SA IN T B E N E D IC T

The Library of Liberal Arts

In the courtyard of the Abbey of Monte Cassino, the priest
Florentius offers the poisoned bread to Benedict (see p. 15). From
Gregorius I, Dialogorum lib e j 11, Vita S. B enedicti, Paduan manu­
script of the middle 15th Century. Reproduced by permission of
The Pierpont Morgan Library.
 T H E D IA LO G U ES OF

Gregory the Great

BOOK TW O

S A IN T B E N E D I C T

T R A N S L A T E D , W I T H A N IN T R O D U C T IO N
AN D N O TES, B Y M Y R A L . U H L F E L D E R
BRYN M AW R CO LLEG E

The Library of Liberal Arts

published by
TH E BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY, INC.
Indianapolis and New York
Saint Benedict: ca. a .d . 480-550
Gregory the Great: ca. a .d . 540-604

copyright © 1967
T H E BO BBS-M ERRILL COMPANY, INC.
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 66-3061
First Printing
 C O N TEN TS

INTRO D UCTIO N, ix

B IB LIO G R A P H IC A L N O TE, X X u i
N O TE ON T H E T E X T , X X ÌV

SAINT BENEDICT

I* How a Broken Cleaning-Vessel

Was Repaired 4
ii* How Benedict Overcame the
Temptation of the Flesh 6
in* How a Glass Vessel Was Broken
by the Sign of the Cross 8
iv* How a Monk Who Could Not Concentrate
Was Restored to Soundness 11
v* How Water Was Produced from a Rock
on the Mountain Top by
Benedict’s Prayer 12
vi* How an Iron Tool Came Up from the
Bottom of the Water and
Returned to Its Handle 13
vu • How His Disciple, Maurus,
Walked on Water 14
v
 CONTENTS

vin* How Some Poisoned Bread Was

Thrown Away by a Raven 15
ix* How a Huge Rock Was Raised by
the Prayer of the Man of God 18
x* An Imaginary Fire in the Kitchen 19
xi • How a Young Monk, Gravely Injured
by the Collapse of a Wall,
Was Healed by His Prayer 19
xii* The Monks Who Had Eaten
Outside the Monastery 20
xiii* The Man of God Realizes That the
Brother of the Monk Valentinian
Had Eaten Along the Way 21
xiv • How King Totila’s Deception
Was Discovered 22
xv* How a Prophecy Was Given to
King Totila and to the Priest of Canosa 23
xvi* How a Cleric Was Temporarily Freed
from a Demon 24
xvii* How the Man of God Predicted the
Destruction of His Monastery 27
xviii • How a Plidden Flask Was Discovered by
the Man of God Through the Holy Spirit 28
xix* How Benedict Found Out About the
Acceptance of the Handkerchieves 28
xx* How the Man of God Was Aware of
a Monk’s Proud Thought * 29
xxi • How Two Hundred Measures of Meal
 CONTENTS V il

Were Found in Front of Benedict’s

Monastery at a T ime of Famine 30
xxii• How the Architectural Plan for a
Monastery at Terracina
Was Drawn Up in a Dream 31
X X II I» How Some Nuns Who Had Died Were
Restored to the Communion of
the Church Through His Offering 33
X X IV » About the Young Monk Cast Out by
the Earth After Burial 34
xxv • About a Monk Who Left the Monastery
and Found a Serpent on the Way 35
XXVI» How a Servant Was Cured of Leprosy 36
xxvii • How Pieces of Gold Were
Miraculously Given to a Debtor 36
xxviii • How a Glass Vessel Was Thrown upon
Some Rocks and Not Broken 37
X X IX » How an Empty Jar Was Filled with Oil 38
XXX» How a Monk Was Freed from a Demon 38
XXXI» How a Bound Peasant Was Freed When
the Man of God Merely Looked at Him 39
XXXII» How Benedict Revived a Corpse 41
X XXIII» The Miracle of His Sister Scholastica 42
XXXIV» How Benedict Saw the Departure of
His Sister’s Soul from Her Body 44
xxxv • About the Way That the World Was
Gathered Up Before Benedict’s Eyes and
About the Soul of Germanus,
Bishop of Capua 44
V ili CONTENTS

xxxvi* That Benedict Had Written

a Rule for Monks 46
xxxvii • How the Prophecy of His Death
Was Reported to the Brothers 47
xxxviii • How a Madwoman Was
Restored to Health in His Cave 48
 Introduction

For a student of the post-classical period, Book II of Gregory’s

Dialogues is significant first of all because it is our main author­
ity for the life of St. Benedict. Its value as a virtually unique
source is enhanced by the fact that it was written in 593-594, less
than fifty years after Benedict’s death. At a time so close to the
saint’s life, oral tradition was readily available to supplement
written records; and in fact, Gregory, in citing his sources, often
mentions personal conversations.
From the Dialogues, we learn that Benedict was born (ca. 480)
in the Umbrian province of Nursia, and that in his early youth
he decided to relinquish his chances of worldly success and to
dedicate himself to his religious vocation. After a period of
solitary retirement in a cave near Lake Subiaco, he made an
unsuccessful attempt to reform the wayward monks of Vicovaro.
Then he established his own first monastic communities at Su­
biaco. In 528 he moved to Monte Cassino, where he built his
famous monastery, composed his Rule, and spent the rest of his
life (d. ca. 550). In 627 his remains were taken to France to the
Abbey of Fleury, which adopted the name Saint-Benoit-sur-
Loire.
The importance of St. Benedict in the history of Western
Civilization is inextricably related to the deep and widespread
influence of monasticism, especially upon the Middle Ages, for
monasticism was the quintessence of mediaeval spirituality.1
Later periods too, even the most secular of them, have been
indebted to the monks who preserved the literature of the past

1 For excellent discussions of the monastic spirit and its achievements,

see Jean Leclercq, The Love of Learning and the Desire for God, tr. Catha­
rine Misrahi (Mentor Omega Book M T432) and Claude J. Peifer, Monastic
Spirituality (New York, 1966).

IX
X INTRODUCTION

by copying manuscripts.2 Since European monasticism is very

largely Benedictine, the impact of Benedict's life and work
becomes evident.3
One reason for the extraordinary popularity of the Dialogues,
from the date of its composition (593-594) to our own day, is
the identity of its author, Pope Gregory the Great (ca. 540-604).4
Gregory was a prolific if not a highly original writer. In addi­
tion to the Dialogues, his works include the Liber Regulae
Pastoralis (or Liber Pastoralis Curae) on the duties of a bishop,
the Magna Moralia, which is a commentary on Job, Homilies
on the Gospel, and Homilies on Ezekiel. The massive body of
Gregory’s Epistles provides an invaluable primary source for
the historian of the period from the pen of one of its most
influential figures.
Gregory’s literary works were intended to be, and are, at
once products and instruments of his monastic and his pontifical
vocations. Extensive as these writings are, they are surpassed in
importance by Gregory’s success as a devoted and talented ad-

2 Benedictine monasticism in later periods developed regular practices

perhaps not envisioned, and certainly not specified, by St. Benedict himself
in the R u le, among them the copying of manuscripts. For a recent general
description and survey of the evolution of the Order and for current bib­
liography, see Lowrie J. Daly, Benedictine Monasticism, Its Formation and
Development through the 12th Century (New York, 1965). Father Daly
acknowledges his indebtedness especially to the works of Dom David
Knowles (T he Monastic Order in England [Cambridge, 1950]) and of Dom
Philibert Schmitz (Histoire de l'Ordre de Saint-Benoît, 2nd ed., 7 vols. [Les
Éditions de Maredsous, 1948-1956]).
3 T h e Irish monks who were such active missionaries on the continent
found it necessary to mitigate the rigor of Celtic monasticism by adopting
the practices of the more moderate Benedictines. Benedictine monasticism
stresses work, prayer, absolute obedience, and simple devoutness. It is prac­
tical and humane in the sense that it aims at reducing harmful and unnec­
essary temptations, and does not foster the development of a “ spiritual
athlete” who constantly looks for higher obstacles to surmount and aspires
to prodigious feats of asceticism.
4 For a general survey of the life, times, and work of Gregory, see
F. Homes Dudden, Gregory the Great, His Place in History and Thought,
2 vols. (London, 1905); and Louis Bréhier and René Aigrain, Grégoire le
Grand, Vol. V of Histoire de l'Église, ed. A. Fliche and V. Martin (Paris,
1947>-
 INTRODUCTION XI

ministrator at a time when his abilities were sorely needed. As

a spiritual man of action Gregory made such a great con­
tribution that he is sometimes regarded as the founder of the
mediaeval papacy.
Although he was a Roman of good family, Gregory in his
youth voluntarily gave up his chances for worldly advancement,
used his patrimony to found monasteries in Sicily and in Rome,
and himself retired from the world to his Roman monastery on
the Caelian Hill. His illustrious career in the Church was im­
posed upon him against his will. After serving as seventh deacon
in Rome and as papal representative (<apocrisiarius) at the im­
perial court in Constantinople (ca. 579-585), he returned to
Rome as abbot of his monastery (St. Andrew’s). When Pope
Pelagius II died of the raging pestilence, Gregory was chosen
as his successor and forced to accept the position (590). His re­
sponsibilities were heavy and diverse, since he was beset by prob­
lems resulting from natural disasters as well as from military,
political, and economic pressures. Even in time of peace and
stability it would have been enough of a task to administer the
large papal estates in Italy, but the incursions of the Lombards
and the need for maintaining a satisfactory relationship with
the Emperor at Constantinople and with his representative in
Italy, the Exarch of Ravenna, seriously increased the difficulty.
As Pope, Gregory was active also in advancing the cause of
Benedictine monasticism and in spreading the Gospel among
the heathen. Most famous of these advances and the one closest
to his heart was the conversion of England. We are most for­
tunate in the preservation of Bede’s splendid historical account
of how Gregory’s dreams were fulfilled by the fruitful labor of
his apostle Augustine, first Archbishop of Canterbury.5
The combination of Gregory’s practical ability on the one
hand and his wholehearted dedication to duty and exemplary
personal life on the other brings to mind one of his famous
predecessors, St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. The
similarities and the differences between the two men and their

5 Historia Ecclesiastica 1.23-2 .1. For a recent account, see Margaret Deane-
sly, Augustine of Canterbury (London, 1964).
X ll INTRODUCTION

situations are worth noting here. Like others of his famous

contemporaries, notably St. Augustine (chosen co-bishop of
Hippo Regius in northern Africa in 395), Ambrose also was
forced to accept the bishop’s miter, as Gregory was to be com­
pelled to become Bishop of Rome over two centuries later. All
three of these men, it should be mentioned, filled their imposed
offices as conscientiously as if they had ambitiously campaigned
for them.
The essential differences between Ambrose and Gregory may
be explained by the vital changes that took place in the two
centuries separating the lives of the two men. Ambrose lived in
the twilight of antiquity, in the late Roman Empire, while
Gregory was active a century after the last Roman Emperor of
the West was deposed in 476.
During the sixth century, Italy had undergone a succession
of disasters. With the fall of the Ostrogothic kingdom and the
failure of Justinian to establish the firm imperial authority of
Constantinople over the West (war of Justinian against the
Goths, 535-555) the country fell under the domination of the
barbarian Lombards, who had entered in 568.6
It is not surprising that two centuries would bring about im­
portant changes at any period of history, and in an era of such
marked military and political turbulence as the fifth and sixth
centuries the point might seem too obvious to mention, but the
transformation most meaningful to the student of intellectual
history is not automatically explained by upheavals in govern­
ment, armed conflicts and sieges, and movements of barbarians.
The significant point to be noted here is the fact that Ambrose
and his contemporaries were products of the traditional Roman
type of education, whereas Gregory, by whose time the educated
pagan families of the late Empire had been converted, had no
such link with the non-Christian “ thought-world.” There was

6 For a survey of the period and bibliography, see Ferdinand Lot, The
End of the Ancient World and the Beginnings of the M iddle Ages, tr. Philip
and Mariette Leon, with introduction and additional bibliography by Glan-
ville Downey (Harper Torchbooks T B 1044). Cf. Pierre Courcelle, Histoire
littéraire des grandes invasions germaniques, 3rd ed. (Paris, 1964).
 INTRODUCTION X lll

an awareness among pagans and Christians of late antiquity

that, despite fundamental differences, they shared something of
value as joint heirs of a cultural heritage. Gregory, on the other
hand, must have considered pagans members of an alien cul­
ture, interesting primarily as potential converts to Christianity.
The earlier Christians were brought up on the old classical
authors of Greece and Rome and were thoroughly trained in
what were later to be called the arts of the trivium, especially
grammar and rhetoric.7 Ambrose was not distinguished from
Symmachus and Macrobius by his academic background. He
was an ardent Christian and they were among the last Roman
idealizers of the officially rejected paganism, but all alike were
products of the same educational system.8 It is precisely because

7 T h e traditional grammar taught by the grammaticus on the secondary

level of education included a basic study of literature as well as grammar in
our restricted sense of the term. Training in rhetoric was undertaken by
more advanced students. For studies of education in antiquity and the early
Middle Ages, see:

