Garciano, Aiyana (2022)

INTRODUCTION TO BENEDICTINE SPIRITUALITY

Theology 1 aims to articulate the Mission-Vision of San Beda University and the
Benedictine way of life. It sets its premise and perspective on Benedictine Spirituality
that puts premium the transformation of the human mind and heart as the learners exert
sincere effort in imbibing Christian values taught by the Church and were modeled by
St. Benedict.
We aim to understand further the value of living at peace with God and with one another
and to know the importance of striking a balance between “Prayer and Work” (Ora et
Labora)
GRADE COMPUTATION
Written Work - 60%
Asynchronous Activities and Class Participation - 30%
Quizzes - 30%
Summative Tests - 40%

Performance Task - 40%

Mini Tasks - 40%
Performance Task - 60%

1. The Benedictines have the three letters “O.S.B.” at the end of their last name.
2. O.S.B. means Order of Saint Benedict.
3. Benedictines is a monastic religious order of the Catholic Church following the
Rule of St. Benedict.
4. St. Benedict has a twin sister named St. Scholastica.
5. The title of the documents containing the biography of St. Benedict is The Rule of
St. Benedict.
6. The following are true about Benedictines: Prayer, Balance life, Service.
7. The patroness of San Beda University is the Our Lady of Monserrat.
8. St. Benedict and St. Bede are two different persons.
9. Fr. Silvestre Jofre is the school’s first rector.
10. San Beda University’s mission is anchored on the principle of “Ora et Labora.”
Garciano, Aiyana (2022)

WHAT IS THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO LEAD A PERSON TO THEIR

DESTINATION?
“Many times in my life I have been in a strange town and did not know how to get to my
destination. When I stopped for directions, people would often say something like, ‘Go
two blocks, turn left at the stop sign then go until you come to the fourth traffic light and
turn right. You can’t miss it.’ But I often did miss it.
However, once when I asked for directions, the man did not give me a list of directions
but got in his car and said, ‘Follow me, I’ll take you right to it.’ In a sense, that man
became the way to my destination. In the same manner, Jesus is our way to heaven.
We do not get to heaven by following a list of directions but by following Jesus Christ.”
Bill Gordon
KNOW THE SEAL

Shield - All members of the community of San Beda University needs to be protected or
we also serve as shields to those afflicted or oppressed
PAX - (latin word for peace) we try to uphold peace in everything that we do
Cross with two beams - one beam from where Jesus Christ died and was crucified, the
other beam refers to our responsibility that we sometimes carry another person’s
burden
Garciano, Aiyana (2022)

Mountains - mountains of Monserrat in Spain where St. Benedict established the

Benedictines or his book entitled The Rule of St. Benedict
Doves drinking in the fountain - fountain = the school (fountain of knowledge), doves =
students
Heraldic symbols of Manila = San Beda University was established in the city of Manila
(1901)
Banner (FIDES, SCIENTIA, VIRTUS) - Faith, Knowledge, Virtues, another motto of the
university
VISION MISSION STATEMENT
San Beda University, a Catholic educational institution, is committed to the Christian
formation of the Bedan community as its service to the Church, the Philippine society,
and the world.
Vision
San Beda University envisions a Community that is fully human, wholly Christian, truly
Filipino, globally competitive.
Mission
San Beda University aims to form its members in faith (fides), knowledge (scientia),
virtue (virtus), and inculcate in them the Benedictine core values of prayer and work (ora
et labora) that include study, community, and pursuit of peace.
HOW DO YOU ENVISION YOURSELF?
---
San Beda University is named after St. Bede, also known as Venerable Bede.
A great Benefictine saint, the greatest Anglo-Saxon scholar, a Doctor of the Church,
and is recognized in several Protestant denominations.
St. Benedict of Nursia
The Father of Western Monasticism, author of The Rule, which is the norm of monastic
living in all of Europe, in the Abbey of Monte Cassino. His twin sister is St. Scholastica,
the patron saint of Benedictine nuns.
At the age of 17, St. Benedict lived as a hermit in the mountains of Subiaco for 3 years,
provided only with food and clothing by the holy monk Romanus.
Garciano, Aiyana (2022)

