Benedictine

For other uses, see Benedictine (disambiguation).

St. Benedict of Nursia (c. 480-543), detail from a fresco by Fra Angelico, San Marco, Florence (c. 1400–1455).

Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict around 529.

Used as a noun, the term Benedictine denotes membership in the order. By extension it is sometimes applied to other adherents of the Benedictine spirituality.

During the subsequent centuries many more Benedictine communities were founded, not only for monks but also for nuns, first throughout Europe and eventually also other areas of the world. This led to the formation in modern times of the Order of St Benedict. In addition to those autonomous Benedictine communities, a number of independent monastic orders were founded on the rule of St Benedict, and so are also Benedictines in that sense. Such orders include the Congregation of Cluny, the Cistercians, and the Trappists. Benedictine communities are primarily found in the Catholic Church but several Benedictine communities exist within other Christian communities, though small in number.

The current Abbot Primate of the global Benedictine Confederation of the Order of St. Benedict is a German Benedictine, Notker Wolf. The center of the Confederation is Sant'Anselmo in Rome where every four years the abbots of the Benedictine order from around the world meet for a Confederation Congress. In 2000, there were 8,182 Benedictine monks, 7,179 nuns, and 10,000 "Active Benedictine Sisters."^[1]

England

In the English Reformation all monasteries were dissolved and their lands confiscated by the Crown, forcing their Catholic members to flee into exile on the Continent, although during the 19th century they were able to return to England, including to Selby Abbey in Yorkshire, one of the few great monastic churches to survive the Dissolution. Noteworthy, too, is St. Mildred's Priory, Isle of Thanet, Kent, built in 1027 on the site of an Abbey founded in 670 by the daughter of the first Christian King of Kent. Currently the Priory is home to a community of Benedictine nuns. Four of the most notable English Abbeys are the Basilica of St Gregory the Great at Downside, commonly known as Downside Abbey, Ealing Abbey in Ealing, West London and St. Lawrence's in Yorkshire (Ampleforth Abbey)and Worth Abbey which has appeared in two BBC2 TV programmes; 'The Monastery (BBC TV series)' and 'The Big Silence' .^[2][3] In 1928, Prinknash Abbey was officially returned to the Benedictines after four hundred years. Henry VIII had used the site as a hunting lodge. During the next few years, Prinknash Park, so called, was used as a home, until it was returned to the order.^[4][5] Since the Oxford Movement there has also been a modest flourishing of Benedictine monasticism in the Anglican Church and Protestant Churches. Anglican Benedictine Abbots are invited guests of the Benedictine Abbot Primate in Rome at Abbatial gatherings at Sant'Anselmo.^[6] There are an estimated 2,400 celibate Anglican Religious (1080 men and 1320 women) in the Anglican Communion as a whole, some of whom have adopted the Rule of St. Benedict.^[7] For a full list of all historic Benedictine houses in England & Wales see below.

France

In the late 19th century, laws were enacted preventing religious teaching. The original intent was to allow secular schools. In 1880 and 1882, Benedictine teaching monks were effectively exiled; this was not completed until 1901.^{[8][9][10][11][12]}

Benedictine's rules

Communities of the Benedictine order are governed by the 73 chapters of the Rule of St. Benedict.

Usage in popular culture

The Benedictine order has been brought to public attention by the Brother Cadfael novels, a series of murder mysteries by Edith Pargeter writing under the name Ellis Peters. The stories were also made into a television series starring Derek Jacobi. The protagonist, Brother Cadfael, is a Benedictine monk living at Shrewsbury Abbey during the 12th century. The novels contain many details about the Benedictine order and lifestyle. A Benedictine abbey provides the setting for a murder mystery in medieval Europe in the book The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco.

List of historic Benedictine houses in England & Wales

See also

• Saint Benedict Medal
• Benedictine Confederation
• Oblates of Saint Benedict
• Oblates
• Order of Saint Benedict
• Order of Saint Benedict (Orthodox)
• Order of St. Benedict (Anglican)
• Order of Cistercians
• Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (Trappists)
• Pontifical Congregation of the Benedictine Sisters of the Reparation of the Holy Face
• Mechitarist Order of the Armenian Catholic Church.

References

1. ^ Terance Kavenagh, "Benedictines" in Encyclopedia of Monasticism, ed. William Johnson (New York: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 2000), 326.
2. ^ Colin Battell, OSB, "Spirituality on the beach," The Tablet 2 December 2006, 18-19. The late Cardinal Basil Hume was Abbot of Ampleforth Abbey before being appointed Archbishop of Westminster.
3. ^ Christopher Martin A Glimpse of Heaven: Catholic Churches in England and Wales (London: English Heritage, 2007). Examines the abbeys rebuilt after 1850 (by benefactors among the Catholic aristocracy and recusant squirearchy), mainly Benedictine but including a Cistercian Abbey at Mount St. Bernard (by Pugin) and a Carthusian Charterhouse in Sussex. There is a review of book by Richard Lethbridge "Monuments to Catholic confidence," The Tablet 10 February 2007, 27.
4. ^ www.advent.org: Prinknash Abbey.
5. ^ Mian Ridge "Prinknash monks downsize," The Tablet 12 November 2005, 34.
6. ^ Daniel Rees, "Anglican Monasticism," in Encyclopedia of Monasticism ed. William Johnston (New York: Fitzroy Dearborn Publisher, 2000), 29.
7. ^ www.thekingdomisours.org.uk/communities.htm
8. ^ [1] retrieved November 29, 2008.
9. ^ [2] retrieved November 29, 2008.
10. ^ http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02443a.htm
11. ^ http://www.ryde.shalfleet.net/wootton_and_quarr.htm
12. ^ http://www.citeaux.net/assisi2005/delivrance-eng.htm

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Benedictine Monasteries or Benedictines

• The Order of Saint Benedict – Website mastered by a monk of St John's Abbey Collegeville
• St Benedict's Blessing; A Website on Benedictinism
• Popes from the Religious Orders, 12 Benedictines
• The Rule of St. Benedict
• Prayer and Lectio divina in the Benedictine Tradition
• Episcopal Benedictine Order in Diocese of Olympia