H. I. Marrou. A History of Education in Antiquity, tr. George Lamb.

Mentor Book M Q552.
--------- . Saint Augustin et la fin de la culture antique. 2nd ed. Paris, 1949.
Pierre Riché. Éducation et Culture dans VOccident barbare, VIe-VIIIe
Siècles, Patristica Sorbonensia 4. Paris, 1962.
Jacques Fontaine. Isidore de Seville et la Culture classique dans l'Espagne
wisigothique. 2 vols. Paris, 1959.
8 Even spiritually, the influence of Neoplatonism provided another bond
between pagans and Christians at this period. T h e paganism of the late
Empire was largely Neoplatonic.
Among Christians, St. Augustine himself attests how much he had been
influenced by the reading of some libri Platonici (Confessions 7.9. Cf. P.
Courcelle, Les Confessions de Saint Augustin dans la tradition littéraire
[Paris, 1963]). Recent scholarship has demonstrated that Ambrose, too, draws
upon Neoplatonic writings (P. Courcelle, “ A u x sermons d ’Ambroise: La Dé­
couverte du Néo-platonisme chrétien,” Recherches sur les “ Confessions” de
saint Augustin [Paris, 1950], pp. 9 3-138 ; “ Plotin et saint Ambroise,” Revue
de Philologie, ser. 3,24 [1950], pp. 29-56; “ De Platon à saint Ambroise par
Apulée. Parallèles textuels entre le ‘De excessu fratris’ et le ‘De Platone/ ”
Revue de Philologie, ser. 3,35 [1961], pp. 15-28). For a superb statement of
the similarities and differences between Neoplatonic and Christian thoughts
and beliefs, see above mentioned Confessions 7.9.
XIV INTRODUCTION

they had been so thoroughly imbued with a love for and knowl­
edge of classical Roman literature that St. Jerome (ca. 345-420)
and St. Augustine (354-430) had such ambivalent feelings about
it;9 and that their contemporary, Paulinus of Noia (ca. 353-431),
although he had openly renounced allegiance to his secular past,
continued to write competent iambics, hexameters, elegiac coup­
lets, and even Sapphics.10 The classically trained Sulpicius
Severus displays his rhetorical education in the dedication to his
Life of St. Martin by the very act of denying his literary pro­
ficiency.11 His humble protestation of inadequacy is a conven-

9 St. Jerom e’s famous dream of being haled before the divine tribunal
and denounced as a Ciceronian, not a Christian, is recorded in Epistle 22.
His professed renunciation of the classics was impossible because they were
not simply books on a shelf, they were works which he had read and assimi­
lated. For one aspect of classical literary influence on the thought and style
of St. Jerome, see David S. Wiesen, St. Jerom e as a Satirist (Ithaca, N.Y.,
1964).
10 For a recent study on the Epistles of Paulinus of Noia, see Serafino
Prete, Paolino di Nola e l'umanesimo Cristiano (Bologna, 1964).
Some Christians felt no guilt about their love for the classical language
and literature, and displayed their learning with pride. It was a value which
they cherished in a spirit very much like that of the educated pagans of
their time. Since they sensed no conflict between such an attitude and their
at least nominally professed Christian faith, they could not understand why
some persons found it necessary to make a more or less complete renunci­
ation of their secular ties to the past. So the Christian Gallic poet Ausonius
(died ca. 395), elder friend of Paulinus of Noia, was puzzled and hurt by his
friend’s renunciation, which he evidently interpreted, at least in part, as a
personal rejection of friendship.
Later in the fifth century the Gallic Sidonius Apollinaris {ca. 430-479),
who became bishop of Clermont-Ferrand and discharged his duties bravely
and faithfully under the most trying of circumstances, offers a striking
example of an educated Christian who, like the pagan Macrobius and a
number of grammarians, desperately clung to the classical past as a cultural
defense against the attacks of barbarism. T h e Latin language and literature
became, for such persons, the tangible remains of a way of life which they
saw in the process of destruction.
11 “ Since I am very weak by nature, I avoided the judgments of men to
prevent the fulfillment of my expectation that my rough diction would meet
with the disapproval of readers and that I should be regarded as most
worthy of censure for shamelessly pre-empting a subject which should prop­
erly have been left for polished authors.”
 INTRODUCTION XV

tional rhetorical device for winning the good will of the hearer
or reader.
It is true that St. Augustine, in his De Doctrina Christiana,
adopts a highly utilitarian attitude toward classical culture and
states that its value should be limited by its potential service to
Christianity.12 For others, his words might prevail; for himself
it was too late.
At the beginning of the sixth century, Boethius (ca. 480-524)
stands as the last conspicuous representative of classical culture
in its traditional form. The subsequent transition in the times
is symbolically expressed by the life of Cassiodorus (ca. 487-583),
Boethius’ contemporary and fellow servant of the Ostrogothic
King Theodoric. After the chaotic Italian political condition
had forced him to abandon his hope of founding a Roman
school of higher Christian learning, Cassiodorus withdrew to his
estate at Vivarium in Calabria and established a monastic com­
munity there. The low general level of culture can be inferred
from the elementary nature of the texts which he thought it
necessary to compile for the instruction of his monks.13
It was this post-classical world into which Gregory was born.
However literate he may have been, his natural affinities were
for the life of Christian monastic retirement, as he clearly
showed from the time of his youth.14 For him Rome was the
city ennobled by the blood of Peter and Paul, not the capital
to which Cicero and Vergil had paid tribute and owed their

12 T h e attitude that one should derive all possible gain, even from the
treasures of the deadly enemy, is often referred to as “ spoiling the Egyp­
tians.” T h e figure comes from Exodus 12 :3 5-3 6 , where it refers to the ful­
fillment by the children of Israel of the divine command to take the precious
belongings of the Egyptians as they leave the land of their enslavement and
march out to the promised land of freedom.
1 3 De Orthographia, in H. Keil, Grammatici Latini, 7 (Leipzig, 1878),
143-210 ; Institutiones, ed. R. A. B. Mynors (Oxford, 1961).
14 Th e extent of Gregory’s low regard for secular learning and the level
of his own academic attainment have been matters of controversy among
scholars. In any event, it is certain that his passionate concern was wholly
absorbed in Christianity, and that anything else could have been no more
than a means to his one end. In a very real sense, then, his interest in edu­
cation was purely practical in terms of his own goals and values.
XVI INTRODUCTION

loyalty. It is no wonder, then, that even after he had become

Pope he was led to record the lives and deeds of the Italian
saints, including his favorite Benedict, who also had turned
away from worldly knowledge.15
At this point, we may consider why Gregory was so strongly
attracted by the figure of Benedict, for whom he indicated his
respect and love by assigning him such a central position in the
Dialogues. Books I and III both deal with a number of holy
persons and their miracles, with a single chapter devoted to each
saint. Book II is devoted entirely to St. Benedict.16 One possible
explanation is that Gregory saw in Benedict his own mirror
image. Benedict, though a deep lover of solitude, became an
able administrator, willing to sacrifice his own peace in the

15 For the reader of Latin, the drastic change in spirit— the loss of that
sense of cultural continuity with the classical pagan tradition— is vividly
exemplified by the work of Gregory of Tours (538-594). T h at Gallo-Roman
historian of the Franks, who has bequeathed to us a lively account of Pope
Gregory’s pontifical coronation, was a devout admirer of St. Martin of Tours
and was himself utterly dedicated to the monastic ideal. His grammar and
syntax and his unrhetorical style reflect the living language which had
changed, rather than the standardized and disciplined literary medium of
the classical past, carefully, even reverently, preserved by the grammarians
and rhetoricians, with Cicero as their chief model.
T o a certain degree, any attempt to summarize the spirit of an age,
especially in such brief compass, will err by overgeneralization. Very few
students of history are so unsophisticated as to believe that movements and
ideas begin or end abruptly at a given date. Even when it may fairly be
said that certain tendencies prevail, it is evident that unanimity of thought,
belief, and feeling are impossible in the most culturally integrated or care­
fully controlled society. W hat we have been looking for is certain attitudes
and values which, conditioned by contemporary political and military events
as well as social and economic factors, may help to explain the special char­
acter of a period as a whole. By the late sixth century one feels, along with
an all-absorbing Christian awareness, the loss of that earlier identification
with the classical past which was no longer kept alive by the traditional
educational system. Had Gregory of Tours lived earlier, he, too, would have
learned classical Latin grammar and rhetoric.
16 Book IV is concerned with the immortality of the soul, a subject of
even greater than usual interest for Gregory, who anticipated the approach­
ing end of the world and the apocalyptic time of judgment.
 INTRODUCTION XVII

faithful discharge of his duties. By the establishment and pru­

dent administration of monastic communities, he showed that
sense of social responsibility which, often combined with evan­
gelical fervor, is a proper virtue of monasticism at its best.17
It is reassuring that the picture of Benedict which may be
inferred from the other main primary source, Benedict’s Rule,
corresponds well with that drawn by Gregory.18 Benedict ap­
pears in both as an intelligent man with considerable sympa­
thetic insight into human frailty. He does not compromise
or lower his standards, but sets realistic goals which can be
achieved through hard work. Such a person had much in com­
mon with the monk who sat upon the papal throne.
Gregory was also favorably impressed by the fact that Bene­
dict was an Italian, a man of the West. Gregory himself was

17 T h e commitment to other human beings is as basic as the belief that

God became Man for the sake of man. It is the counter-force which often
thrust the monk, that lover of reverent quiet, into the most perilous and
troublesome worldly affairs.
18 T h e scholarly debate about the relationship between St. Benedict’s
R u le and the so-called Regula Magistri is important to readers with a serious
interest in evaluating Benedict’s historical role. If the Regula Magistri is, in
fact, the source of the Benedictine R u le or if the two have a common source,
one may not use the R ule as evidence of Benedict’s original thought or of
his initiative in framing a new kind of monastic organization. But the
probability that Benedict was an enlightened traditionalist, a conservative
in the best sense of the term who drew from the rich spiritual experience of
East and West alike, does not seriously reduce his stature as a pioneer and
potent influence in Western monasticism. T h e ability to choose wisely and
to plan humanely, discreetly, and with purity of purpose is not to be
despised.
T h e evaluation of Benedict would, of course, have to be more drastically
revised if it should be proved that the Rule, ordinarily attributed to him was
not composed by him at all, even with the extensive use of earlier sources.
In that case, much more than his originality would be at stake; for the very
meaning of the term “ Benedictine” as applied to monasticism would not
have the same close connection with the life, work, and writings of this
historical figure.
For a concise discussion and bibliography about the problem of author­
ship of the Rule and of the relationship between the Rule and the Regula
Magistri, see Peifer, Monastic Spirituality, pp. 4 7 -5 3 and 489-490.
XV111 INTRODUCTION

ardently devoted to the West, and lavished his energies upon it.
His lack of response to the Greek world is indicated by his
failure to learn its language, although he had spent approxi­
mately six years in Constantinople. Much of his missionary zeal,
as we have already noted, was concentrated on Britain. It is one
of the gentler ironies of history that the Dialogues of this reso­
lutely Westward-looking Latin author was translated into Greek
in the eighth century by Pope Zacharias.
The Dialogues forms part of that vast collection of lives of
the saints which were produced in late antiquity and through­
out the Middle Ages.19 Their value to the historian is not based
primarily on their factual material, since it is common knowl­
edge that they are not the products of scientific investigation.
The historically oriented reader who looks for documentation
which will distinguish actual event from legend is doomed to
frustration. Even the well-attested use of contemporary sources
(as in the case of Gregory’s Dialogues) is no guarantee of histo­
ricity, since the transfer and accretion of legends occurs rapidly.
But the criterion of historicity is not the only one to be
considered. A great deal can be learned about the thoughts,
standards, and beliefs of a period by observing what qualities
and attitudes are regarded as worthy of praise and emulation.
The lives of saints are valuable, therefore, because they help to
reconstruct the intellectual history of the periods from which
they stemmed and to which they appealed.
Some of the vitae were widely diffused in East and West alike,
and had a profound influence in spreading the ideals of monas­

19 For a thorough and scholarly study of hagiography, including the his­

tory of modern scholarship on the subject, see René Aigrain, L ’Hagiog­
raphie, ses sources, ses méthodes, son histoire (Poitiers, 1953). Hippolyte
Delehaye, The Legends of the Saints, tr. Mrs. V. M. Crawford (University
of Notre Dame Press, ND P 7 1961), has recently been reprinted. Th is valu­
able critical work by one of the Bollandist Fathers, the most eminent
editors of hagiographical works, is a classic in the field. Further bibliog­
raphy may be found in Jean Décarreaux, Monks and Civilization, from the
Barbarian Invasions to the Reign of Charlemagne, tr. Charlotte Haldane
(New York, 1964).
 INTRODUCTION XIX

tic asceticism. One of the most famous is the fourth century

Life of St. Anthony,20 the reading of which, according to St.
Augustine, made two of his contemporaries decide at once to
withdraw from the world (Confessions 8.6). Another is the Life
of St. Martin of Tours by Sulpicius Severus, which we men­
tioned above.21 During this period of conflicting values and
spiritual ferment, many sensitive persons seem to have been
strengthened by the experience of others who had taken the
decisive step and found the true path. Gregory’s idealized por­
trait of St. Benedict, with its sympathetic portrayal of Western
monasticism, became one of the most influential of these works
which taught by example.
In the Middle Ages, these lives were an extremely popular
form of edifying literature. They must have been read with a
suspension of critical judgment; however, we must guard
against attributing our own standards of credibility to those
who did not share them. For Gregory and for the men of the
Middle Ages, even highly intelligent men, there was nothing
inherently suspect about miracles.
The episodes in the life of the saint, as is evident in our own

