Church History Unit - Textbook Extracts (1) PDF

# Monasticism Had Many Benefits (And Some Drawbacks) - St. Benedict of Nursia (480-547), the patron saint of Europe, founded the most influential form of monasticism. - In 529, he built his famous, self-sustaining monastery on Monte Cassino, a hill south of Rome. - Benedict's twin sister S...

# Monasticism Had Many Benefits (And Some Drawbacks) - St. Benedict of Nursia (480-547), the patron saint of Europe, founded the most influential form of monasticism. - In 529, he built his famous, self-sustaining monastery on Monte Cassino, a hill south of Rome. - Benedict's twin sister St. Scholastica (480–543) founded a monastery for women. - The monks and nuns, who came from ordinary lives, were taught to read so they could study the Bible and read their daily prayers. - They lived a simple, practical form of monasticism, one marked by prayer and work (ora et labora in Latin). - Around the same time, St. Columban (559-615) began his missionary endeavors, starting from the island of Ireland. - St. Columban spent much of his youth in prayerful solitude. - He later traveled to what is now France with a small group of fellow Celtic missionaries. - The Columbans gained a solid reputation among the people of the European mainland based on the quality of their preaching, their self-discipline, and their charitable endeavors. - Just like his contemporary St. Benedict, St. Columban established monastic communities throughout Europe, and they became faithful hubs of culture and education. - Building on the experience of monks such as St. Pachomius, St. Basil, St. Jerome, and others, the Rule of St. Benedict is a lasting testament to the period and a practical approach to religious life based on moderation. - Two meals a day, a little wine, adequate clothing, sufficient sleep. - Benedictines took the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience to the abbot (for men) or abbess (for women), who held the office for life. - These vows and the Rule of St. Benedict became the model for Western monasticism and characterize religious community life in the Catholic Church to this day. ## Monasticism: Benefits - Economically self-sufficient monasteries provided the rural countryside a good example of land management and helped reestablish agriculture after the Barbarian invasions. - The monks taught respect for the liturgy and the value of prayer in daily life. - Monasteries were spiritual beacons. - They provided a countercultural response to a Christianity that had grown tepid. - Monasteries were islands of stability in unsettled times. - They gave refuge to travelers. - As centers of learning, they educated many future Church leaders who often administered secular affairs as well. - As missionary centers, monasteries Christianized Europe. - They kept Christianity alive and spread it. - The monks fostered a life of contemplating the divine mysteries and of praying for the salvation of the world. ## Monasticism: Drawbacks - Monastic asceticism sometimes went overboard. - For example, some monks engaged in self-mutilation to tame their weak human nature. - Also, St. Jerome praised celibacy excessively, so much that he ended up teaching that marriage is not a means to holiness but a necessary evil. - Monasticism sometimes indirectly encouraged a limited view regarding the diversity of modes and spiritualities in the pursuit of holiness. - The educated people in the Church were often monks who considered the religious life to be the only true model of holiness. - As a result, a healthy lay spirituality, in which the holiness of every believer was encouraged, was underemphasized for centuries. ## Monasticism Defined: **Monasticism** _Religious life in which men or women leave the world and enter a monastery or convent to devote themselves to solitary prayer, contemplation, and self-denial. After martyrdom became rare, monasticism became the most demanding way to live out a Christian vocation._ ## The Monastery on Monte Cassino: _The monastery on Monte Cassino has had to be rebuilt a number of times since it was first built in 529, most recently after it was bombed by Allied forces who had discovered German soldiers hiding in the monastery in the Battle of Monte Cassino in 1944._