Of Benedict and His Order

21 March 2015 community, Divine Office, inside baseball, Moments in Time, Vocation

Icon of Saint Benedict
at Mount Athos

Although it no longer appears on the Universal (Roman) calendar, today is one of two feasts of Saint Benedict celebrated by Benedictines throughout the world.

This is the day in the year 547 when Saint Benedict of Norcia died.

Saint Benedict is generally considered the founder of western monasticism, and his Rule spread throughout the west as the Roman Empire was collapsing. Pope Pius XII lauded him, for in the perilous times that followed Rome’s fall, it was Benedictine monks who preserved the ancient learning.

It was for this reason that Pope Paul VI proclaimed him a patron saint of Europe.

I note with joy that new monastic institutions with many young monks and sisters are now beginning to flourish in the United States and elsewhere. For the last few years, I’ve made it my habit to provide a brief survey of some of the notable monasteries and their efforts to create what has been called “a (new) civilization of love, rooted in contemplation and alive with the holiness of God” (Bishop Edward Slattery).

Clear Creek Monks in Choir

Some of these are not Benedictine in the strict sense of the word, but as all monastic ventures in the western Church ultimately trace their ancestry to Saint Benedict, I hope you will indulge me.

Our Lady of the Annunciation of Clear Creek Abbey

Founded in 1999 by twelve American, Canadian, and French monks from Notre-Dame de Fontgombault, they now number more than 60 monks and novices.

They are building a great Romanesque-style monastery in the Ozark foothills of Oklahoma, and they’re running out of room for new monks faster than they can build.

I prayed with one of their rosaries throughout my Camino and ever since.

Monks of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel

Their Carmel is located in the Rocky Mountains of northwestern Wyoming near Yellowstone National Park.

Lately, I have been drinking their Mystic Monk coffee, and I heartily recommend it!

They’re raising the money to build their own traditional monastery in Wyoming.

Valley of Our Lady Monastery

In Wisconsin, meanwhile, a group of Cistercian nuns is also raising funds to construct a new monastery to hold their exploding population.

The Monks of Norcia

It cheers me that Saint Benedict’s own home at Norcia is once more home to a Benedictine abbey.

These monks celebrate the sacraments according to both the Ordinary Form and Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, and they are kind enough to post audio clips of their daily Mass, Lauds, and Vespers on their blog.

And I look forward to sampling their beer at some point!

These men are finding the quiet spaces in the world to listen for the whispering voice of God (1 Kings 19:11-13).

Silverstream Priory

A group of American ex-patriot monks have founded Silverstream Priory in Stamullen, County Meath, Ireland.

Their primary mission is the liturgy and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, though I’m fairly well impressed by the beauty and dignity of the printed materials they produce.