20 Th is account was written in Greek by Athanasius of Alexandria ca.

360, and was soon translated into Latin by Evagrius of Antioch. For an
English translation, see The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series,
IV (New York, 1892), 19 5-2 2 1.
21 T h e Vita Sancti Martini and the Dialogus of Sulpicius Severus attained
far more than local fame, and established the reputation of St. Martin as
the leading figure in the development of Gallic monasticism. Th e monastery
founded by Martin at Tours became one of the flourishing centers of mo­
nastic culture in the Middle Ages. Th e products of its scriptorium have
been studied by E. K. Rand in Studies in the Script of Tours, I: A Survey
of the Manuscripts of Tours, Vol. I, Text, and Vol. II, Plates (Cambridge,
Mass., 1929) and by Rand and Leslie Webber Jones in Studies in the Script
of Tours, II: The Earliest Book of Tours (Cambridge, Mass., 1934).
T h e standard critical text of the works of Sulpicius Severus is edited by
C. Halm in Volume I of the Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum
(Vienna, 1866). For a recent translation, see Sulpicius Severus et al.: The
Western Fathers: Being the Lives of Martin of Tours, Ambrose, Augustine
of H ippo, Honoratus of Arles and Germanus of Auxerre, ed. and tr. F. R.
Hoare (Harper Torchbook T B 309).
XX INTRODUCTION

text, are often modelled on Scriptural example. The process is

somewhat reminiscent of the allegorical interpretation of the
Old Testament as prefiguring fulfillment in the persons and
events of the New, a type of exegesis with which Gregory was
quite familiar.22 From the Christian point of view, the greater
significance of the later event (that of the New Testament) is
implied in Biblical exegesis. But in the vita sancti the earlier
event is primary in importance and confers added venerability
upon the saint both by providing an unimpeachable sanction
for his miracles through the Scriptural precedent and by prov­
ing that he, like patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, is the re­
cipient of extraordinary divine grace. The life and acts of the
saint manifest the continued participation of God in human
history and make the Biblical past a part of the living present.
To the extent that the vita presents a pattern for the yet un­
committed to adopt as his own ideal, there is great psychological
validity in depicting the saint’s temptations and human frailties
as well as his extraordinary strength. Only an imperfect creature
could be an object of emulation to the man of still unsanctified
life, who saw reflected in him some likeness to himself and his
own condition. In Gregory’s work, though Benedict is a remark­
ably holy man, he is fully human, neither wholly exempt from
sin nor unlimited in power. When, like the apostles, he per­
forms miracles, it is actually by the grace of his transcendental
God as an acknowledgment of his exceptional merit. We are

22 For example Isaac, an only son and an intended sacrificial victim, is

commonly interpreted as a “ type” of Christ. Passover is allegorically under­
stood as a préfiguration of Easter. T h is kind of exegesis does not deny the
historicity of the events as recorded in the Old Testament and is not con­
sidered incompatible with a literal interpretation. Rather it co-exists with
other types of interpretation and is, so to speak, on a parallel plane.
T h e extreme application of this kind of allegorical exegesis may be seen,
for example, in the sequences of the twelfth century poet, Adam of St. V ic­
tor. T h e same kind of interpretation is implicit in the use of Old Testament
figures and events in Christian art.
For further discussion, see Beryl Smalley, T he Study of the Bible in the
M iddle Ages (University of Notre Dame Press, N D P 39, 1964) and the ex­
haustive study by Henri de Lubac, Exégèse médiévale, 2 vols. (Paris, 19 59 -
1964).
 INTRODUCTION XXI

far, in the Dialogues, from the kind of mystical union with God
which comes later in the Middle Ages as the reward of the
complete self-sacrifice, the perfect imitatio Christi.2*
The title of Gregory's work, as the reader quickly perceives,
is derived from the form in which it is cast. By representing him­
self in dialogue with his deacon Peter, Gregory provides the
dramatic setting which makes it possible for him to expatiate
at will upon the moral and spiritual implications of the inci­
dents related. Peter's questions offer Gregory the opportunity
to raise his account above the level of a collection of miraculous
events by instructing the many readers who must often have
shared Peter’s perplexity on various points. At the same time,
the human interest intrinsic to the dialogue form makes Greg­
ory’s teaching more lively and attractive than it would have
been if presented as a sermon. The characterization of Peter—
inquisitive and eager to learn—pleasantly complements the role
of Gregory, the wise and kindly teacher. In the structure of the
work, Peter’s questions and Gregory's answers to them help to
provide a logical basis for what might otherwise seem an arbi­
trary sequence of episodes. Although Gregory is not a literary
artist to be compared with Plato, Cicero, or even Macrobius, his
dialogue is attractive on its own terms.

M Y R A L. U H LFELD ER

Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania

August 1966

23 There are, to be sure, references to Benedict’s ecstasies. T h e incident

in chapter 35, if one were to take out of context the words “ caught up in
God,” would suggest a mystical union, but the chapter as a whole seems
rather to describe an ecstatic experience of divinely granted vision. In any
event, the experience does not have the intensity or the completeness of
Franciscan mysticism, to take a clear example.
 Bibliographical Note

Some of the many books valuable for background on the intel­

lectual history of this period, in addition to the works cited in
the footnotes of this Introduction, include:

Chadwick, Nora K. Poetry and Letters in Early Christian

Gaul. London, 1955.
Cochrane, Charles N. Christianity and Classical Culture.
Oxford, 1944.
Courcelle, P. Les Lettres Grecques en Occident, de Macrobe
à Cassiodore. 2nd ed. Paris, 1948.
Duckett, Eleanor S. Anglo-Saxon Saints and Scholars. New
York, 1947.
-------- . The Gateway to the Middle Ages. New York, 1938.
-------- . Latin Writers of the Fifth Century. New York, 1930.
-------- . The Wandering Saints. London, 1959.
Laistner, M. L. W. The Intellectual Heritage of the Early
Middle Ages. Ithaca, N.Y., 1957.
-------- . Thought and Letters in Western Europe, A.D. 500-
poo. 2nd ed. London, 1957.
Momigliano, A., ed. The Conflict between Paganism and
Christianity in the Fourth Century. Oxford, 1963.

X X lll
 Note on the Text

In preparing this translation, I have had at hand both the

Migne text (PL 66 [1866], 125-204) and the edition by Umberto
Moricca (Rome, 1924). The latter is of great value for the reader
of Latin because it makes use of some Italian manuscripts pre­
viously unknown, and takes special account of the phonetic and
morphological changes which Latin had undergone by the time
of Gregory the Great. For a translator, however, the advantage
of the later edition is less important than it is for the student of
historical linguistics, since the textual differences are not such
as to alter the translation very much.
The Biblical quotations in the translation are taken from
the Revised Standard Version. For the reference to Claude J.
Peifer’s Monastic Spirituality and for many constructive criti­
cisms and helpful suggestions I am indebted to the Reverend
Marion Balsavich, O.S.B., to whom I am deeply grateful.

M. L. U.

XXIV
SAINT B E N E D IC T
T H E D IA LO G U ES OF
Gregory the Great
BOOK TW O

SAINT BENEDICT

Benedict was a man of venerable life, blessed in grace as in

name, and with the wisdom of an elder from the very time of
his boyhood. He was mature beyond his years, and did not yield
to pleasure. While still on earth, when he could have enjoyed
himself freely for the time, he already considered the wTorld
with its flower a barren thing. He was born in the province of
Nursia into a family of high station, and had been sent to Rome
to study the liberal arts. But since he observed the spiritual fall
of many students, he drew back the foot which he had set upon
the threshold of the world; for he was afraid that he too, after
gaining some of its knowledge, w’ould drop fatally into the huge
abyss. He therefore rejected the study of literature and left his
home and his father’s affairs. His sole desire was to find favor
with God, and so he made the religious life his goal. He with­
drew then, knowingly ignorant and wisely unlearned. I have
not discovered all of his accomplishments, but I have found out
from four of his disciples the few incidents which make up this
account. These disciples are the most venerable Constantine, his
successor in guiding the abbey; Valentinian, head of the Lateran
monastery for many years; Simplicius, who succeeded him as
the third head of his religious community; and Honoratus,
who still is in charge of the monastery where he formerly had
lived.
3
4 DIALOGUES OF GREGORY THE GREAT

I.

How a Broken Cleaning-Vessel Was Repaired

When he had already abandoned the study of literature and

decided to look for a solitary retreat, he was followed only by
his nurse, who loved him dearly. After reaching a place called
Affile, where many fine people were living together in a spirit
of love, they stayed at the church of the blessed apostle, Peter.
Then his nurse asked the neighboring women to lend her a
vessel for cleaning wheat. She carelessly left it on a table, so that
it fell and was broken into two parts. When she came back soon
afterwards, she burst into tears at finding the vessel broken. Now
since Benedict was a pious and devoted youth, he was touched
by his nurse’s sadness when he saw her weeping. He therefore
took both parts of the broken vessel and was in tears himself as
he knelt in prayer. When he stood up, he found the vessel be­
side him in such good condition that no traces of the break
could be detected. He lost no time in gently comforting his
nurse, and gave her back whole the vessel which he had taken
away broken. This incident became known to everyone in the
place, and was regarded with such awe that the inhabitants of
Affile hung the vessel at the entrance of the church to show
everyone, then and in the future, with what great holiness the
young Benedict had begun his religious life. That vessel has
been there before the eyes of all for many years, and even until
these times of the Lombards, it has hung above the door of the
church.
But Benedict had a greater desire to endure the evils of the
world than to receive its praises. He preferred to be worn out in
toiling for God rather than lifted up by acclaim granted in this
life. He therefore escaped secretly from his nurse and went in
search of a retreat in the desolate spot named Subiaco, about
forty miles from Rome. From this place, cold, clear water is
poured out, and the copious supply is first gathered together
 SAINT BENEDICT 5
there in a large lake, but finally drawn off in a stream. While
he was on his way there, he met a monk named Romanus, who
asked him where he was going. After learning of Benedict’s
desire, Romanus kept his secret and helped him by giving him a
monk’s habit and by serving his needs as well as he could. The
man of God, then, arrived at this place, confined himself in a
very narrow cave, and for three years remained undiscovered by
anyone except the monk Romanus. The latter lived close by
in a monastery under the rule of the abbot Deodatus. But he
piously stole some time from his abbot, and on certain days he
would deliver to Benedict whatever bread he could take away
from his own ration.
There was no path to this cave from Romanus’ monastery
because a high cliff towered above it. Romanus used to tie the
bread to a long rope and lower it from the cliff. He also put a
little bell on the rope so that the man of God might know from
the ringing of the bell when Romanus was supplying him with
bread and might come out to take it. But the Devil begrudged
the loving act of one man and the refreshment provided for the
other. Therefore one day as he saw the bread being lowered, he
threw a stone and broke the bell. Nevertheless, Romanus con­
tinued to serve Benedict’s needs properly. But almighty God
wished Romanus to rest from his toil and desired also to display
Benedict’s life to men as an example, that it might shine brightly
like a light set upon a candlestick,1 to glow for all who live in
the house of God.
Now some distance away there lived a certain priest, who had
prepared his festal meal for Easter. The Lord saw fit to appear
to him in a vision and to say: “ You are preparing a luxurious
banquet for yourself while my servant there is tortured by
hunger.’’ At once the priest got up, and on Easter Day he took
the foods which he had prepared for himself and made his way
toward the place. He looked for the man of God in the steep
places of the mountains, in the hollows of the valleys, in the
ditches of the earth, and he found him hiding in the cave. When
they had sat down together after praying and blessing the
6 DIALOGUES OF GREGORY THE GREAT

almighty Lord, they talked about spiritual matters. Then the

priest said, “ Well now, let us eat, for today is Easter.” Benedict
answered, “ I know that it is Easter, because I have been granted
the blessing of seeing you." In fact Benedict was so far removed
from men that he did not know that Easter fell on that very
day. But the venerable priest stated again, “ This day really is
the Easter festival of our Lord’s resurrection. It is not at all
appropriate for you to fast, because I was sent especially to share
equally with you the gifts of almighty God.’’ Therefore they
blessed God and ate. And so when they had had their fill of both
food and conversation, the priest returned to his church.
At the same time, some shepherds, too, came upon Benedict
hiding in the cave. When they saw him among the bushes
dressed in hides, they thought that he was some beast. But after
they found out that he was a servant of God, many of them
were converted from their bestial natures to the grace of piety.
In this way his name became known to all throughout the
neighboring regions. From that time he began to be visited by
many men who gave him the food of the body and took back,
in turn, the spiritual sustenance of life which they had received
from his lips.

ii-

H ow Benedict Overcame the

Tem ptation of the Flesh

One day while he was alone, the Tempter was present. A small
dark bird, commonly called a blackbird, began to flutter about
his face and to press upon him so persistently that he could have
caught it if he had wished. But when Benedict had made the
sign of the cross, the bird went away. After it had left, however,
a greater temptation of the flesh than he had ever experienced
overtook the holy man. For the evil spirit brought back before
his mind’s eye a certain woman whom he had once seen. So
 SAINT BENEDICT 7

intensely did the Tempter inflame his mind by the sight of that
woman that he could hardly control his passion. He was over­
come by sensuality, and almost considered abandoning his soli­
tary retreat. Then suddenly God graciously looked upon him
and he returned to himself. Since he saw that thickets of nettles
and thorn bushes were growing nearby, he stripped off his gar­
ment and flung himself naked upon those stinging thorns and
the burning nettles. He rolled about there for a long time, and
came out with his whole body wounded by them. So through the
wounds of the skin he drew out from his body the wound of the
mind by changing his lust to pain. Although he burned pain­
fully on the outside, he had put out the forbidden flame within.
He conquered sin, then, by transforming the fire. From that
time on, as he later used to tell his disciples, he had such con­
trol over temptation of the flesh that he never again experienced
a sensation like that. Later many began to abandon the world
and to come eagerly to be instructed by him. Free as he was
from the weakness of temptation, he became an appropriate
teacher of virtues. That is the meaning of Moses' precept that
Levi tes should serve from the age of twenty-five and above, and
that they should be guardians of the vessels from their fiftieth
year.2
Peter. I already have a glimmering of what you have told me.
But please explain this point more fully.
Gregory. Obviously, Peter, the temptation of the flesh burns
hot in youth. But from the fiftieth year, the heat of the body
begins to cool. The sacred vessels are the hearts of the faithful.
When those chosen are still subject to temptation, they must be
subordinate and serve, and be worn out by obedient toil. But
when the heat of temptation has withdrawn at an age when the
mind is tranquil, they are guardians of the vessels because they
become the teachers of souls.
Peter. I admit that I like what you say. But since you have
begun your account, please continue to tell about the life of
that righteous man.

