SAINT BENEDICT

(9th Edition of The Encyclopaedia Britannica - Vol. III, 1878)

BENEDICT, ST, the founder of the celebrated Benedictine order, i the !ot illutriou na!e in the early hitory of
"etern !onatici!. To hi! !ore than to any other the !onatic yte!, #hich #a detined to e$ercie uch an
influence for centurie, o#e it e$tenion and or%ani&ation. Benedict #a born at 'uria in (!bria about the year
)8*. +e belon%ed to an old Italian fa!ily, and #a early ent to ,o!e to be educated, but the diorder and -ice of
the capital dro-e hi! into olitude #hile till a youth. It #a a ti!e of public peril and ocial ruin. The ,o!an
e!pire #a cru!blin% to piece, ha.en by the uccei-e inroad of barbarian, and a prey to e-ery pecie of
-iolence and corruption. /oun% Benedict fled fro! the #ic.edne around hi!. +e %a-e up hi literary tudie and
preferred to be #iely i%norant (scienter nesciens). Thi i the tate!ent of hi bio%rapher 0re%ory the 0reat, fro!
#ho! co!e all the detail that #e .no# of Benedict1 life. It i needle to ay that !any of thee detail are of uch
a character that it i i!poible for !odern hitorical critici! to accept the! in their literal !eanin%. It i of no ue,
ho#e-er, tryin% to dientan%le the truth fro! the falehood. The reader can eaily !a.e allo#ance for the
i!a%inati-e e$a%%eration of the tory.
"hen Benedict fled fro! ,o!e he too. refu%e in a olitary %or%e for!ed by the 2nio, in it picture3ue coure,
about )* !ile fro! the city. There, in a dar. inacceible %rotto near 4ubiaco, he found ecluion and helter. 2
nei%hbourin% !on. upplied hi! #ith food let do#n by a rope, #ith a !all bell attached, #hich %a-e notice of the
approach of the food. 5nce the de-il bro.e the rope, but hi !alice #a foiled by the piou in%enuity of the !on..
5ther and %ra-er dan%er aailed hi!. The E-il 5ne too. the hape of a beautiful #o!an, #ith #hoe i!a%e the
youthful reclue had been fa!iliar in ,o!e, and o #or.ed upon hi ene that he #a on the point of abandonin%
hi olitude in earch of the beauty #hich haunted hi!. But u!!onin% all hi fortitude he tripped hi!elf of the
-et!ent of .in, #hich #a hi only co-erin%, ruhed na.ed a!on%t the thorn and briar #hich %re# around hi
retreat, and rolled hi!elf a!on%t the! till he had e$tin%uihed the i!pure fla!e #hich de-oured hi!. 'o
i!pule of enual paion e-er re-iited hi!. But trial of a different .ind aailed hi!. 2fter pendin% about three
year in retire!ent a nei%hbourin% con-ent of !on. inited upon chooin% hi! a their head. +e #arned the! of
the e-erity of the rule he #ould be bound to e$ercie, but they #ould not be diuaded fro! their purpoe. +e had
hardly co!!enced hi office, ho#e-er, #hen they bro.e out into fierce reent!ent a%aint hi!, and atte!pted to
poion hi!. The cup containin% the poion #a no ooner ta.en into the hand of Benedict than it burt aunder6
and, cal!ly repro-in% the! for their in%ratitude, he left the! and #ithdre# once !ore into hi olitude.
By thi ti!e, ho#e-er, the fa!e of Benedict had pread, and it #a i!poible for hi! to re!ain inacti-e.
