THEMES

TIMELINES

1,THE_DESERT

2_REFORMING_ADAPTING_the_DESERT

3_MISSION-RECONCILIATION-LEADERSHIP

MONASTIC zeal in both Ireland and England provided missionaries who re-evangelized territories that had fallen into paganism after the dissolution of the western Roman Empire. The monastic practice of spiritual direction resulted in the development of the sacrament of penance and reconciliation, and the monk-pope Gregory the Great wrote the biography of St. Benedict and employed monks as bishops, ambassadors, and missionaries.

OUR study of these early efforts to develop, apply, and expand Benedictine spirituality enables us to follow the teachings of the Second Vatican Council expressed in the Decree Perfectae Caritatis, since the the process of adapting and experimenting with new forms of monastic life, and of making monastic practices available to the wider world is one that is still ongoing today:

2. The adaptation and renewal of the religious life includes both the constant return to the sources of all Christian life and to the original spirit of the institutes and their adaptation to the changed conditions of our time.
(2. Accommodata renovatio vitae religiosae simul complectitur et continuum reditum ad omnis vitae christianae fontes primigeniamque institutorum inspirationem et aptationem ipsorum ad mutatas temporum condiciones.)
      Perfectae Caritatis 2.

4_NEW_VISIONS_of_MONASTIC_LIFE

DURING the four centuries that followed the death of Benedict, and after the first destruction of his monastery of Monte Casino by the Lombards, Benedict's Rule gradually displaced other monastic rules and became the standard monastic Rule of the West.  The Emperor Charlemagne in the early ninth century insisted on Benedictine observance and encouraged the unification and standardization of Gregorian Chant.

MONASTIC scholarship developed and flourished in the monasteries, especially in the Congregation of Cluny, which emphasized above all liturgical prayer, and was able to safeguard the independence from secular control of her man daughter-monasteries by subjecting them all to the jurisdiction and authority of Cluny.  In the Cluniac “Order/Congregation” there was a flourishing of the literary arts of poetry, music, and history as well as the arts of religious architecture, sculpture, and painting.  Experiments with new forms of monastic life resulting in the Benedictine hermit-orders of Vallambrosa and Camaldoli,

5_NEW_ORDERS

REFORMS and experiments with new forms of Benedictine life continued during the early middle ages. The Cistercians emphasized a balanced life of manual labor and prayer, in contrast to the emphasis on splendid liturgy characteristic of Cluny.  Additional Benedictine hermit-orders arose, most notably the Sylvestrines and Olivetans, as well as the Carthusians who incorporated the Rule of Benedict into their own unique Statutes, attempting like the Camaldolese before them, to blend cenobitic community with the possibility of eremetical solitude. 

NEW models of religious life also evolved, such as the canons regular (Norbertines), who followed the Rule of St. Augustine and observed monastic disciplines, but also engaged in pastoral ministry in dioceses and parishes. The new orders of friars, the Dominicans and Franciscans, respectively highlighted the beauty of preaching and poverty and the  carried the monastic ideals of prayer, contemplation, and scholarship into the marketplace and newly-arising universities.

THE friars and canons offered successful models of national and international  organization, including centralized authority and regular canonical visitations of local communities.  Such practices were imitated in the newly-forming Benedictine national congregations.  These included the Santa Justina or Cassinese Congregation in Italy, the Spanish Valladolid Congregation, the Bursfeld Congrgation in Germany, the French Vannists, and the English Benedictine Congregation.

MONKS in these reform congregations enabled Benedictine spirituality to became more widely known through such treatises as the popular book of Spiritual Exercises by the Spanish Benedictine Abbot Cisneros, whose work influenced Saint Ignatius Loyola and served as a model for his own later Exercises

THE Reformation, counter-Reformation, and subsequent European religious wars devastated many monasteries and congregations which had to be refounded when peace slowly returned.  The French Congregation of St. Maur arose from the earlier Vannists, and emphasized scholarship, producing the great Jean Mabillon.  At the same time the Cistercian Order was revitalized through the severe ascetical program of Rancé, the reformer of the monastery of La Trappe and founder of the Trappists.   

THE French revolution came very close to destroying Benedictine monasticism altogether.  The so-called Enlightenment and its chief instrument, Napoleon I, cheerfully predicted the imminent demise of the Catholic Church.  However, Napoleon fell, Pope Pius VII who endured threats and imprisonment under Napoleon was a Benedictine monk who urged compassion for the fallen dictator.

IN the atmosphere of romantic restoration that followed new monastic foundations and newly-created or restored monastic congregations flourished.  The French Congregation of Solesmes adopted the recovery of authentic Gregorian Chant as part of its mission; the German Congregation of Beuron committed itself to liturgical renewal; the English Benedictine Congregation embraced pastoral ministry and primary and secondary education; and the American-Cassinese and Ottilien Congregations emphasized both pastoral and missionary work. 

IN 1893 under the leadership of the German/American Abbot Boniface Wimmer, founder of both St. Vincent Archabbey in Pennsylvania and of the American Cassinese Congregation, the Benedictine Confederation was born.  Enclosed contemplative spirituality was re-emphasized in both the Benedictine Subiaco Congregation and in the restored Trappist order.  A further renewal of Trappist spirituality arose after the Second World War under the influence of Thomas Merton, whose writings emphasized the importance of combining contemplative spirituality with serious historical scholarship.

0._THE_BENEDICTINE_CONFEDERATION

For comparison: in 2010 there were 7350 Benedictine monks

 And in 2000, 15,682 Benedictine nuns (both sorores and moniales)

http://ldysinger.com/retreats/monasticism_early/00a_start.htm

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