2 Num. 8:24-26.
8 DIALOGUES OF GREGORY THE GREAT

III •

H ow a Glass Vessel Was Broken

by the Sign of the Cross

When temptation withdrew then, the man of God, like culti­

vated land with the thorns dug out, bore fruit more abundantly
from his crop of virtues. And so through the report about his
remarkable way of life, his name became famous. Now not far
off was a monastic community whose abbot had died. The whole
group of those monks went to the venerable Benedict and
earnestly begged him to be their leader. He refused for a long
time because he foresaw that his way of life could never be com­
patible with theirs. But finally he was won over by their entreat­
ies and gave his consent. Since Benedict enforced the discipline
of the Rule, no one was allowed as before to stray lawlessly to
right or left from the path of the monastic life. Therefore the
brothers under his guidance raged like madmen and first began
to blame themselves for demanding him as their head; for it was
true that their crookedness was at odds with his complete up­
rightness. They observed that forbidden acts were not permitted
under his administration, and they felt resentment at giving up
their customary practices. It was hard for them to have to think
new thoughts with minds set in an old track. Now since the life
of the good is always a burden to those of evil character, they be­
gan to devise some means to kill him; and when they had formed
their plot, they mixed the wine with poison. According to the
custom of the monastery, as Benedict was at table they presented
the glass vessel with that deadly drink for his blessing. When
he had stretched out his hand and made the sign of the cross,
the vessel was shattered although it was being held at a distance.
In fact, it was broken to pieces just as if he had cast a stone
rather than the sign of the cross against it. The man of God
understood at once that it had contained the drink of death,
which could not endure the sign of life. He stood up imme­
diately, calm in appearance and self-possessed, and said to the
 SAINT BENEDICT 9

assembly of brothers: “ O brothers, may almighty God have

mercy upon you. Why did you wish to commit such an act
against me? Surely I told you before that your ways would not
be in harmony with mine. Go and look for an abbot like your­
selves, for after this you cannot keep me.” Then he returned to
the place of his beloved solitude, and lived alone with himself
within the sight of the One who looks down from above.
Peter. I do not understand very clearly the meaning of ‘‘lived
with himself.”
Gregory. If the holy man had been willing to keep a tight
rein on the monks who were all conspiring against him and
were far removed from his way of life, perhaps he would have
lost his customary forcefulness and his calm restraint, and would
have let his mind's eye fall from the light of contemplation.
Then, as a result of wearing himself out by correcting them
constantly, he would care less about his own affairs. Perhaps he
would abandon himself without finding them. For whenever we
are led too far outside ourselves through the motion of thought,
we are ourselves but we are not with ourselves since we lose sight
of ourselves and stray over other paths. Or do we say that that
man was with himself who went away to a distant region,
used up the portion which he had received, attached himself to
one of the citizens of that region, and fed the swine, which he
saw eating husks while he was starving himself? But after a while
when he began to reflect about the good things which he had
lost, it is written about him: “ But when he came to himself,
he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread
enough and to spare’.” 3 If he was with himself, then, from
where did he return to himself?
I would therefore say that this venerable man lived with
himself because he was always under his own supervision, always
beholding himself before the eyes of the Creator, always exam­
ining himself. He did not let his mind’s eye wander outside
himself.
Peter. What is the meaning, then, of what was written about
the apostle Peter, when he had been led from the prison by the

3 Luke 15:17.
IO DIALOGUES OF GREGORY THE GREAT

angel? “And Peter came to himself, and said, ‘Now I am sure

that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand
of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting'.”4
Gregory. The explanation, Peter, is that we are drawn outside
ourselves in two ways. Either we fall beneath ourselves through
the downward course of thought, or we are raised above our­
selves by the grace of contemplation. So he who fed the swine
fell beneath himself through the waywardness of the mind and
through impurity. The man, however, whom the angel freed
and carried off in a state of ecstasy was outside himself, of course,
but above. Both returned to themselves, therefore, since the one
recovered himself after wandering astray; the other returned
from the height of contemplation to his former state of ordinary
human understanding. The venerable Benedict, then, lived
with himself in that solitude while*he guarded himself within
the confines of thought. For whenever his fervent contemplation
carried him upward, he undoubtedly left himself below.
Peter. I like what you say. But please tell me whether he
should have abandoned the brothers once he had taken them in
his charge.
Gregory. In my opinion, Peter, an assembly of evil men should
be patiently endured only when there are some good ones among
them who may be helped. For when fruitful results from the
good are wholly lacking, one's toil for the wicked is sometimes
pointless, especially if there are tasks close at hand which can
produce better fruit for God. For whose protection, then, should
the holy man have stayed when he realized that all without
exception were persecuting him?
I must also mention that often when good men consider their
efforts fruitless, they move to toil in another place where they
may produce fruit. That explains the conduct of the illustrious
preacher, who yearned to be released from the flesh and to be
with Christ, for whom “ To live is Christ, and to die is gain,"5
who not only longed himself for the contests of suffering, but
aroused others, too, to endure them. When he had been perse­
cuted at Damascus, in an effort to escape he looked for a wall,

4 Acts 12:11.
5 Phil. 1:21.
 SAINT BENEDICT 11

a rope, and a basket; and he allowed himself to be let down

secretly.6 We surely would not say that Paul was afraid of
death, for he himself bears witness that he eagerly desired it in
his love for Jesus. But since he saw that he had heavy toil and
little fruit in that place, he saved himself for fruitful labor else­
where. For the brave soldier of God was unwilling to be kept
in confinement, and looked for a field of combat. Just so in the
case of Benedict too, as you will quickly find out if you are
willing to listen. The unteachable monks whom he abandoned
there were fewer than those whom he aroused elsewhere from
the death of the soul.
Peter. Both logic and your evidence prove your point. But
please return to your orderly account of the great father’s life.
Gregory. In this same solitary spot the holy man was gaining
greater miraculous powers and was visited by more signs from
heaven. Many persons were therefore gathered together by him
there for the service of almighty God. And so, with the help of
the almighty Lord Jesus Christ, he built twelve monasteries
there, appointed abbots, and assigned twelve monks to each one.
He kept a few monks with himself, those for whom it would be
best, in his judgment, to continue their training in his presence.
Also at that time devout nobles began to flock to him from
Rome, and to give him their sons to be reared for the service of
almighty God. Then, too, Euthicius entrusted to him his son
Maurus, and Tertullus, a patrician, his son Placidus, both of
them promising youths. Since Maurus, the younger, was a boy
of outstanding character, he began to be the master’s helper;
and Placidus, while still a child, was quite mature.

IV .

H ow a M onk Who Could N ot Concentrate

Was Restored to Soundness

In one of the monasteries which he had built round about, there

was a certain monk who could not remain steadfast in prayer.

6 Acts 9:25; II Cor. 1 1 :3 2 -3 3 .

12 DIALOGUES OF GREGORY THE GREAT

As soon as the brothers had bowed down for fervent prayer, he

would go outside and absent-mindedly engage in some earthly
and ephemeral activities. After being cautioned repeatedly by
his abbot, he was taken to the man of God, who also reproached
him sternly for his foolish conduct. When he had returned to
the monastery, he kept Benedict’s warning in mind for barely
two days. On the third day, returning to his old habit, he began
to wander at the time of prayer. When this had been reported
by the abbot, Benedict said, “ I am coming to correct him my­
self.” And so Benedict went to the monastery. At the regular
time after the chanting of Psalms while the brothers were pray­
ing, Benedict noticed that a little black boy was drawing the
unstable monk outside by the border of his robe. He secretly
asked the abbot Pompeianus and Maurus, the servant of God,
“ Can’t you see who is drawing that monk outside?” But they
answered, “ No.” Then he said to them, “ Let us pray that you,
too, may see whom that monk is following.” After two days of
prayer, Maurus saw who it was, but the abbot Pompeianus could
not see. On the next day when the prayer was over, the man of
God left the chapel and found the monk standing outside. For
the blindness of his heart, he struck him with a rod. From that
day on, the monk did not allow the little black boy to influence
him any more, but remained motionless in devout prayer. And
so the Devil, just as if he himself had been struck by the
whip, did not dare to overcome the monk in the midst of his
meditation.

V*

H ow Water Was Produced from a Rock on

the M ountain T op by Benedict's Prayer

Since three of the monasteries which he had built there were

perched high on cliffs of the mountain, it was very hard for the
brothers to go down to the lake whenever they needed water.
The greatest problem was that the descent from the sloping
 SAINT BENEDICT *3

mountainside was extremely dangerous, and they were fright­

ened. The brothers from those three monasteries therefore went
in a group to Benedict, the servant of God, and said, “ It is too
hard for us to go down to the lake every day for water. The
monasteries must be moved from their site.” Benedict gently
comforted them and sent them away. That same night, with the
little lad, Placidus, he climbed a cliff of the mountain and
prayed there quite a while. When his prayer was finished, he
placed three stones there as a sign and returned to his mon­
astery, where no one knew what he had done. On the next day
when the monks had returned to him because of their need for
water, he said, “ Go and dig a shallow hole in the cliff on which
you find three stones placed one above another. For almighty
God, in his gracious willingness to spare you such a trouble­
some climb, has the power to produce water even on that moun­
tain top.” Then they went to the cliff and found it already
damp. After they had dug a hole, it was immediately filled with
such an abundance of water that it still flows down copiously
and is drawn off from that mountain top to the places below.

VI .

H ow an Iron Tool Came Up from the Bottom of

the Water and R eturned to Its H andle

On another occasion, a humble Goth came to adopt the religious

life and Benedict willingly received him. One day he ordered an
iron bush-hook to be given to him for cutting the bramble
bushes where a garden was to be planted. Now it happened that
the spot assigned to the Goth for clearing lay above the shore of
a lake. While he was cutting the thick bramble bushes with all
his might, the iron slipped from the handle and fell into the
lake. Since the water at that spot was deep, there was no hope
of finding the iron tool; and so the Goth ran in agitation to the
monk Maurus. He reported his loss, and expressed sorrow for
what he had done. When Maurus told Benedict what had hap­
H DIALOGUES OF GREGORY THE GREAT

pened, the man of God went to the lake, took the handle from
the Goth’s hand, and thrust it into the water. In an instant the
iron came up from the bottom and inserted itself into the handle.
Then Benedict gave the tool right back to the Goth and said to
him, “ Here you are. Do your work and do not be sad.”

V II.

H ow H is D isciple, Maurus} W alked on Water

One day when the venerable Benedict was staying in his cell,
young Placidus went out to draw water from the lake. As he
was carelessly lowering his vessel, he toppled after it into the
water. Soon the current caught hold of him and carried him
away about the distance of an arrow’s flight. The man of God
in his cell became aware of this at once and quickly called to
Maurus, “ Run, Brother Maurus! The boy who went to draw
water has fallen into the lake, and now the current is carrying
him far away.” A miracle which had not happened since the
time of Peter the Apostle!7 Maurus first asked his abbot for a
blessing and received it. Then he was so spurred on by Bene­
dict’s command that he continued running over the water,
thinking he was still on land. When he had reached the spot
where Placidus was being drawn away by the current, he
grasped the boy by the hair and ran back to shore as fast as
he had come. As soon as he touched land, he came to himself.
When he had looked back and realized that he had run on the
water, he trembled in amazement, since he could not imagine
how it had happened. And so he returned to the abbot and
told him about the incident. Then Benedict began to assign
the credit to Maurus’ obedience and not to his own merits.
Maurus, on the other hand, said that he had merely carried out
Benedict’s order, and that he did not deserve a share of the
credit for what he had done unconsciously. But while they were

7 Matt. 14:28-29.
 SAINT BENEDICT *5

having this friendly contest in humility, the rescued boy acted

as arbiter by saying: “While I was being drawn from the water,
I saw the abbot’s cowl above my head, and thought that he
was taking me out of the water.”
Peter. “What remarkable accomplishments you are telling
about! They will be a useful example to many people. The
more I hear of that good man’s miracles, the keener my appetite
becomes to hear more of them.”

V ili.

H ow Some Poisoned Bread Was

Thrown Away by a Raven

Gregory. Far and wide at this time the region was aflame with
the love of the Lord God Jesus Christ. Therefore, many were
abandoning the life of this world and were submitting their
proud spirits to the Redeemer’s light yoke. Now as the wicked
usually begrudge others the goodness which they themselves do
not strive for, a priest of a neighboring church, Florentius,
grandfather of our subdeacon Florentius, was struck by the
Devil’s malice. He began to be jealous of the holy man’s zeal,
to disparage his way of life, and even to keep as many as he
could from going to see him. When he realized that he could
not stand in the way of Benedict’s success, that the esteem felt
for Benedict’s way of life was growing, and that many were
constantly being summoned to lead a better life by the wide­
spread reports of his fame, he was burned more and more by
the brands of envy. He became worse through his longing to
have the praise which rewards that kind of life without wishing
to earn it by his merit. He was so blinded by the darkness of
this envy that he went to the extreme of sending the servant of
almighty God some poisoned bread as if for a blessing. Benedict
accepted it with thanks, although he realized what deadly force
lay hidden inside.
It happened that a raven used to come from the forest nearby
i6 DIALOGUES OF GREGORY THE GREAT

at the hour when Benedict ate, and it would take some bread
from his hand. When it had come as usual, the man of God
threw down the bread sent by the priest and gave the raven
these instructions: “ In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
carry this bread away and throw it where no one can find it.”
Then the raven opened its mouth, spread its wings, and began
to flit about and croak as if it were plainly saying that it wished
to obey but could not carry out the orders. Again and again the
man of God repeated the instructions, “ Don’t be afraid. Raise
it up and throw it away where it can’t be found.” The raven
hesitated for a long time, but finally bit into it, raised it up, and
flew away. After disposing of the bread, it returned in three
hours and received its usual rations from Benedict's hand.
Now when the venerable abbot saw that the priest’s heart was
burning with the desire to kill him, he grieved more for him
than for himself. But since Florentius could not kill the mas­
ter’s body, he desired so passionately to destroy the souls of
Benedict’s disciples that he sent seven naked girls into the gar­
den of Benedict’s monastery where the monks might see them.
These girls joined hands and sported lewdly for a while before
the disciples to set their hearts on fire with shameful lust. When
the holy man observed this scene from the monastery, he feared
the spiritual fall of the disciples who were still immature. He
realized that he was the only object of the persecution, and so
he gave way before the envy. First he set in order all the monas­
teries which he had built, appointed men to be in charge, and
added some new brothers. Then he took a few monks with him
and changed his place of dwelling. As soon as the man of God
had humbly turned aside from Florentius’ hatred, almighty
God struck an awful blow. While the priest was standing on
his sunporch gloating over the sight of Benedict’s departure,
the sunporch fell and crushed him to death although the rest
of the building remained unshaken. Then Benedict’s disciple
Maurus decided to report the accident at once, for the abbot
was barely ten miles away. “ Come back,” he said. “ The priest
who was persecuting you has been killed.” When Benedict
heard this, he expressed deep anguish, either because his enemy
had died or because his disciple had gloated over the death of
an enemy. He even imposed penance on that disciple because
 SAINT BENEDICT 17

