Dr. Vess's World Civilization Virtual Library

Medieval Monasticism

Ora et Labora

OBJECTIVES

1. Be able to trace the early history of monasticism from the life of Christ through the desert hermits. 2. Be able to trace the history of cenobitic monasticism from Basil and Pachomius through St. Benedict of Nursia. 3. Be able to define the vocabulary terms which appear in the outline. 4. Be able to discuss the major themes of St. Benedict's Rule. 5. Be able to give examples of daily practices which would result from applications of the Rule. Be able to explain how ordinary life is transformed through life according to the Rule. 6. Be able to discuss later cenobitic movements, such as Cluny and the Cistercians. Be able to explain how these movements interpreted the Rule of St. Benedict. 7. Be able to discuss the Benedictine concept of community, leadership, work and stewardship.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

How would your own life be transformed by the Benedictine concept of stewardship? Community? Work as Prayer? How could each of us adopt a more prayerful attitude in everyday life, regardless of our religious preferences? St. Benedict of Nursia is one of the greatest figures of the western religious tradition. His Rule for monks became the most common Rule in the west, and in the hands of the later Cistercians, completely reclaimed barren wasteland and transformed the economy. The wasteland of the soul was also reclaimed, for Benedict reintegrated all aspects of life, transforming them into prayerful activities. The monastery was truly "the workshop where the tools necessary for spiritual life" were acquired. As the roman empire crumbled, Benedict salvaged the Roman concepts of loyalty, fides, pietas and religio and transferred them to the community of earthly saints living within the not yet present-already here Kingdom of God. The path toward holiness was to be walked in community, for only through humility in the presence of one's peers could God be truly found. His Rule is still lived today in communities all over the world, where monastic conversatio -- the continuous turning and turning toward the Divine -- is living testimony to the past and an ever present call to the future. Therefore, we intend to establish a school for the Lord's service. In drawing up its regulations, we hope to set down nothing harsh, nothing burdensome. RB, prologue. The workshop where we are to toil faithfully at all these tasks is the enclosure of the monastery and stability in the community. RB, 4. 78. Accordingly, brothers, if we want to reach the highest summit of humility, if we desire to attain speedily that exaltation in heaven to which we climb by the humility of the present life, then by our actions we must set up that ladder on which Jacob in a dream saw angels ascending and descending. Without doubt, this descent and ascent can signify only that we descend by exaltation and ascend by humility. Now the ladder erected is our life on earth, and if we humble our hearts the Lord will raise it to heaven. We may call our body and soul the sides of this ladder, into which our divine vocation has fitted the various steps of humility and discipline as we ascend. RB, 7. 5-9. Obedience is a blessing to be shown by all, not only to the abbot but also to one another..... RB, 71.1. .....keep this little rule that we have written for beginners.................. RB, 73.8. Let them prefer nothing whatever to Christ, and may he bring us all together to everlasting life. RB, 72. 11-12.

