Thursday, March 2, 2023

It is the 2nd of March 2023 Welcome to the Christian History Almanac brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org, I’m Dan van Voorhis.

Some years ago, a book appeared with a rather provocative title, it suggested that the Irish saved civilization. With no disrespect to the Irish, how could this be? Guinness? Nachos that use French fries instead of chips? Were the Keebler elves actually leprechauns?

The author suggested that the Irish monasteries and missions preserved the culture and the Christian faith in the face of the germanic tribes reading the former Roman Empire. It’s a clever idea, but how did the monasteries get to Ireland? You might remember that it was the Egyptian father, St. Antony, who is considered the father of monasticism, but his was a solitary kind- not the kind of monastery we associate with monks today (the word for these monasteries with many people living together is “cenobitic”- it’s a community rather than a Christian all by their lonesome).

So while the African Antony is the father of monasticism in general, the western monastic tradition traces its origins back to St. Benedict of Nursia, who was born on this, the 2nd of March in 480.

That year and location are significant. First, Nursia, or modern-day Norcia, is a city northwest of Rome. Secondly, 480 puts his birthright at the time of the fall of Rome. Benedict, the son of a Roman noble, would live on the cusp of the Medieval era and do much to shape it.

To be fair- we don’t know much about Benedict save what was written about him about Gregory the Great almost a century later. This has led some to suggest that Benedict isn’t one person but rather the amalgamation of many men who helped found the earliest Medieval monasteries. I don’t find this argument very compelling, and regardless, we are concerned with the Benedictine legacy- that of monasteries and his famous Rule.  

According to Gregory, Benedict went to Rome for school but was turned off by the dissolute lifestyles of the priests. He decided to forsake both the training in Rome and his father’s wealth to seek out his “holy purpose.” Benedict’s story has him retiring to secluded areas, but his miraculous acts attract followers. He eventually found solitude but decided to live in a community of like-minded believers, unlike Antony and the Dessert fathers.

He would eventually found 12 monasteries, each with 12 monks committed to living under a common rule- what would come down to us as “the Rule of St. Benedict.” And thus, the “Benedictines” would be the first western religious order with a cenobitic lifestyle. The rule emphasized prayer and obedience. Prayer was to be said in intervals- one at night and seven during the day- these were called the “matins, lauds, prime, terce, sext, none, vespers, and compline.” This came from Psalm 119, wherein the Psalmist claims, “seven times a day I praise thee” and “at midnight I rise to praise thee.”

Obedience was to the father, or Abbot, of the monastery, and one was expected to live their whole life at the same monastery- emphasizing stability. Benedict made his way to Monte Cassino, a former temple to Apollo that he rededicated to John the Baptist and Martin of Tours. His sister, Scholastica, founded a similar home for nuns near her brother's Monte Cassino monastery.

Unlike later orders, the Benedictines did not take a vow of extreme poverty but rather one of simplicity- they could eat two meals a day and were not forbidden to hold property and necessary tools. The Benedictine life was centered around labor and prayer- later, Benedictines would include scholarship and the work of a scribe to labor, an important addition to their later legacy.

In 589, Monte Cassino was looted and burned. Most of the monks fled to Rome, where they spread Benedict’s Rule amongst the religious men there, including Gregory, the future pope, and St. Augustine (not that one, but the one who went to England as a missionary). It is through Augustine of Canterbury that it spread throughout the British Isles- into Ireland, where those monks could do the work credited with “saving civilization.”  

Benedict would die in 547. Born on this the 2nd of March in 480, he was 67 years old.

The last word for today comes from 2 Timothy:

6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 2nd of March 2023, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man whose favorite Benedicts include: the St., the eggs, and the Cumberbatch. He is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who prefers his Eggs Benedict with chorizo or corned beef instead of Canadian bacon and a slice of avocado- I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.