Maurus’ advice to him had shown presumptuous joy over an

enemy’s death.
Peter. Your account is really astonishing. For in the water
produced from the rock I see Moses;8 in the iron brought up
from the bottom of the water, Elisha;9 in the walking on the
water, Peter;10 in the raven’s obedience, Elijah;11 in the mourn­
ing for an enemy’s death, David.12 In my opinion, that man
was filled with the spirit of all the righteous.
Gregory. Yes, Peter, that godly man, Benedict, possessed the
spirit of the One Who suffused the hearts of all the elect with
the gracious gift of redemption. John says about him, “ The true
light that enlightens every man was coming into the world.” 13
In another passage, John says, “And from His fullness have we
all received.” 14 For the holy men of God were able to acquire
miraculous powers from the Lord, but not to transmit them to
others as well. But Jesus conferred the power of producing
miraculous signs upon His subordinates, and He also promised
His enemies that He would produce the sign of Jonah by His
willingness to die before the proud as an object of scorn, and
to rise again before the humble as the worthy object of their
reverent love.15 Through this mystery it happened that, while
the proud were noting the disgrace of His death, the humble
realized the glory of His power against death.
Peter. Please tell me now where that holy man went and
whether he exercised his miraculous powers there.
Gregory. The saint did not change his enemy by moving to
another place. In fact, his later combats were even fiercer since
he found the Master of Evil himself openly fighting against
him. Now there is a citadel named Cassino on the slope of a
high mountain. This mountain enfolds the citadel and then
rises three miles above it as though stretching its peak to the

8 Exod. 1 7 :1-6 ; Num. 2 0 :2 -11.

9 II Kings 6:4-7.
10 Matt. 14:28-29.
11 I Kings 17:6.
12 II Sam. 1 : 1 1 - 1 2 , 18:33.
13 John 1:9.
14 John 1:16 .
15 Matt. 12:39-40.
i8 DIALOGUES OF GREGORY THE GREAT

upper air. There was a very ancient shrine here where Apollo
was worshipped in the old pagan manner by an ignorant crowd
of peasants. In all directions, groves had sprung up, dedicated
to the worship of demons. Even at that time, the foolish pagan
rabble would offer their unholy sacrifices in those groves. And
so the man of God arrived there, destroyed the idol, overturned
the altar, cut down the groves, and, in the very temple of
Apollo, built a chapel in honor of the blessed Martin. Where
the altar of Apollo had been, he built a chapel in honor of
St. John. Also, by continuous preaching he converted many
people who lived in that region. But the Devil did not submit
silently. He forced himself on the abbot’s sight by an open
vision, not secretly or in a dream. When the Devil complained
that he was suffering violence, he shouted so loudly that even
the brothers heard the sounds although they could not make
out his form. As the venerable abbot used to say to his disciples,
the Devil appeared to him as a foul and fiery creature who
seemed to rage against him with flaming mouth and eyes. Ev­
eryone could now hear what the Devil was saying as he first
addressed Benedict by name. Then, since the man of God did
not answer him, he soon hurled insults at him. For when he
shouted, “ Benedict, Benedict!” and saw that Benedict did not
answer, he presently added, “ Maledict, not Benedict. What do
you have against me? Why are you persecuting me?” Now we
must anticipate new contests of the Devil against God’s servant.
By choosing to wage war against Benedict, however, the Devil
unwittingly provided him with opportunities for victory.

IX.

H ow a H uge Rock Was Raised

by the Prayer of the Man of God

One day while the brothers were constructing part of the mona­
stery, they decided to raise a stone which was lying nearby and
to use it for the building. Since even two or three men were
unable to move it, more joined in the effort, but it remained as
 SAINT BENEDICT *9

immovable as if rooted in the earth. Since so many human

hands could not budge it, it was obvious that the Devil him­
self was sitting on it. When their trouble presented itself, they
sent to ask Benedict to come and drive away the Devil by
prayer so that they might raise the stone. He came soon, and
when he had prayed and offered his blessing, the stone was
raised as quickly as if it had always been weightless.

X.

A n Imaginary F ire in the Kitchen

Then the man of God decided to have the monks dig the earth
in that same spot. While doing so and reaching far down, they
found a bronze idol there. When they had temporarily thrown
it into the kitchen, fire suddenly seemed to pour out and made
it appear to the monks that the whole building containing the
kitchen was being destroyed. Since they were creating an uproar
by throwing water as though to extinguish the fire, Benedict
was aroused by the confusion and went to them. He saw that
the fire was visible to their eyes but not to his, and so he bent
his head in prayer at once. In this way he restored sound sight
to the brothers whom he had found deceived by the imaginary
fire. They realized then that the building containing the kitchen
was still standing undamaged, and they no longer saw the
flames which the Devil had fashioned.

X I.

H ow a Young M onk, Gravely In ju red by the

Collapse of a Wall, Was H ealed by H is Prayer

On one occasion, while the brothers were engaged in the neces­

sary task of making a wall a little higher, the man of God
stayed within the confines of his cell, absorbed in prayer. The
20 DIALOGUES OF GREGORY THE GREAT

Devil mockingly appeared and informed him that he was head­

ing toward the monks who were at work. Without losing a
minute, Benedict sent the following report to the brothers:
“ Be on your guard, brothers, because an evil spirit is coming
toward you at this very instant/’ Scarcely had the messenger
delivered Benedict’s warning when the evil spirit overturned
the wall under construction. As it tumbled to ruin, it crushed
a young monk, the child of a tax-collector. Everyone was grief-
stricken, not by the destruction of the wall, but by the monk’s
serious injury. They hurried to deliver their unhappy news to
Benedict, and he ordered them to bring the mangled child to
him. The monks had to carry him in a blanket, because the
rocks of the collapsed wall had crushed his bones as well as his
limbs. Benedict immediately ordered the child to be laid on the
mat in his cell where he usually prayed. First he sent out the
brothers and closed the door of his cell, and then he became
absorbed in prayer even more intensely than usual. A miracle
followed. Within the hour he sent the boy back to the same
task, whole and sound as before, to help the other monks finish
the wall. And yet the Devil had thought that he was mocking
Benedict about the youth’s impending death.
Then the man of God began to acquire power in the spirit
of prophecy. He foretold future events and also reported to
those present what had happened elsewhere.

XII.

T h e Monks Who H ad Eaten

Outside the Monastery

It was a custom of the monastery that whenever the brothers

went out on some errand, they should not eat or drink outside
the monastery. This prohibition had been established by the mo­
nastic Rule and was carefully observed. One day some brothers
had gone out on an errand and were forced to stay away rather
late. Since they knew that a holy woman lived nearby, they
 SAINT BENEDICT 21

entered her house and ate. When they had returned to the
monastery quite late, they asked for the abbot’s blessing, as
usual. But he began to question them at once. “Where have you
eaten?” They answered, “ Nowhere.” Then he asked, “ Why are
you lying? Didn’t you go into the house of this woman? Didn’t
you accept this food? Didn’t you drink this many glasses?” And
when the venerable abbot had given them a report about the
woman’s hospitality, the kinds of food, and the number of
drinks, they realized what they had done. Therefore they began
to tremble and fell at his feet, confessing that they were guilty.
He pardoned them right away, because he realized that they
would not repeat their fault in his absence since they would
know that he was present in spirit.

X II I *

T he Man of God Realizes That the

Brother of the M onk Valentinian
H ad Eaten A long the Way

The monk Valentinian had a brother who was a layman, but

devout. He had formed the habit of traveling from his home
to the monastery every year to receive Benedict’s blessing and
to see his brother. On the way, he would observe a fast. One day
while going there, he was joined by another traveler carrying
provisions for the road. Since it had grown quite late, the
stranger said, “ Let’s eat, my friend, to keep from being ex­
hausted by walking.” But he replied, “ No, I have always fasted
on my way to the reverend abbot Benedict.” After receiving this
answer, the traveling companion was silent for a while, but a
little farther along again said that they should eat. When
Valentinian’s brother had refused, since he was determined to
observe his fast, the other kept silent and was willing to go
along with him a short distance without eating. After they had
been traveling quite a while, the hour grew late and they
were worn out from walking. Then they found in their path a
22 DIALOGUES OF GREGORY THE GREAT

meadow and a fountain and every possible delight to refresh

their bodies. The traveling companion said, “ Look at the water
and the meadow and the pleasant spot where we can refresh
ourselves and rest a little. In that way, we can regain our
strength and finish our journey later in good condition.” The
monk’s brother was tempted in two ways: his ears by the words
and his eyes by the site. Therefore he was persuaded by the
third plea and consented to eat. Toward evening, then, he
reached the monastery and was received by the reverend abbot.
But when he requested a blessing, Benedict reproached him
for what he had done on the way. “ How did it happen, brother,”
he asked, “ that the Devil, who addressed you through your
traveling companion, persuaded you the third time and won
you over after failing twice?” Then the man acknowledged his
sin of inconstancy. He fell at the abbot’s feet, and his tears and
blushes of shame were increased by his knowledge that Bene­
dict had seen his guilty act even at a distance.
Peter. I see that Elisha’s spirit was in Benedict’s heart, for he
was present even to his absent disciple.16
Gregory. If you listen quietly, Peter, you may hear of even
greater deeds.

xiv.

H ow K in g Totila’s Deception Was Discovered

In the time of the Goths, King Totila heard that the saint
possessed the spirit of prophecy. As he traveled toward Bene­
dict’s monastery, he stopped some distance away and sent a
message that he would come to the monastery. He was imme­
diately invited to do so. But since he was treacherous, he tried
to test whether Benedict really had the spirit of prophecy. He
therefore gave his sword-bearer, Riggo, his own shoes, dressed
him in the royal robes, and ordered him to go to Benedict dis­

16 II Kings 5:25-26.
 SAINT BENEDICT 23

guised as the king. As Riggo’s escort, Totila sent three at­

tendants who had been particularly close to him, namely Vul,
Ruderic, and Blidin. In Benedict’s presence, they were to pre­
tend that Riggo was King Totila and to walk beside him. He
furnished other escorts and sword-bearers also to increase the
appearance of royalty created by the purple robes. As Riggo
entered the monastery decked out in the robes and accom­
panied by many attendants, the man of God was seated at a
distance. He caught sight of Riggo, and when he was close
enough to be heard, he called out, “ O my son, put aside what
you are wearing. It is not yours.” Riggo fell to the ground at
once, terrified at his presumption in making sport of so great
a man. All his attendants, too, prostrated themselves on the
ground. When they stood up, they did not presume to approach
Benedict, but returned to their king. They were still trembling
as they reported how quickly they had been detected.

XV.

H ow a Prophecy Was G iven to K in g Totila

and to the Priest of Canosa

Then Totila himself went to Benedict. As he saw Benedict

sitting at a distance, he did not dare to approach, but prostrated
himself. Two or three times the man of God said to him, “ Stand
up,” but the king did not dare to stand upright before him.
Therefore Benedict, the servant of Jesus Christ, graciously ap­
proached the prostrate king, raised him from the ground, re­
proached him for his actions, and in a few words foretold every­
thing that would happen to him. “ Your evil deeds, past and
present, are many. It is time at last to refrain from sin. You are
about to enter Rome and to cross the sea. For nine years you
will rule, and in the tenth you will die.” The king was terror-
stricken by these words. After asking a blessing, he withdrew
and was less cruel from that time on. Not long after, he went
to Rome, proceeded to Sicily, and died in the tenth year of his
24 DIALOGUES OF GREGORY THE GREAT

reign. He lost his kingdom and his life according to the judg­
ment of almighty God.
Now it happened that Benedict received frequent visits from
a priest of the church of Canosa, a man dearly beloved by the
saint because of his virtuous life. In discussing King Totila’s
entry and the destruction of Rome, he said, “ Rome will be
destroyed by this king so that it will no longer be inhabited.”
But Benedict answered, “ Rome will not come to an end through
barbarians, but will be exhausted by flashing storms, whirl­
winds, and earthquakes. Then it will crumble upon its founda­
tions.” The secret meaning of this prophecy has become clearer
than light to us, who observe the walls broken to bits, houses
overturned, and churches destroyed by whirlwind. More often
all the time we see Roman buildings, wearied with old age,
collapsing into ruins.
Benedict's disciple Honoratus, my authority for this account,
says that he heard this prophecy from the report of some monks,
not directly.

xvi.