7ultitude %athered around hi!, and no fe#er than t#el-e elect cloiter #ere planted in the lonely -alley of the
2nio and on the ad8acent hei%ht. /oun% patrician fro! ,o!e and ele#here #ere attracted to thee fraternitie6
and a!on%t the! one of the na!e of 7auru (4t 7aur) #ho be%an to hare in popular etee! o!ethin% of the
anctity and !iraculou endo#!ent of Benedict, and #ho #a detined to be hi ucceor. But #ith increain%
fa!e ca!e alo 8ealouy of hi poition and dutie. 2 rene#ed atte!pt #a !ade by an en-iou priet to ad!initer
poion to the aint6 and, !iraculou interpoition ha-in% a%ain co!e to hi recue, the a!e priet, by na!e
9lorentiu, had recoure to the diabolical de-ice of endin% e-en le#d %irl #ithin the precinct of the !onatery, to
educe the !on. by their %eture and port. Benedict deter!ined to depart fro! a nei%hbourhood o full of
dan%er, not#ithtandin% the lon% period of thirty year durin% #hich he had laboured to conecrate it and pread
abroad the blein% of an acetic :hritianity. +e 8ourneyed outh#ard, and at len%th ettled at 7onte :aino, an
iolated and picture3ue hill near the ource of the ;iri. There at thi ti!e an ancient te!ple of 2pollo till tood, to
#hich the i%norant peaant brou%ht their offerin%. Benedict, in hi holy enthuia!, proceeded to de!olih the
te!ple and to erect in it place t#o oratorie, one to 4t <ohn the Baptit and the other to 4t 7artin #hoe acetic
fa!e had tra-elled to Italy fro! the outh of 0aul. 2round thee acred pot %radually roe the fa!ou !onatery
#hich #a detined to carry the na!e of it founder throu%h the :hritian #orld, and to %i-e it la#, a 7il!an
ay, =to al!ot the #hole of "etern !onatici!.=
Benedict ur-i-ed fourteen year after he had be%an thi %reat #or.. +i anctity and influence %re# #ith hi year,
in illutration of #hich it i told ho# the barbarian .in% Totila, #ho !ade hi!elf !ater of ,o!e and Italy, ou%ht
hi preence, and, protratin% hi!elf at hi feet, accepted a rebu.e for hi crueltie, and departed a hu!bler and
better !an. +i lat day #ere aociated #ith the lo-e and de-otion of hi iter 4colatica, #ho too had fora.en
the #orld and %i-en herelf to a reli%iou life #ith an enthuia! and %eniu for %o-ern!ent hardly le than hi
o#n. 4he had etablihed a nunnery near 7onte :aino6 but the rule of the order per!itted the brother and iter to
!eet only once a year. +e had co!e to pay hi accuto!ed -iit. They had pent the day in de-out con-ere, and, in
the fullne of her affection, 4colatica entreated hi! to re!ain, and =pea. of the 8oy of hea-en till the !ornin%.=
Benedict #a not to be pre-ailed upon, #hen hi iter burt into a flood of tear, and bo#ed her head in prayer.
I!!ediately the hea-en beca!e o-ercat6 thunder #a heard, and the rain fell in torrent, o that it #a i!poible
for Benedict to depart for the ni%ht, #hich #a pent in piritual e$ercie. Three day later Benedict a# in -iion
the oul of hi iter enterin% hea-en, and in a fe# day after#ard hi o#n u!!on ca!e. +e died tandin%, after
parta.in% of the holy co!!union, and #a buried by the ide of hi iter.
The BENEDICTINES, or follo#er of 4t Benedict, #ere thoe #ho ub!itted to the !onatic rule #hich he
intituted. The t#o !ain principle of thi rule #ere labour and obedience. It #a the ditinction of Benedict that he
not !erely or%ani&ed the !on. into co!!unitie, but baed their co!!unity-life, in a %reat de%ree, on !anual
labour, in contrat to the !erely !editati-e ecluion #hich had hitherto been in -o%ue both in the Eat and the
"et. >robably, not e-en the founder hi!elf forea# all the propecti-e ad-anta%e of hi la#, #hich #a detined
not !erely to !a.e !any a #ilderne and olitary place to re8oice #ith fertility, but to e$pand, !oreo-er, into a
noble intellectual fruitfulne, #hich ha been the %lory of the Benedictine order. The la# of obedience #a
abolute, but #a te!pered by the neceity on the part of the uperior of conultin% all the !on. ae!bled in a
council or chapter upon all i!portant buine. The abbot or uperior #a alo elected by all the !on., #hoe
liberty of choice #a unretricted. 'o ri%ht of endo#!ent properly ubited #ithin the !onatery6 and the -o# of
tability once underta.en after the e$piry of the year of no-itiate could ne-er be recalled. 9ood and clothin% #ere of
the i!plet .ind, and all duly re%ulated6 and the inter-al of labour #ere relie-ed by a continually recurrin% round
of reli%iou er-ice fro! pri!e to e-enon%. The Benedictine rule pread al!ot uni-erally in the ="et,--not in
ri-alry of any other rule, but a the !ore full and co!plete de-elop!ent of the !onatic yte!. In 9rance and
En%land epecially it too. rapid root6 and = in e-ery rich -alley, by the ide of e-ery clear and deep trea!, aroe a
Benedictine abbey =--a centre of local %ood and :hritian ci-ili&ation. (<. T.)
Encyclopaedia Britannica
'inth Edition, Vol. III
:harle 4cribner1 4on, 'e# /or., 1878
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