Belfast, United Kingdom: The Living Church Down and Connor celebrate the Fast of St Benedict, abbot and Patron of Europe, Today, Tuesday, July 11, 2023, United Kingdom and recognize all his religious beliefs and preachings he performed during his life.
Benedict was born into a distinguished family in central Italy, studied at Rome, and was drawn to monasticism early in life. At first, he became a hermit, leaving a depressing world—pagan armies on the march, the Church torn by schism, people suffering from war, and morality at a low ebb.
He soon realized he could not live a sheltered life in a small town any better than a large city, so he withdrew to a cave high in the mountains for three years. Some monks chose Benedict as their leader for a while but found his strictness not to their taste. Still, the shift from hermit to community life had begun for him. He had an idea of gathering various families of monks into one “Grand Monastery” to give them the benefit of unity, fraternity, and permanent worship in one house.
Finally, he began to build what was to become one of the most famous monasteries in the world—Monte Cassino, commanding three narrow valleys running toward the mountains north of Naples.
The gradually developed rule prescribed a life of liturgical prayer, study, manual labour, and living together in a community under an ordinary abbot. Benedictine asceticism is known for its moderation, and Benedictine charity has always shown concern for the people in the surrounding countryside. During the Middle Ages, all monasticism in the West was gradually brought under the Rule of St. Benedict.
Today the Benedictine family is represented by 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.
The Living Church Down and Connor has prayed for the Benedictine and Cistercian families in Ireland and worldwide. “Praying for all named Benedict.
St Benedict, pray for us.” they quoted.