H ow a Cleric Was Tem porarily Freed

from a Demon

At the same time a certain cleric of the church of Aquino was

being tormented by a demon. He had been sent by his priest,
Constantius, to many shrines of martyrs to seek a cure. But the
holy martyrs were unwilling to grant him the gift of health be­
cause they wished to show how much grace Benedict had. And
so he was taken to Benedict, the servant of almighty God. By
praying to the Lord Jesus Christ, Benedict immediately cast out
the Devil from the man possessed by him. Then he gave the
newly-healed man these instructions: “ Go, and after this ab­
stain from meat. And never presume to seek Sacred Orders; for
whenever you rashly dare to present yourself for ordination,
 SAINT BENEDICT 25

you will immediately be delivered in bondage again to the

Devil’s jurisdiction.” The cleric then departed in sound health,
and for the time observed Benedict’s commands, for a recent
affliction usually holds the mind in terror. Many years later,
however, when all of his elders had passed away and he saw
his juniors being placed above him in Sacred Orders, he forgot
Benedict’s words because of the long lapse of time. He set aside
the prohibition, then, and presented himself for ordination.
Immediately he was possessed by the Devil who had left him,
but who now continued to harass him without stopping until
he drove his soul from his body.
Peter. I see that that man of God had even penetrated secret
causes, for he understood that this cleric had been handed over
to the Devil to prevent him from seeking ordination.
Gregory. Of course he knew God’s secrets, since he followed
God’s teachings; for it is written, “ But he who is united to the
Lord becomes one spirit with Him.” 17
Peter. If he who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with
Him, why does that same illustrious preacher say elsewhere:
“ For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been
His counselor?” 18 It seems very incongruous to be ignorant of
the thought of Him with whom he has become one.
Gregory. Holy men, insofar as they are one with God, are not
ignorant of His thought. So the same apostle also says, “ For
what person knows a man’s thoughts except the spirit of the
man which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts
of God except the Spirit of God.” 19 To show that he knew the
thought of God, he added, “ Now we have received not the spirit
of the world, but the Spirit which is from God.”20 Hence in
another passage he says, “ No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the
heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who
love him, but God has revealed them to us through the Spirit.”21

17 I Cor. 6:17.
18 Rom. 11:34 .
19 I Cor. 2 :1 1 .
20 Ibid., 12.
21 Ibid., 9.
26 DIALOGUES OF GREGORY THE GREAT

Peter. If, then, the things which are of God had been re­
vealed to that same apostle by the Spirit of God, why did he
pass over the problem which I have proposed by saying, “ O the
depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How
unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His
ways!”22
Besides, another problem occurs to me. The prophet David
says to the Lord, “ With my lips I declare all the ordinances of
Thy mouth.”23 Since knowing is less than declaring, why does
Paul state that God’s judgments are unsearchable while David
bears witness that he not only knows all these things, but has
even declared them with his lips?
Gregory. I gave you a brief reply to both these questions
before when I said that holy men are not ignorant of God’s
thought insofar as they are one with God. For all who devoutly
follow the Lord are with God in their devoutness, but are
separated from Him by the weight of corruptible flesh with
which they are still encumbered. Thus they know God’s hidden
judgments insofar as they are united with Him; they are ig­
norant of them insofar as they are separated. Since they do not
yet penetrate his secrets perfectly, they bear witness that his
judgments are unsearchable. Because they cling to Him in mind
and by doing so understand what they take in from the sacred
text of Scripture or private revelations, they know and express
these truths. They are ignorant, therefore, of the judgments
which God buries in silence, but they know those of which He
speaks. That is why the prophet David, too, after saying, “With
my lips I declare all the ordinances,” immediately added, “ of
Thy mouth,” as if he were explicitly saying, “ I could know
and express those judgments which I realized that Thou had
revealed in words. For without doubt, Thou hidest from our
awareness those thoughts of which Thou dost not speak.” There­
fore the thoughts of the prophet and of the apostle are in ac­
cord; the judgments of God are indeed unsearchable, but those
which have come from His mouth are expressed by human lips.

22 Rom. 1 1:33.
23 Psalms 119 :13 .
 SAINT BENEDICT 27

For those revealed by God can be known by men; those hidden,

cannot.
Peter. Your explanation is reasonable and clears up my dif­
ficulty. But please go on with any other incidents about this
man’s powers.

X V II*

Plow the Man of God Predicted the

Destruction of H is Monastery

A certain nobleman named Theoprobus, who had been con­

verted by Benedict’s teaching, won the abbot’s deep and trust­
ing friendship through his virtuous life. One day as he entered
Benedict’s cell, he found him weeping bitterly. After standing
there a long time and seeing that Benedict’s tears kept on flow­
ing, he realized that Benedict was not lamenting in prayer as
usual but in grief. He therefore asked why Benedict was so sad.
The man of God immediately gave him this answer: “ This
whole monastery which I have built and everything in it that I
have provided for the brothers has been handed over to the
barbarians by the judgment of almighty God. I have scarcely
been able to win safety for the lives of those who live here.” At
that time Theoprobus heard his prediction, but we now actu­
ally see it fulfilled, for we know that his monastery has just been
destroyed by the Lombards. At night recently, while the broth­
ers were asleep, the Lombards broke in. But although they
plundered everything, they were unable to capture a single man
there. Almighty God fulfilled His promise to His faithful
servant Benedict to save the lives even if He turned over the
property to the barbarians. In this event you see that Benedict
has played the part of Paul, who received the lives of all his
companions as a consolation when his ship suffered the loss of
everything on board.24

24 Acts 27.
28 DIALOGUES OF GREGORY THE GREAT

X V III*

H ow a H idden Flask Was Discovered by

the M an of God Through the H oly Spirit

Gregory. Once our fellow Roman, Exhilaratus (as you know,

he later became a monk), had been sent by his master to carry
two wooden flasks filled with wine to the monastery for Bene­
dict. He delivered one of them, but hid the other along the way.
Now Benedict was aware even of what happened at a distance.
He accepted the one flask with thanks, and gave this advice to
the youth as he set out: “ My son, do not drink from the flask
which you have hidden. T ip it over carefully, and you will
discover what it has inside.” In great confusion, Exhilaratus left
the man of God. When he had returned to the spot, he wanted
to test what he had heard. He therefore tipped over the flask,
and a serpent came out of it at once. Exhilaratus therefore trem­
bled at his evil deed.

X IX *

H ow Benedict Found Out A bout the

Acceptance of the H andkerchieves

Not far from the monastery there was a village with quite a few
persons who had been converted by Benedict’s teaching from
idolatry to belief in God. Some nuns lived there too, and Bene­
dict, servant of God, often sent his monks there to offer them
spiritual instruction. One day, as usual, he sent a monk there.
After delivering his lesson, the monk was persuaded by the nuns
to accept some handkerchieves, which he hid in his robe. Soon
 SAINT BENEDICT 29

after his return, Benedict began to reproach him sharply by

asking, “ How has sin entered your bosom?’’ The monk was
astonished, for he had forgotten what he had done and did not
know why he was being upbraided. Then Benedict continued,
“ I was present when you received the handkerchieves from the
handmaids of God and put them in your robe.” The monk then
prostrated himself at Benedict’s feet and, in repentance for his
foolish act, he threw away the handkerchieves which he had
hidden in his robe.

XX*

H ow the Man of God Was Aware of

a M onk's Proud Thought

One day while the abbot was taking his evening meal, the monk
holding the lamp for him at table was the son of a certain
official. As Benedict was eating and he stood by tending the
lamp, he silently began to be agitated by a spirit of pride and
to say in his thoughts, “Who is he that I should attend him
while he eats and serve him by holding the lamp? Who am I
that I should be his servant?” The man of God turned to him
at once in sharp reproach. “ Mark your heart with the sign of
the cross, my brother. What are you saying? Mark your heart.”
Benedict immediately called the monks and ordered them to
remove the lamp from the man’s hands. He also commanded
the monk to give up his assigned duty and to sit quietly by him­
self for that hour. When the brothers asked him what he had
had in his heart, he told them exactly how he had been puffed
up with a strong spirit of pride, and what words he had spoken
silently in his thoughts against the man of God. Then it was
clearly revealed to all that nothing could escape Benedict’s
notice, since he had heard even the words of an unvoiced
thought.
30 DIALOGUES OF GREGORY THE GREAT

X X I*

H ow Tw o H u ndred Measures of M eal Were

Found in Front of Benedict's Monastery
at a T im e of Fam ine

On another occasion famine had fallen upon that region of

Campania, and the severe dearth of food was tormenting every­
one. Grain was already in short supply in Benedict's monastery.
Almost all the loaves of bread had been consumed, so that no
more than five could be found for the monks at mealtime.
When he saw that they were sad, the abbot was eager to amend
their poorness of spirit by gently reproaching them and to
encourage them by a promise. He therefore said, “Why are you
depressed by the lack of bread? Even though there isn't much
today, tomorrow you will have more than enough." And in fact,
the next day two hundred measures of meal were found in
sacks before the doors of the monastery. To this very day, we
do not know what agents almighty God had sent to deliver these
sacks. When the brothers saw what had happened, they thanked
God and learned to have no doubts about abundant provisions
even in the midst of want.
Peter. Tell me, please, could the spirit of prophecy always
have been present in this servant of God? Or did it fill his mind
only occasionally?
Gregory. The spirit of prophecy, Peter, does not always il­
lumine the minds of prophets. Just as it has been written about
the Holy Spirit, “ The wind blows where it will,"25 so we must
realize that it also blows when it will. That is why Nathan,
when asked by the king whether he might build the temple,
first gave consent but later refused permission.26 That is also the

25 John 3:8.
2 « II Sam. 7:1 -1 3 .
 SAINT BENEDICT SI

reason why Elisha, when he saw a woman in tears and did not
know the cause, said to the youth who was trying to stop her,
“ Let her alone, for she is in bitter distress; and the Lord has
hidden it from me, and has not told me.”27 Almighty God has
arranged such an order of things through his deep loving­
kindness. By granting the spirit of prophecy at some times and
withdrawing it at others, he both raises the minds of prophets
to the heights and keeps them humble. In this way, they discover
what they are through God’s grace by receiving the spirit of
prophecy; and they realize what they are in themselves when
they do not have it.
Peter. Your explanation seems very reasonable. But please
go on with anything else about Benedict that you remember.

X X II*

H ow the Architectural Plan for a Monastery

at Terracina Was Drawn Up in a Dream

Gregory. At another time, he had been asked by one of the

faithful to send some disciples to build a monastery on his
estate near Terracina. Benedict complied with his request by
assigning brothers and appointing an abbot and a prior. As
they set out, he made this promise: “ Go on, and I ’ll come to you
on the appointed day and show you where to build the chapel,
the refectory, the quarters for guests, and all the other necessary
parts of the monastery.” First they received his blessing and
then they started out at once. In their eager anticipation of the
appointed day, they made all necessary preparations for those
who would come with such a distinguished abbot. Now on the
night before the day indicated, Benedict appeared in their
dreams to the newly-appointed abbot and prior and pointed out
in detail the locations where they should build each and every

27 II Kings 4:27.
32 DIALOGUES OF GREGORY THE GREAT

section. After getting up, they both reported to each other what
they had seen. But since they did not put full trust in that
vision, they waited for Benedict's promised arrival. When he
had failed to come on the day set, they returned to him down­
cast and said, “ O Father, we waited for you to come as you had
promised, and to show us where we should build everything;
but you did not come.” Benedict then replied, “Why are you
talking this way? Surely I went there just as I had promised.”
They asked, “ When did you come?” and he answered, “ Surely
I appeared to you both in your sleep and pointed out the various
sites one by one. Go back now and build the whole monastery
according to the instructions you received in the vision.” In
wonder at Benedict’s words, the two returned to the estate and
built all the quarters just as they had been instructed in the
revelation.
Peter. I should like to know how he could travel far off and
give the sleeping men an answer which they might hear and
recognize in their vision.
Gregory. Why do you have any doubt, Peter, when you ex­
amine the course of events? It is quite clear that spirit is
more mobile in nature than body. We have certain knowledge
through the witness of Scripture that the prophet, raised up
from Judea, was suddenly set down in Chaldaea along with his
dinner, with which he refreshed the prophet, and then suddenly
found himself back in Judea again.28 If Habacuc was able to
travel such a distance instantaneously in the flesh and to take a
meal with him, why is it strange if Benedict succeeded in travel­
ing in spirit and giving the necessary message to the spirits of
the monks as they were sleeping? Just as that prophet went in
the flesh for the nourishment of the flesh, so Benedict went in
spirit to teach about the spiritual life.
Peter. I admit that your words have cleared away my doubt.
But please tell me what he was like in his ordinary speech.

28 Dan. 14:32-38 . [Included in the Hellenistic Greek translation of the

Old Testament, the Septuagint, and in the Latin versions of the Bible,
among them the Vulgate text.— Ed.]
 SAINT BENEDICT 33

X X III •

H ow Some Nuns Who H ad D ied Were

Restored to the Communion of the Church
Through H is Offering

Gregory. Even his ordinary speech, Peter, was not lacking in

authority. For words did not fall in vain from the lips of that
man whose heart had raised itself on high. Whenever he pro­
nounced a warning rather than a decision, his speech was not
uncertain and tentative, but had as much force as if he had
delivered a judgment. Now not far from his monastery, two
nuns of good family were living in their own home, with their
material needs served by a pious man. But high birth often
produces such baseness of heart that those conscious of their
superiority to others lack proper humility in this world. So it
was that the nuns had not yet allowed their lives of consecration
to curb their tongues perfectly, but by their unguarded speech
they often angered the man who served them. After long en­
during such abuse, he went to Benedict and told him of the
insults to which he was subjected. When he had heard the
report about them, the man of God gave them this order at
once: “Amend your speech or I excommunicate you.” Now this
sentence of excommunication was spoken as a threat, not as an
actually imposed sentence. A few days later, without having
changed their ingrained habits, the women died and were
buried in the church. When Mass was being celebrated there,
the deacon, as usual, called out, “ Whoever is not a communicant
should depart.” Then their nurse, who used to make an offering
for them to God, saw them leave their tombs and depart from
the church. After observing a number of times that they left
at the deacon’s proclamation and could not remain within the
church, she recalled the order that Benedict had given them
while they were alive. He had, in fact, said that he was depriv­
34 DIALOGUES OF GREGORY THE GREAT

ing them of communion unless they amended their actions and

their words. Then, when she had sadly informed Benedict of
the situation, he at once gave a personal offering. “ Go and pre­
sent this offering to God for them,” he said, “ and they will no
longer be excommunicated.” When this offering had been made
for them and the deacon called out his usual announcement
that non-communicants should depart from the church, they
were no longer seen to leave. This circumstance proved beyond
doubt that they had received communion with God through
His servant.
Peter. It is truly remarkable that a man, no matter how rev­
erend and holy, could free souls upon whom sentence had
already been passed in that invisible judgment while he himself
was still alive in this corruptible flesh.
Gregory. Wasn’t he also still in the flesh who heard, “What­
ever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever
you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” ?29 His function in
binding and loosening has been taken over by those who gov­
ern the Church in matters of faith and morals. But in order that
man, who comes from earth, might have this power, the Creator
of heaven and earth came to earth from heaven; and that flesh
might judge even about spirits, God, made flesh for man, saw
fit to give him this power. For our weakness rose above itself
by the very act by which the divine strength made itself weaker.
Peter. Your words are in harmony with these miraculous
events.

xxiv.