The Benedictines came to the Philippines not to establish a school but to undertake
agricultural and missionary work in Surigao.
The first group of Benedictines from the Monastery of Monseratt, Spain, consisting of
eight Fathers and six Brothers, arrived in Manila on September 12, 1885. Later, they
were able to acquire a house in Blames St., Tanduay on April 25, 1896.
On June 17, 1901 San Beda College, named after the great English Benedictine scholar
and saint, Venerable Bede, was inaugurated in Arlegui with Fr. Silvestre Jofre.
The cornerstone of the main building (St. Bede’s Hall) was laid on September 15, 1925
and it was solemnly inaugurated on June 20, 1926 coinciding with the silver jubilee of
the opening of San Beda College.
The Abbey Church was dedicated to the Holy Infant of Prague when it was consecrated
in 1926. SBU celebrates the annual feast of the Infant Child on the fourth Sunday of
January, well-known as the Pista ng Santo Nino.
Garciano, Aiyana (2022)

How did the hallmarks come about?

- In 2007
- Benedictine educators met and distilled from The Rule of St. Benedict 10 core
values that they ought to enliven in all Benedictine institutions of learning.
1. Love of Christ and Neighbor
- love is the heart of Benedictine monastic life
- a response to God's astonishing love for humankind, a love expressed in
the free gift of his beloved son, Jesus Christ
- in a Benedictine institution, there should be no place for rivalries, no
tolerance for actions that harm or diminish others. Everyone should seek
reconciliation and draw on the help of others to deal with problems
- serve the poor
2. Prayer
- it is a commitment in all truth and to ensure our connection with God's
presence
- in a Benedictine campus, there is a noticeable rhythm of public prayer and
private attention to the sources of Christian inspiration
- San Beda University provides every member of the campus community
with access to retreats and spiritual direction
- Prayer: A life marked by the liturgy, lectio and mindfulness
- At all phases in our lives, prayer is firmly present because we accept the
need for God's gracious help in everything
3. Stability
- shapes a Benedictine monastery. All of its members commit themselves to
seeking God together
- In a Benedictine institution of higher education, they seek to embed the
exchange of ideas within the daily life of its member, regardless of their
role or position
- Stability is loyalty. The commitment to the daily life of the place, its
heritage and tradition.
Garciano, Aiyana (2022)

4. Conversatio
- is a commitment to a lifelong conversation into the likeness of Christ
- to be transformed in every part of one's life with God's own image
- San Beda University calls all member of the campus community to move
out of their comfort zones for the sake of learning
- Conversatio is the way of formation and transformation. If it is right, do it,
(even if it is difficult)
5. Obedience
- as a commitment to listening and consequent action
- teaching and learning are impossible without obedience, without listening
to the other with the awareness that no one possesses all truth, or knows
everything worth knowing
6. Discipline
- as a way towards learning and freedom
- it is a way of focusing energy and attention on what really matters
- students must sacrifice short-term benefits for long-term goals because no
learning takes place without discipline
7. Humility
- the acceptance of the demand for realism and accountability
- everyone should seek to acknowledge his or her faults and weaknesses
- each strives to recognize their own gifts and the gifts of others to gratitude,
seeking to contribute as much as possible to the whole and accepting the
care of others
- someone may be better than I
8. Stewardship
- the respect for the beauty and goodness of creation as a sacrament of
God
- Benedictine institutions seek to foster awareness that we are a part of a
larger ecology, and that environment (human and non-human) has been
given by God for the sake of all
Garciano, Aiyana (2022)

- San Beda University strive to promote awareness of contributions to the

vitality of culture for the sake of future generation
9. Hospitality
- the practice of listening and being humble in the Benedictine monastery
that enables generosity towards friends and strangers
- Benedictines urge that the weakness of all should be supported with the
greatest patience
- attention should be given to anyone who are in need or who seeks our
help
10. Community
- a call for service to the common good and respect for the individual
- Benedictine institutions seek to enlist this practical focus on community
building and its profound openness to human history and global
experience
- San Beda University recognizes the service of their members to promote
human well-being in the campus. We expand our personal care and
concern for our community
Garciano, Aiyana (2022)

