ST. BENEDICT OF NURSIA.

 

       The scriptures are always there for our nourishment and sanctification. However, very few pay attention to its dictates or try to obey it without compromise. Just as Jesus mentioned in the scriptures, that the road that leads to damnation is large and many follow it but that which leads to life is narrow and only few finds it. To the glory of God, the great father of western monasticism, St. Benedict, who we celebrate today, was not just among those who found that rugged path but he taught many thousands of souls after him to follow that path, and he continues, even till today, to teach it to many.

          Even though little is written about him, there are some traces of his life especially from the Dialogues of St Gregory. Born in a noble family in Nursia around the year 480. He was sent to Rome to study. Having met wars, lack of morality and many other strives and struggles in the city, he abandoned his studies to seek the rugged path that leads to eternal life. First, he became a hermit. Later, a group of monks begged him to become their Abbot. Nevertheless, the monks weren’t comfortable with his strictness and that led to his leaving them. Going back to his hermitage, he had many encounters with those who weren’t comfortable with his holiness of life. Attempts were made to poison him and since none of these succeeded, they tried to use prostitutes to tempt him. Consequently, he left his abode in search of peace. This led him to Monte Cassino, where he built one of the most popular monasteries in the world. He died of a fever at Monte Cassino, not long after his sister St. Scholastica, on the 21st of March, 547.

Benedict also wrote the Rule of St. Benedict, a classical guide on the life of the monks. It can be divided into two; a guide for the administration of the monastery and how to live a Christo-centric life on earth. Today the Benedictine Order is firmly established and has contributed greatly to the growth of the Church. They are of two branches: The Benedictine Federation encompassing the men and women of the Order of St. Benedict, and the Cistercians, men and women of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance.

          We have a lot to learn from the life of St. Benedict. He abandoned his comfort zones in search of God. Let us look on ourselves and find out the areas where we allow our comforts to reduce the reign of the will of God in our lives.

I guess we know what to do when we find such things.

St. Benedict of Nursia                   pray for us.