A bout the Young M onk Cast Out by the

Earth After B u rial

Gregory. There was a youthful monk who loved his parents too
much. One day, after leaving the monastery without a blessing,
he made his way to their house and died the same day as soon
29 M att. 16:19.
 SAINT BENEDICT 35

as he had arrived. The day after his interment, his body was
found cast out, and was buried again. But the following day it
was again found cast out and disinterred as before. Then the
youth’s relatives ran fast to Benedict and, in tears, they begged
him to grant his favor to the youth. At once the man of God
gave them a consecrated wafer of the Lord’s body and said,
“ Go and put this consecrated wafer on his breast and bury him
that way.’’ When this had been done, the earth received his body
and kept it, and did not cast it out again. You can realize, Peter,
how much merit Benedict had in the eyes of the Lord Jesus
Christ since even the earth cast out the body of the monk who
lacked his blessing.
Peter. I am weighing the incident carefully, and it really
astonishes me.

XXV*

A bout a M onk Who Left the Monastery and

Found a Serpent on the Way

Gregory. One of Benedict’s monks had become unstable in

spirit and was unwilling to remain in the monastery. Although
the man of God continually rebuked and admonished him, he
would not agree to stay in the community, but never stopped
plying Benedict with requests to let him go. One day, there­
fore, when the abbot was tired of his importunity, he angrily
ordered him to leave. As soon as the monk had gone, he found
a serpent with gaping mouth facing him on the road. Since the
beast was eager to devour him, he began to tremble violently
and to shout loudly, “ Help, help, a serpent wants to devour me!’’
But the monks running to his aid did not see the serpent at all,
and led the violently trembling monk back to the monastery.
He immediately promised that he would never leave the mon­
astery, and from that very hour he kept his promise. For in fact,
through Benedict’s prayers he had seen before him the serpent
that he had previously been following unaware.
36 DIALOGUES OF GREGORY THE GREAT

XXVI.

H ow a Servant Was Cured of Leprosy

I must also tell about this incident, which I heard from An­
tonius, a man of high position. He said that a servant of his
father had been so afflicted with leprosy that his hair fell out,
his skin was swollen, and the infected matter could no longer
be concealed. When sent to Benedict by Antonius’ father, the
servant was quickly restored to his former state of health.

XXVII.

H ow Pieces of G old Were M iraculously

G iven to a D ebtor

I should also recount this story which his disciple Peregrinus

used to tell. One day a certain Catholic man, under the pressure
of debt, decided that his only solution was to go to Benedict and
inform him of his situation. He therefore went to the monastery,
found the servant of almighty God, and revealed to him that he
was being hard-pressed by his creditor because he owed twelve
gold pieces. The abbot replied that he himself did not have
twelve gold pieces, but he offered these kind words of consola­
tion: “ Go now and come back in two days, because I can’t give
you anything today.” For those two days, as usual, he was
absorbed in prayer. When the debtor returned on the third day,
thirteen gold pieces were suddenly discovered in the monastery
on top of a chest full of grain. Benedict ordered them to be
brought and given to the man with the advice that he pay back
twelve and keep one for his own expenses.
But now I shall return to the incidents which I heard about
from the disciples mentioned at the beginning of this book. A
certain man had an oppressive feeling of rivalry against his
enemy. His hostility reached such a point that he secretly
 SAINT BENEDICT 37

poisoned the man’s drink. Although this mixture was not strong
enough to kill the man, it changed the color of his skin so that
the spots, spread over his whole body, made him resemble a
leper. But when taken to Benedict, he quickly recovered his
former health. By touching him, Benedict instantly banished
the spottiness of his skin.

X X V I II •

H ow a Glass Vessel Was Throw n upon

Some Rocks and Not Broken

While famine was weighing heavily on Campania, the man of

God had distributed all the provisions of his monastery to
various persons in need. Practically nothing was left in the store­
room but a small bit of oil in a glass vessel. Then Agapitus, a
subdeacon, came and earnestly begged for some oil. Now Bene­
dict had decided to distribute all his goods on earth in order
to store up all treasures in heaven.30 He therefore ordered the
remaining bit of oil to be given to the man who was begging
for it. The monk in charge of the storeroom heard him give the
command, but delayed in carrying it out. A little later, when
Benedict asked whether the oil had been given as he had
ordered, the monk answered that he had certainly not given it
away, for without it there would be nothing at all left for the
brothers. Then Benedict angrily told some other monks to
throw the glass vessel with the oil out of the window, because
he did not want anything to remain in the monastery through
disobedience. His order was carried out. Now beneath the win­
dow was a steep precipice, rough with masses of rock. And so
the glass vessel fell on the rocks when it was flung out, but still
remained intact just as though it had not been thrown at all.
Therefore it was not broken, and the oil was not spilled. Bene­
dict ordered it to be picked up and gave it, in good condition,
to the man who had asked for it. Then, in the presence of all

30 Luke 18:22.
38 DIALOGUES OF GREGORY THE GREAT

the assembled brothers, he reproached the disobedient monk for

his lack of faith and his pride.

X X IX .

Hoiu an Em pty Ja r Was F illed with Oil

After finishing his rebuke, he began to pray with the monks. In

the place where he was praying with them, there was a covered
jar, empty of oil. As the saint continued to pray, the cover of
the jar began to be lifted up by oil spilling out of it. When the
lid had been stirred and raised, the oil, which had welled up,
passed the rim of the jar and poured over the pavement on the
spot where it had rested. When Benedict saw what was happen­
ing, he stopped praying at once and the oil stopped flowing over
the pavement. Then he warned the disobedient, faithless monk
again and urged him to learn to have faith and humility. The
monk blushed when he had been reproved for his own good, for
by miracles the venerable abbot was showing the power of
almighty God, which he had indicated before by his words of
exhortation. Now no one could doubt his promises, for in a
single instant he had substituted a jar full of oil for an almost
empty glass vessel.

XXX*

H ow a M onk Was Freed from a Demon

One day as he was going toward the chapel of the blessed John
which is on the peak of the mountain, he met the Devil dis­
guised as a veterinarian carrying a horn and a snare. When
Benedict asked, “ Where are you going?” he replied, “ I ’m on my
way to the brothers to give them a drink.” And so the abbot
went on to pray, and when his prayer was finished, he returned
quickly. But the evil spirit found one elderly monk drinking
water. He attacked him at once, threw him on the ground, and
subjected him to the crudest torture. When the man of God
 SAINT BENEDICT 39

returned from prayer and saw the old monk in such distress,
he merely slapped him and so immediately expelled the evil
spirit, which never again dared to return to the man.
Peter. I should like to know whether he always accomplished
such great miracles as this by the power of prayer, or whether
he sometimes brought them about by the simple exercise of his
will.
Gregory. Those who devoutly cling to God often perform
wonders in both ways when the need arises, sometimes by
prayer, sometimes by their own power. For John says, “ But to all
who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to
become children of God.” 31 It is not strange that men who are
children of God by His power are able to perform wonders
through their power. Peter gives us evidence that they produce
miracles both ways, for he aroused the dead Tabitha by prayer,32
but delivered the untruthful Ananias and Sapphira to death by
his rebuke.33 For we do not read in Scripture that he prayed at
the time of their death, but only that he had reproached them
for their sinfulness. It is clear, then, that holy men accomplish
these miracles sometimes by their own power, sometimes by en­
treaty, since Peter deprived those two of life by his reproof, but
restored the woman by prayer. Now I shall disclose two deeds
in which it is obvious that Benedict performed one by receiving
power from God, the other by prayer.

X X X I-

H ow a Bound Peasant Was Freed When the

Man of God M erely Looked at H im

A certain Goth named Zalla followed the Arian heresy34 in the

time of King Totila. This man had such a cruel and passionate
zeal against devout Catholics that no cleric or monk who met

si John 1:12 .
32 Acts 9 :36 -4 1.
33 Acts 5 :1 -1 0 .
34 Th e Arian heresy, named after the fourth century priest Arius, was
40 DIALOGUES OF GREGORY THE GREAT

him could escape from him alive. One day when his feverish
greed had driven him to a desire for plunder, he was brutally
torturing a peasant and was mangling his flesh. The peasant
was overcome by his suffering, and said that he had entrusted
all his property to Benedict, the servant of God. He hoped that
this confession would give him time to save his life while his
tormenter, believing his story, would temporarily interrupt the
punishment. But although Zalla stopped torturing the peasant
then, he bound his arms with strong cords, began to drive him
in front of his horse, and ordered him to point out the Benedict
who had received his property. The peasant walked ahead with
arms bound and led Zalla to the monastery, where he found
Benedict sitting alone before the entrance and reading. Then
the peasant said to Zalla, who was following him in a rage,
“ Here is the abbot Benedict about whom I told you.” Zalla
stared at Benedict with the burning intensity of a man whose
mind is twisted. He thought that he would be as terrifying as
usual when he began to shout loudly, “ Get up and give back
the property you took from this peasant.” At his words, the man
of God immediately raised his eyes from what he was reading,
looked at Zalla, and soon also caught sight of the bound peasant.
As he turned his eyes to the man's arms, the cords miraculously
began to fall off, more quickly than they could have been loos­
ened by the fastest human action. Since the man who had come
in bonds was suddenly standing there free, Zalla was overcome
at the effect of such great power. He fell to the ground and bent
his neck, the symbol of his unbending harshness, at Benedict's
feet. But although he commended himself to Benedict's prayers,
the saint did not rise from his reading, but called some monks
and ordered Zalla to be taken inside to receive a blessing. When
Zalla had been brought back, Benedict warned him to put an
end to such mad cruelty. Zalla was broken in spirit as he left
without daring to make any further demands upon the peasant,
whom Benedict had freed by a mere glance without touching

the form of Christianity to which most barbarians, with the notable ex­
ception of the Franks, were converted. T h e Arians did not believe in the
complete equality, or consubstantiality, of the Son with the Father.
 SAINT BENEDICT 41

him. Here, Peter, is an example of what I said. Those who grow

close to almighty God by serving Him can sometimes perform
miracles through their own power. For when he checked the
savageness of the dreadful Goth without rising and when he
loosened by his eyes the knotted cords which had bound the
arms of an innocent man, Benedict proved through the very
swiftness of the miracle that his deed was accomplished by his
power. Now I shall add an account of the great miracle which he
was able to perform through prayer.

X X X II •

H ow Benedict R evived a Corpse

One day when Benedict had gone out with the monks to work
in the fields, a peasant came to the monastery looking for him.
The man was shaken by the grief of bereavement, for he was
carrying his son’s dead body in his arms. As soon as he heard
that the abbot was in the field with the brothers, he put down
his son’s body in front of the monastery door and ran fast, dis­
traught as he was, to find the venerable abbot. Now it happened
that the man of God was returning with the monks at that very
moment. As soon as the bereaved peasant caught sight of him,
he began to shout, “ Give me back my son! Give me back my
son!” The man of God stopped short at these words and asked,
“I haven’t taken your son away from you, have I?” “ He has
died,” the peasant answered. “ Come and revive him.” When the
servant of God heard the plea, he was overcome with sorrow and
said, “ Leave me, brothers. Such miracles are not for me, but for
the holy apostles. Why are you trying to burden me beyond my
strength?” But the peasant kept begging him, for deep sorrow
overpowered him. He swore that he would not leave before
Benedict revived his son. Then Benedict asked, “Where is he?”
and the man answered, “ His body is lying by the monastery
door.” The man of God went there with the monks, knelt at the
spot, and crouched over the child’s body. Afterwards he raised
4* DIALOGUES OF GREGORY THE GREAT

himself up and stretched out his hands to heaven with the

prayer, “ O Lord, do not look at my sins, but consider the faith
of this man who asks that his son be revived. Give back to this
small body the soul which you have taken away/’ He had hardly
finished his prayer before the soul came back and the child's
whole body trembled with a violent, convulsive shudder that
everyone there could see. Then Benedict took the child by the
hand and gave him back to his father, alive and sound. Obvi­
ously, Peter, this miracle was not in his power. He knelt in
prayer and asked that he might perform it.
Peter. It is perfectly clear that you are right, because you
prove your statements by examples. But please tell me whether
saints can do whatever they wish, and whether all of their desires
are fulfilled.

xxxni*

T h e M iracle of H is Sister Scholastica

Gregory. Who in this life, Peter, will reach greater heights than
Paul? And yet on three occasions he made requests to God about
carnal temptation without having them fulfilled.35 I must tell
you, then, that Benedict had one desire which he was unable to
satisfy. His sister Scholastica, who had been dedicated to God
from a tender age, used to visit him once every year. The man
of God would go down to meet her not far from the entrance
on the property of the monastery. One day she came as usual,
and her venerable brother went down to her, along with his
disciples. They spent the whole day in praising God and talking
of spiritual matters, and when the shadows of night began to
fall, they ate together. While they were still at table and it grew
later, his sister made this request: ‘‘Please don’t leave me to­
night, but let us talk until morning about the joys of life in

35 h Cor. 12:7-9.
 SAINT BENEDICT 43

heaven.” But he answered, “ What are you saying, sister? I cer­

tainly cannot stay outside my monastery for any reason/’ Now
it happened that the weather was so calm that not a cloud was
in sight. When she had heard her brother’s refusal, Scholastica
entwined her fingers, put her hands on the table, and rested
her head on her hands as she prepared to make her request of
almighty God. As she raised her head from the table, there was
such violent thunder and lightning and such a flood of rain
that neither Benedict nor the monks with him could step out­
side the threshold of the place. By bending her head down on
her hands and pouring out streams of tears upon the table, she
had changed the fair weather to rain. The downpour did not
follow a little after her prayer, but the coincidence of time was
so exact that it was thundering as she raised her head from the
table. So the raising of her head and the downpour of rain
occurred at the very same instant. Then, since Benedict realized
that he could not return to the monastery in the thunder, light­
ning, and drenching rain, he was annoyed and made this pro­
test: “ May almighty God spare you, sister. What have you
done?’’ She answered him and said, “ I asked you, but you were
unwilling to listen to me. I asked my Lord and He listened to
me. Well, then, go if you can. Leave me and return to the mon­
astery.’’ But although he did not remain of his own will, he
stayed there since he was unable to go. So it happened that they
spent the whole night awake, and had their fill of talk about
spiritual matters. This is the incident about which I said that
Benedict had had a wish which he could not fulfill. For if we
consider the heart of that venerable man, we cannot doubt that
he wanted the weather to be fair as it had been when he had
left the monastery. But against his will he came upon a miracle
performed by the power of almighty God in order to fulfill the
woman’s desire. And it is not strange that the woman prevailed
over him at that time since she had long yearned to see her
brother. For as John says, “ God is love,’’36 and she justly over­
came him by the greater strength of her love.
Peter. I certainly like that story very much.