The Four Kinds of Monks

1. Cenobites
- the Monastic, who live under the rule of an Abbot
- three components of cenobitic monasticism:
1. life together, in a single monastery
2. corporate submission to a rule
3. under the authority and care of an abbot
2. Anchorites
- the Hermits, who trained in the monastery for long, who now copes on their
own
- Saint Benedict presents the anchorites or hermits as veterans of the cenobitic
life. The experience of bearing patiently, day after day, and year after year,
with other men marked by "infirmities of body or mind" (Chapter LXXVII) is
precious and indispensable. It constitutes the best purification of the heart,
the most fruitful ascetical exercise, and the highest school of charity.
3. Sarabites
- who live under their own
- The Sarabites have no reference outside themselves: no rule, no abbot, no
received tradition. They are "cafeteria monks", choosing from among things
monastic whatever strikes their fancy, and sneering at the rest. There is in
every monk - at least at certain hours, a touch of Sarabite. The devil can fill a
cenobite with loathing for the rule, antipathy towards the abbot, and a biting
criticism of tradition. The Sarabite syndrome can be summed up as: "I want to
do what I want to do, when I want to do it, in the way I want to do it."
4. Landlopers
- who go from one place to another their whole lives
- They spend all their lives-long wandering about diverse provinces, staying in
different cells for three or four days at a time, ever roaming, with no stability,
given up to their own pleasures and to the snares of gluttony, and worse in all
thigns than the Sarabites. Of the most wretched life of these it is better to say
nothing than to speak. Leaving them alone therefore, let us set to work, by the
Garciano, Aiyana (2022)

help of God, to lay down a rule for the Cenobites, that is, the strongest kind of
monks.
Garciano, Aiyana (2022)

BENEDICTINE SPIRITUALITY
"A tanker was beached on shore. All day, efforts had been made to return the huge
vessel to the water, but with no success. Finally, the captain told all crews and
companies to stop; he went to his cabin and waited. When the tide came in that night.
The waters lifted the thousand tanker off the beach and carried it, light as a feather,
back into the deep. (By G. Fuller Stories for all Seasons, p. 74)
Etymology
Spirituality - espirit - spirare - spiritus
Traditional Modern
Spirituality is a process of re-formation Spirituality emphasizes on subjective
which aims to recover the original shape experience and the deepest values and
of man, the image of God. (Waaijman meanings by which people live,
2000, p.460) incorporating personal growth or
transformation, usually in a context
separate from organized religious
institutions. (Saucier 2006, p.1259)
Garciano, Aiyana (2022)

What then is spirituality?

Spirituality is about how people make meaning, and about experiences that get at the
wholeness and interconnectedness of all of life.
Spirituality is about a move to greater authenticity. People's spirituality is always present
though often unacknowledged in the learning environment.
How was Benedict as an Abbot?
Benedict's first experience as an abbot of a community of monks was a failure.
The second time, he founded 12 monasteries, of which one remains today.
What was happening during Benedict's stay in Monte Cassino?
• war and imperial government
• poverty and crop failures - The Rule describes surviving by hard labor.
• The Goths and Ostrogoths were Arians and Church disputes were common
• Ancient Roman culture was largely passing away

How did Benedict become the Father of Western Monasticism?

• Benedict did not invent the monastic way of life
• He drew from the wisdom of the past
• His approach was moderate, flexible, interactive, and compassionate for human
frailty

What was Monasticism like before Benedict?

• St. Augustine in Northern Africa – Augustinians
• St. Basil in Cappadocia in Turkey - Basilians; most Eastern Orthodox monks and
nuns
• St. Pachomius in Egypt
• The "Desert Abbas" or Desert Fathers and Mothers - hermits in Egypt, Palestine,
Syria
• The Jewish Essene community at the time of Jesus
• The example of Elijiah - Carmelite tradition
Garciano, Aiyana (2022)

What exactly is the Monastic way of living?

• separation from "the world"
• persistent prayer
• work, usually manual work
• extreme simplicity of lifestyle and diet
• longing and striving for holiness
• keen sense of eternity and eternal life
• their practices form a "spiritual technology" that enabled many to reach spiritual
depths, and also to help each other along the way

Why take up the monastic life?

