted to this labour according to the diverse seasons of the year. Thanks to manual work, the monk conforms himself to the example of the Apostles, St Joseph, nay Christ himself, obeying the common law and preaching the dignity of humble work by which man is associated with the work of the Creator. He finds therein the sure and excellent way of self-denial and humbly takes part in helping the monastery provide for its needs and those of the poor. Manual work also teaches the monk solidarity with all the working sectors of people and makes him personally experience what it means to earn a living. It is easy to see how such an ethos of work has contributed to building up Western civilization and to this day inspires solidarity among various classes of people. Perhaps this is one of the aspects of the monk’s life which favoured in a special way the implantation of monastic communities in missionary countries: the monks, being men of work, not only gave the good example of making a living for themselves, but also taught the people of other countries the skills they had developed in Europe.A presentation of monastic work would not be complete however without making mention of intellectual and pastoral work. As mentioned above, Lectio Divina led the monks to become scholars and missionaries. Think only of St Augustine of Canterbury, the apostle of England who was sent there by another great Benedictine, none other than St Gregory the Great himself. Think of St Boniface the apostle of Germany, of Venerable Bede, St Anselm of Canterbury, Hildebrand (St Gregory VII), initiator of what came to be known as the Gregorian reform. Think of the great Abbots of Cluny such as St Odo, St Odilo, St Maiolus, St Hugh, Bl. Peter the Venerable, or again of Rabanus Maurus, John of Glastonbury, Jean Mabillon, Bl Columba Marmion, Bl Alphonsus Schuster. In Australia, one cannot fail to mention men like Bede Polding, William Bernard Ullathorne, and Rosendo Salvado, all Benedictine monks who became missionary bishops and found no contradiction between their life of praise learned in the cloister, and the mission to souls which was destined to give rise to other “schools of the divine service”. We cannot fail to mention as well the legions of monks who have assisted the Church throughout the centuries with their expertise in all the sacred disciplines. The reputation of quality work achieved in the silence of the cloister was well earned by generations of monks and nuns. Nor may we omit to mention some of the illustrious women, Benedictine nuns, who have illustrated the Church by their learning: to the names of St Gertrude, St Mechtild and St Hildegard, we should add those of modern nuns who left an indelible mark on monastic spirituality in recent times, such as Mother Cécile Bruyère, first abbess of Solesmes, or Mother Marie Cronier, foundress of Dourgnes in France. The spiritual, moral, intellectual, and pastoral impetus given by St Benedict has carried through to our own day.
A RECIPE FOR RECONSTRUCTION
Many are those today who are opening their eyes to a terrifying reality: modern man has lost his way; humanity itself seems in dire peril of ceasing to be human. Having lost contact with who he really is, with what makes up his own God-given nature, he is in real danger of destroying himself. As Pope Benedict XVI once put it, having removed God from his horizon, man can only come up with recipes for destruction. And that is precisely why we need a recipe for reconstruction. St Benedict, his Rule, his community life, his divine liturgy, are invaluable for helping man rediscover who he really is. Man — body and soul —, placed in a universe that unites matter and spirit, can only achieve the fulfillment of his nature by taking the full measure of what it means to be both corporal and spiritual. And this is admirably done in the very structure of Benedictine monastic life.
We live in common to help each other; we pray in common to encourage each other in our pursuit of God; the other is there to help us as we trod our personal path, and we are there to help the other in his. “A brother that is helped by his brother, is like a strong city” (Prov 18:19). The very organization of daily life in a monastery, with its attention to details that a man needs to be able to rely on, the delicate attention paid to each other, and the paternal guidance of the father of the community who watches over all so that all may be at peace and glorify God while saving their souls, such are the most fundamental aspects of the life which reaches its climax in the communal celebration of the Divine Office.
No doubt about it, St Benedict is relevant to our times, just as in the VIth century. He still offers his monasteries as havens to men and women who really seek God, want to save their souls in eternity and find peace here below. This young man who left the world to save it, becoming the founder of monastic life in the West, magister of civilization, and herald of the Christian religion, is also a messenger of peace, divine peace, which exudes from his person and his true sons and daughters. Peace – Pax, that other great Benedictine motto –, is the fruit of a life lived within the harmony willed by God, a life which creates peace and harmony for others, moulds unity in families and among peoples. Is there any more urgent need today?