OUTLINE

I. The Origins of Monasticism: A. The Ideal: The Life of Jesus i. he had no home, no property, and never married ii. his anachoresis (later derivation: anchorite), or "retirement"/"withdrawal": a) and Jesus "withdrew ... into a desert place by himself" (Matt 14:13 b) Jesus "withdrew again to the mountain by himself" (John 6:15) c) the forty days in the desert of fasting, prayer, and the fight against temptation (Matt 4:2-10) B. the Desert Hermits i. from eremos or "desert" ii. derivation: the eremitical lifestyle iii. the ascetic life: from askesis or "discipline": a) the discipline of subordinating one's desires to God: the life of prayer, fasting and spiritual combat C. St. Anthony the Great (251-356 a.d.) i. revered as the founder of monasticism: a) word is derived from monos or "single"/"alone" ii. his life and struggles: a) the early death of his parents b) "If you wish to be perfect, go, sell all that you have" (Matt 19:21) c) "Be not solicitous about tomorrow": the life of poverty and the desert d) the progression from disciple to desert e) the outer mountain on the eastern side of the Nile: i) the spiritual combat with his demons within ii) he emerged radiant and as one filled with the Spirit of God f) the inner mountain on the Red Sea iii. the desert became a city, where monks took up residence II. Cenobitic Monasticism: A. the first cenobites i. "cenobitic" is derived from koinonia or "communion"/"sharing"/"fellowship": a) the biblical foundations: i) communion in the body and blood of Christ fellowship of Christians in the life of the Trinity ii. the influence of John Cassian's Conferences (4th century a.d.) and Institutes iii. the first cenobitic monastery (4th century a.d.): Pachomius's foundation at Thebes a) led by abbot and emphasized manual labor iv. St. Basil of Caesarea (330-370 a.d.) a) the Monastic life is the Christian life b) "love thy neighbor" c) the virtue of humility and the common life d) Paul's command to live as members of the body of Christ B. St. Benedict of Nursia (480-550 a.d.) i. the Dialogues of Gregory the Great (6th century): a) four books and various interpretations: i) book I=12 chapters, the number of apostles and tribes of Israel ii) book II=Benedict's life in 38 chapters iii) book III=38 chapters relating the stories of many saints iv) book IV= a summary v) the total number of chapters=150, or the number of psalms, which Benedictines recite once a week b) Gregory suggests that Benedict's life was equal in place to that of all the other holy saints i) He was the New Hero for Italy in the sixth century ii. his early life in Rome a) his retreat into solitude with a spiritual guide b) "he came under his own supervision" c) his early failures in community d) the hermitage at Subiaco: i) the disciples, organized into twelve groups of twelve iiii. Monte Cassino -- 529 a.d.: a) the end of the pagan era:the closing of the pagan schools b) the beginning of the Christian era and Middle Ages c) Some general information on Monte Cassino iv. his "twin" Scholastica: a) their last meeting b) "her love was greater than his": i) the role of love in the Rule ii) the iconography of Benedict and Scholastica v. the Achievement of Benedict: a) Although the Rule builds on earlier Rules (such as The Rule of the Master), it is much less harsh and suspicious b) flexibility of The Rule: i) the differences between communities ii) its longevity today c) the imperative nature of the Rule continues to speak today: i) The Admonition to "listen" C. The Benedictine Rule: i. The Prologue: a) the monastery as the workshop where one learns the spiritual tools necessary for eternal life b) the battle against vice and the labor of obedience: c) the relation between cenobite and hermit ii. the structure of monastic life: a) the monastery itself: i) the chapels ii) the dormitory or enclosure iii) the cloister iv) the scriptorium v) the guest house vi) the surrounding fields and buildings iii. entrance into monastic life: a) the request to enter -- the novitiate b)the three fold promise of monastic life: stability, obedience and conversatio morum suorum (conversion to the monastic way of life) c)the monastic profession (the suscipe) iv. the vowed life: a) stability: i) Community and Excommunication ii) the workshop of life -- travel discouraged, eating away iii) spiritual stability: a) the twelve steps of humility b) ascending and descending the ladder of Jacob b) obedience: i)the Abbot a)the role of the abbot -- Christ in the monastery. i)the shepherd b) the good ruler -- i) consults even the lowliest ii) application of principle depending on individual needs. iii) Lessons for today? c) conversatio morum suorum: i) the life in common: a)prayer, meals, meetings, and b)the renunciation of all personal property ii) chastity iii) hospitality iv) the three parts of the day: a) prayer: i) 7 times daily and once at night ii) the horarium b) study -- lectio c) work -- manual labor and idleness d) the interrelationships of work, study and prayer: i) "treat everything as if it is a vessel of the altar" ii) Stewardship and the world as a holy creation iv. The continuing conversion: a) conversio means to turn and to turn again b) Benedict's "Little Rule for Beginners": when all is done, one must return to the beginning and begin again III. Later Benedictine Life: A. The Rule mandated in the Empire 8th century i) The reforms of Benedict of Aniane B. Cluny in 910 a.d.: ii) prayer and liturgy C. the Cistercians: i. Robert of Molesme and Citeaux in 1098: the "howling wilderness" ii. the reaffirmation of manual labor a) the revitalization of the economy on the German frontiers and England D. The American Benedictines from Eichstatt, Germany, in the nineteenth century IV. Monasticism and the Industrial Revolution of the Middle Ages A. Prayer and time: the clock i) pulleys and water ii) later descendants: the computer B. Work as Prayer: i) the mill