1. Flight
• overwhelming temptations and addictions
• intensity and stress of modern life
• superficial relationships

KOYAANISQATSI
• "Chaotic life" or "life that calls for another way of living"
• economy becoming a force on its own
• family relationships and life are complex and increasingly uncertain
• life is fast, pressured, schedules, and controlled
• human dimension is lacking

AFFLUENZA
No nation or people is fully ready to follow laws to slow climate change or to
help the environment.
• a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt,
anxiety, and waste resulting from the pursuit of more

BUREAUCRACY
• management is by rules and roles
• impersonal, based on "the files", rather than personal relationship or
memory
Garciano, Aiyana (2022)

• interchangeable people

No nation or people is fully ready to follow laws to slow climate change or to

help the environment.

Therefore, what does St. Benedict offer?

• Joy in community
• a pattern of prayer
• serving others
2. Journey
• relationship with God
• authentic relationships with others
• freedom from bondage to transient values

Types of Prayer and Worship

All include proper posture and gesture
• liturgy of the hours: psalms and scripture readings
• celebration of the Holy Eucharist
• lectio divina: slow reading of the scripture, in stages: listening for the "word"
• personal: intercession, devotion, praise

Why is work spiritual?

• God works
• God's work never ends.
• We are made in God's image.
• Jesus rested in order to go out in ministry.
• We work to survive and to be able to give.

Work can become our identity.

• Who am I without my job?
• This is not the Benedictine way of life.
Garciano, Aiyana (2022)

The rule on work

When they live by the labor of their hands, as our fathers and the apostles did, then they
are really monks. Yet, all things are to be done with moderation on account of the
fainthearted. Rule of Benedict, Chapter 48
The Holy Rule
• Most of The Rule is about doing work
• Opus Dei, the work of prayer
• hospitality, table service, mutual and community service
• spirituality is a work (Ch. 4)
• Christ is present in the sick, guests, pilgrims, the abbot, and each other: we
always serve Christ
• work is assigned based on personality (cellarer, porter), skills (reader, artistans)
and strength (sick)
• work of hospitality, and to "speak of holy things" - Saint Scholastica

What does it mean to work for the common good?

Chapter 72: Looking out for the other
• thus, they should anticipate one another in honor
• they most patiently endure one another's infirmities, whether of body of of
character
• they vie in showing obedience one to another
• no one following what she considers useful for herself, but rather what benefits
another

The Three Main Benedictine Practices

• Obedience
- in Latin, the roots for "obey" and "listen" are related
- even in rigid obedience, you must hear an order in order to obey it
- St. Benedict begins his rule by telling us to "listen...with the ear of our heart."
- the Abbot is instructed to consult before deciding, to listen to the newest
members, and to consider challenges to his orders.
Garciano, Aiyana (2022)

• Lectio Divina
- Reading. Read a passage slowly. Read it silently, read it aloud.
- Meditating. Listen for a word or phrase to stand out. Stay with it; repeat it to
yourself.
- Praying. How does this word/phrase speak into your life today? Allow the
connections to become a natural conversation with God.
- Contemplating. This is a gift from God. Take time in stillness; true
contemplation may or may not occur. It is the delightul sense of timelessness,
an inner awe at the beauty or love or wisdom or of God.
• Silence
What does it mean to be silent?
- not a rejection of friendship
- not intended to be isolating or punishing
- helps us detect chatter that distracts from authentic connection with
people
- helps us to listen better
- opening space for God's word to be heard and take root
- supports us in guarding our hearts and watching our thoughts

Who is the authority?

• Benedict tells us to follow two authorities at all times: the rule and the abbot
who takes the place of Christ
• many parts of the rule describe how to be a good follower
• don't grumble or complain: be satisfied with the work you have
• if a task seems impossible, explain the problem but try it if you have to
• don't get puffed up about your contributions
• if the rule and the abbot are in conflict, try to keep the rule but remember that
it tells you to obey the abbot

In conclusion, Benedictine spirituality:

• Is not separate for the tasks of our lives. Rather, it helps us to be aware of God's
presence and action throughout our day.
Garciano, Aiyana (2022)

• Is not distinct from Christianity or the Gospel, but is a way of living it.
• Is not reserved to monks and nuns, but is accessible to lay people.
• Takes time to learn, time to grow into.
• Works better with community.
Garciano, Aiyana (2022)

How did the hallmarks come about?