3 6 1 John 4:16.
44 DIALOGUES OF GREGORY THE GREAT

X X X IV

H ow Benedict Saw the Departure of

H is Sister's Soul from H er Body

Gregory. The next day when Scholastica had gone back to her
own cell, Benedict returned to the monastery. As he was stand­
ing in his cell three days later, he raised his eyes and saw his
sister’s soul leaving her body and entering the secret recesses of
heaven in the form of a dove. He rejoiced in her great glory and
gave thanks to almighty God in hymns and words of praise.
Then he informed the brothers of her passing and sent them at
once to carry her body to the monastery and place it in the tomb
which he had prepared for himself. So it happened that those
whose spirit had always been one in God, were brought close to
each other even in body by burial.

XXXV

A bout the Way That the W orld Was

Gathered Up Before Benedict's Eyes and
A bout the Soul of Germanus, Bishop of Capua

On another occasion Benedict received one of his customary

visits from the deacon Servandus, abbot of the monastery which
had been built in the region of Campania by the former patri­
cian Liberius. Since Servandus too was filled with knowledge
of spiritual matters, he used to come to discuss them with Bene­
dict so that both of them might have a foretaste of the heavenly
joy which they could not yet attain in all its perfection. When
the hour came for rest, Benedict settled in the upper part of
the tower and the deacon Servandus in the lower, from which
 SAINT BENEDICT 45

a passageway led straight up to the top. In front of this tower

was a spacious room in which the disciples of both men were
resting. While the monks were still asleep, Benedict was keeping
his vigil before the hour of the nightly prayer. As he stood by
the window praying to almighty God, at a still unseasonable
hour of the night he suddenly looked and saw that a light, shed
from above, had scattered all the shades of night. In fact, that
light which had flashed out in the darkness was so radiant that
it surpassed the day in brightness. A miracle followed this vision.
As Benedict himself afterwards related, the whole world, as
though gathered up under a single ray of the sun, was brought
before his eyes. While Benedict fixed his gaze intently upon the
brilliantly flashing light, he saw the soul of Germanus, Bishop
of Capua, being carried to heaven by angels in a fiery globe.
Then, since he wished to have a witness of such a great miracle,
he loudly called the deacon Servandus several times. Servandus
was disturbed by Benedict's extraordinary shouting, and so he
went up, looked intently, and saw a small trace of the light. As
he stood dumbfounded at this great miracle, Benedict told him
in order what had happened. Then Benedict immediately or­
dered the pious Theoprobus in Cassino to send a messenger to
Capua that very night to find out and report about Bishop
Germanus. The command was carried out, and the messenger
learned that Bishop Germanus had already died. By close ques­
tioning, he discovered that the death had occurred at the very
instant when Benedict noticed the ascent.
Peter. What a remarkable, astonishing incident! But since I
have never had an experience like the one you describe, when
the whole world was gathered together and brought before his
eyes as though beneath a single ray of the sun, I cannot conceive
of it. How can the whole world become visible to a single man?
Gregory. Hold fast to what I tell you, Peter. To a soul that
beholds the Creator, all creation is narrow in compass. For when
a man views the Creator's light, no matter how little of it, all
creation becomes small in his eyes. By the light of the inmost
vision, the inner recesses of his mind are opened up and so ex­
panded in God that they are above the universe. In fact, the
46 DIALOGUES OF GREGORY THE GREAT

soul of the beholder rises even above itself. When it is caught

up above itself in God’s light, it is made ampler within. As it
looks down from its height, it grasps the smallness of what it
could not take in in its lowly state. Therefore as Benedict gazed
at the fiery globe, he saw angels, too, returning to heaven. He
could undoubtedly have seen these visions only in God’s light.
Why is it strange, then, if he saw the world gathered before
him when he was outside the world, raised up in the light of the
soul? To say that the world was gathered together before his
eyes does not mean that heaven and earth shrank, but that the
mind of the beholder was expanded so that he could easily see
everything below God since he himself was caught up in God.
In that light which gleamed for the outer eyes, then, there was
an inner light of the heart. When this carried the soul of the
beholder to the upper regions, it revealed to him how narrow
in compass everything below really was.
Peter. I think that I have profited from not understanding
your words since you made your explanation so much fuller be­
cause I was slow-witted. But now that you have made your point
perfectly clear, please go on with your account.

XXXVI»

That Benedict H ad Written a R ule for Monks

Gregory. I should like to tell many other stories about this

venerable abbot, Peter. But I am purposely omitting some in­
cidents because I am hurrying along to tell about the achieve­
ments of other saints. However, I want you to realize that in
addition to the many miracles which made him famous, he also
distinguished himself by his teaching. He wrote a Rule for
monks, a work outstanding in good judgment and clearly ex­
pressed. Whoever may wish to have a fuller understanding of
his character and his life can find all the acts of his administra­
tion in this Book of the Rule. For that saint was incapable of
teaching a way of life that he did not practice.
 SAINT BENEDICT 47

XXXVII-

H ow the Prophecy of H is Death Was

R eported to the Brothers

The year that he was to depart from this life, he announced the
day of his most holy death to some of the disciples with him and
to others who lived far ofE. He ordered the monks with him to
keep his words a secret, and he pointed out to the others what
kind of sign they would receive when his soul departed from
his body. Six clays before his death, he ordered his sepulchre to
be opened. Then, soon afterward, he caught a fever and began
to be exhausted by the fierce burning. His weakness increased
day by day, and on the sixth day he had his disciples carry him
into the chapel. There he fortified himself against death by re­
ceiving the Lord’s body and blood. As he supported his weak
limbs with the help of his disciples, he stood with hands raised
to heaven and drew his last breath while praying. On that day,
the very same vision appeared to two monks, one who was from
his monastery and the other from quite far away. In it they saw
a road, strewn with carpets and flashing with many lamps, which
led straight eastward from his cell to heaven. Above this road
stood a man radiant in appearance and dressed in a stately robe.
When he asked whose road this was, they confessed that they
did not know, and he told them, “ This is the road by which
Benedict, beloved by the Lord, is ascending to heaven.” Then
just as the disciples present saw the holy man’s death, so those
absent became aware of it from the sign which had been fore­
told to them. He was buried in the chapel of the blessed John
the Baptist, which he had built after destroying the altar of
Apollo.
48 DIALOGUES OF GREGORY THE GREAT

X X X V III*

H ow a Madwoman Was Restored to

Health in H is Cave

In the cave at Subiaco where he once lived, he still performs

dazzling miracles when the faithful beg him to do so. The inci­
dent which I am about to relate happened recently. There was
a woman, stricken in mind, who had completely lost her reason
and was wandering day and night over mountains, valleys, for­
ests, and plains. She rested only where exhaustion had forced
her to stop. One day as she wandered aimlessly, she came to the
cave of the blessed Benedict and, without knowing what she
was doing, entered and stayed there. In the morning when she
left, her reason was as sound as if she had never been mad. And
in addition, for the rest of her life, she kept the sanity which
had been restored to her.
Peter. How may we explain the fact that often when the mar­
tyrs too offer their protection, they grant greater favors through
their relics than through their own bodies, and produce more
impressive wonders in a place where their remains do not lie?
Gregory. Where the remains of the holy martyrs lie, Peter,
there is no doubt that they have the power to display many
signs, as indeed they do; and they reveal countless wonders to
those who seek them with pure heart. But since weak spirits may
doubt whether they are present to hear prayers where it is
known the remains of their bodies do not lie, greater signs must
be shown where the weak may be unsure of their presence.
Those whose hearts are firmly fixed in God earn greater merit of
faith by their conviction that the saints hear their supplications
even though they are absent in body. That is why Truth Itself,
to increase the faith of His disciples, said, “ If I do not go away,
the Counselor will not come to you.” 37 Since it is certain that

37 John 16:7.
 SAINT BENEDICT 49

the Counselor, the Spirit, always proceeds from the Father and
the Son, why does the Son say that he will withdraw in order
that He may come who never withdraws from the Son? Because
when the disciples saw the Lord in the flesh with the eyes of the
flesh, they yearned always to do so. Therefore it was right for
them to be told, “ If I do not go away, the Counselor will not
come to you.” In plain words this statement meant, “ If I do not
withdraw my body, I cannot show the love of the Spirit. Unless
you stop seeing me in the flesh, you will never learn to love me
in spirit.”
Peter. I like what you say.
Gregory. Now we must stop speaking for a while and let
silence restore our powers of speech for telling the miracles of
others.
 The Library of Liberal Arts

Below is a representative selection from Th e Library of Liberal Arts.

This partial listing—taken from the more than 200 scholarly editions
of the world’s finest literature and philosophy—indicates the scope,
nature, and concept of this distinguished scries.

A q u in as , S t . T., The Principles of C a l v in , J., On God and Political

Nature, On Being and
Essence, On Free Choice,
and On the Virtues in
General
A r is t o t l e , Nicomachean Ethics
On Poetry and Music
On Poetry and Style
B a y l e , P., Historical and Critical
Dictionary (Selections)
B ergso n , H., Duration and
Simultaneity
Introduction to Metaphysics
B e r k e l e y , G., Principles,
Dialogues, and
Philosophical
Correspondence
Principles of Human
Knowledge
Three Dialogues
Works on Vision
B o ile a u , N., Selected Criticism
Bo lin g br o k e , H., The Idea of a
Patriot King
B o n a v en t u r a , S t ., The Mind’s
Road to God
B u r k e , E., Reflections on the
Revolution in France
B u r k e , K., Permanence and
Change
Duty
On the Christian Faith
C r o ce , B., Guide to Aesthetics
C icero , On the Commonwealth
D e s c a r t e s , R., Discourse on
Method
Discourse on Method and
Meditations
Discourse on Method, Optics,
Geometry, and
Meteorology
Meditations
Philosophical Essays
Rules for the Direction of the
Mind
D id erot , D., Encyclopedia
(Selections)
Rameau’s Nephew and Other
Works
D o st o ev sk i , F., The Grand
Inquisitor
D r y d e n , J., An Essay of Dramatic
Poesy and Other Essays
E p ic t e t u s , The Enchiridion
G o e t h e , J., Faust I and II (verse)
Faust I (prose)
Faust II (prose)
H e g e l , G., Reason in History
H esiod , Theogony
H o b b es , T., Leviathan, I and II P la t o , Epistles
H o race , The Odes of Horace and Euthydemus
The Centennial Hymn Euthyphro, Apology, Crito
H u m e , D., Dialogues Concerning Gorgias
Natural Religion Meno
Inquiry Concerning Human Phaedo
Understanding Phaedrus
Inquiry Concerning the Protagoras
Principles of Morals Statesman
Of the Standard of Taste, and Symposium
Other Essays Theatetus
Philosophical Historian Timaeus
Political Essays Commentaries:
B l u c k , R., Plato’s
K a n t , I., Analytic of the
Phaedo
Beautiful C orn ford , F., Plato and
Critique of Practical Reason Parmenides
First Introduction to the Plato’s Cosmology
Critique of Judgment Plato’s Theory of
Foundations of the Knowledge
Metaphysics of Morals H ac k fo r t h , R., Plato’s
The Metaphysical Elements of Examination of
Justice, Part I of Pleasure
Metaphysik der Sitten Plato’s Phaedo
The Metaphysical Principles Plato’s Phaedrus
of Virtue, Part II of P o p e , A., An Essay on Man
Metaphysik der Sitten P l a u t u s , The Menaechmi
On History Q u in t il ia n , On the Early
Perpetual Peace Education of the
Prolegomena to Any Future Citizen-Orator
Metaphysics R e y n o l d s , J., Discourses on Art
L e ib n iz , G., Monadology and Roman Drama, Copley and Hadas,
Other Philosophical trans.
Essays R u s s e l l , B., Philosophy of Science
L u c ia n , Selected Works Sappho, The Poems of
L u c r e t iu s , On Nature S c h l e g e l , J., On Imitation and
M a c h ia v e l l i , N., The Art of War Other Essays
M i l l , J. S., Autobiography S c h o pen h a u er , A., On the Basis
On Liberty of Morality
On the Logic of the Moral S h e l l e y , P., A Defence of Poetry
Sciences Song of Roland, Terry, trans.
Utilitarianism T e r e n c e , The Woman of Andros
M o l iè r e , Tartuffe V e r g il , Aeneid
P a in e , T., The Age of Reason Vico, G. B., On the Study Methods
Pico d e l la M irandola , On the of Our Time
Dignity of Man, On X enopho n , Recollections of
Being and the One, and Socrates and Socrates’
Heptaplus Defense Before the Jury