- In 2007
- Benedictine educators met and distilled from The Rule of St. Benedict 10 core
values that they ought to enliven in all Benedictine institutions of learning.
11. Love of Christ and Neighbor
- love is the heart of Benedictine monastic life
- a response to God's astonishing love for humankind, a love expressed in
the free gift of his beloved son, Jesus Christ
- in a Benedictine institution, there should be no place for rivalries, no
tolerance for actions that harm or diminish others. Everyone should seek
reconciliation and draw on the help of others to deal with problems
- serve the poor
12. Prayer
- it is a commitment in all truth and to ensure our connection with God's
presence
- in a Benedictine campus, there is a noticeable rhythm of public prayer and
private attention to the sources of Christian inspiration
- San Beda University provides every member of the campus community
with access to retreats and spiritual direction
- Prayer: A life marked by the liturgy, lectio and mindfulness
- At all phases in our lives, prayer is firmly present because we accept the
need for God's gracious help in everything
13. Stability
- shapes a Benedictine monastery. All of its members commit themselves to
seeking God together
- In a Benedictine institution of higher education, they seek to embed the
exchange of ideas within the daily life of its member, regardless of their
role or position
- Stability is loyalty. The commitment to the daily life of the place, its
heritage and tradition.
Garciano, Aiyana (2022)

14. Conversatio
- is a commitment to a lifelong conversation into the likeness of Christ
- to be transformed in every part of one's life with God's own image
- San Beda University calls all member of the campus community to move
out of their comfort zones for the sake of learning
- Conversatio is the way of formation and transformation. If it is right, do it,
(even if it is difficult)
15. Obedience
- as a commitment to listening and consequent action
- teaching and learning are impossible without obedience, without listening
to the other with the awareness that no one possesses all truth, or knows
everything worth knowing
16. Discipline
- as a way towards learning and freedom
- it is a way of focusing energy and attention on what really matters
- students must sacrifice short-term benefits for long-term goals because no
learning takes place without discipline
17. Humility
- the acceptance of the demand for realism and accountability
- everyone should seek to acknowledge his or her faults and weaknesses
- each strives to recognize their own gifts and the gifts of others to gratitude,
seeking to contribute as much as possible to the whole and accepting the
care of others
- someone may be better than I
18. Stewardship
- the respect for the beauty and goodness of creation as a sacrament of
God
- Benedictine institutions seek to foster awareness that we are a part of a
larger ecology, and that environment (human and non-human) has been
given by God for the sake of all
Garciano, Aiyana (2022)

- San Beda University strive to promote awareness of contributions to the

vitality of culture for the sake of future generation
19. Hospitality
- the practice of listening and being humble in the Benedictine monastery
that enables generosity towards friends and strangers
- Benedictines urge that the weakness of all should be supported with the
greatest patience
- attention should be given to anyone who are in need or who seeks our
help
20. Community
- a call for service to the common good and respect for the individual
- Benedictine institutions seek to enlist this practical focus on community
building and its profound openness to human history and global
experience
- San Beda University recognizes the service of their members to promote
human well-being in the campus. We expand our personal care and
concern for our community
Garciano, Aiyana (2022)

The Four Kinds of Monks

5. Cenobites
- the Monastic, who live under the rule of an Abbot
- three components of cenobitic monasticism:
life together, in a single monastery
corporate submission to a rule
under the authority and care of an abbot
6. Anchorites
- the Hermits, who trained in the monastery for long, who now copes on their
own
- Saint Benedict presents the anchorites or hermits as veterans of the cenobitic
life. The experience of bearing patiently, day after day, and year after year,
with other men marked by "infirmities of body or mind" (Chapter LXXVII) is
precious and indispensable. It constitutes the best purification of the heart,
the most fruitful ascetical exercise, and the highest school of charity.
7. Sarabites
- who live under their own
- The Sarabites have no reference outside themselves: no rule, no abbot, no
received tradition. They are "cafeteria monks", choosing from among things
monastic whatever strikes their fancy, and sneering at the rest. There is in
every monk - at least at certain hours, a touch of Sarabite. The devil can fill a
cenobite with loathing for the rule, antipathy towards the abbot, and a biting
criticism of tradition. The Sarabite syndrome can be summed up as: "I want to
do what I want to do, when I want to do it, in the way I want to do it."
8. Landlopers
- who go from one place to another their whole lives
- They spend all their lives-long wandering about diverse provinces, staying in
different cells for three or four days at a time, ever roaming, with no stability,
given up to their own pleasures and to the snares of gluttony, and worse in all
thigns than the Sarabites. Of the most wretched life of these it is better to say
nothing than to speak. Leaving them alone therefore, let us set to work, by the
Garciano, Aiyana (2022)

help of God, to lay down a rule for the Cenobites, that is, the strongest kind of
monks.
Garciano, Aiyana (2022)

The Miracles of St. Benedict

St. Gregory The Great
- Acknowledged as St. Benedict’s biographer. He wrote about the Founder of
Western Monasticism:
"The man of God who shone on this earth among so many miracles were just
as brilliant in the eloquent exposition of his teaching" (cf. Dialogues II, 36 -
592 A.D.).
- He gives accounts of the many miracles worked by the Saint, to show how
God intervenes in the practical situations of man’s life and is present in the life
of every man.

THE SIEVE
- “…so it chanced that his nurse borrowed of a neighbor a sieve to cleanse
wheat, which being left carelessly upon the table was found broken in two
pieces. Therefore, on her return finding it broke, she began to weep bitterly
because it was only lent to her. But the religious and pious boy, Benedict,
seeing his nurse lament was moved with compassion, and taking with him the
two pieces of the broken sieve, with tears he gave himself to prayer, which no
sooner ended, but he found the sieve whole, and found not any sign that it
had been broken.” (Dialogues II, Chapter I)

THE TEMPTATION OF THE FLESH

- A certain woman there which some time he had seen, the memory of which
the wicked spirit put into his mind, and by the representation of her so mightily
inflamed with concupiscence the soul of God's servant, which so increased
that, almost overcome with pleasure, he was of mind to have forsaken the
wilderness. But, suddenly assisted with God's grace, he came to himself; and
seeing many thick briers and nettle bushes to grow hard by, off he cast his
apparel, and threw himself into the midst of them, and there wallowed so long
that, when he rose up, all his flesh was pitifully torn.
Garciano, Aiyana (2022)

THE GLASS
- “So, when the glass which contained the empoisoned drink was, according to
the custom of the Monastery, presented at table to be blessed by the Abbot,
Benedict putting forth his hand and making the sign of the Cross, the glass
which was held far off brake in pieces, as if instead of blessing the vase of
death, he had thrown a stone against it. By this the man of God perceived
that the glass had in it the drink of death which could not endure the sign of
life.” (Dialogues II, Chapter III)

How Benedict reformed a monk that would not stay at his prayers
- Upon another day, when the man of God had ended his devotions, he went
out of the oratory, where he found the foresaid monk standing idle, whom for
the blindness of his heart he strake with a little wand, and from that day
forward he was so freed from all allurement of the little black boy, that he
remained quietly at his prayers, as other of the monks did: for the old enemy
was so terrified, that he durst not any more suggest any such cogitations: as
though by that blow, not the monk, but himself had been stroked.

THE SPRING
- “Having ended his prayers, he put three stones for a mark in the same place,
and so unknown to all he returned to his Monastery. Next day, when the
Brethren came again to him for want of water he said: “Go, and on the rock
where you shall find three stones one upon another, dig a little, for Almighty
God is able to make water spring from the top of that mountain, that you may
be eased of this labour.” When they had made a hollow in that place, it was
immediately filled with water, which issued forth so plentifully that to this day it
continues running down to the floor of the mountain.” (Dialogues II, Chapter
V)

THE IRON HEAD OF A BILL

- The Goth, having lost his bill, ran trembling to the Monk Maurus, and told him
the mischance, confessing his fault penitently, who presently advertised
Benedict the servant of God thereof. Immediately the man of God came
Garciano, Aiyana (2022)

himself to the lake, took the shaft out of the Goth’s hand, and cast it into the
lake, when, behold, the iron rose up from the bottom and entered into the
shaft as before. Which he then rendered to the Goth saying: “Behold! Work
on and be not discomforted.” (Dialogues II, Chapter VI)

THE MONK WALKING ON WATER

- “A wonderful thing and not heard of since the time of Peter the Apostle!
Maurus having asked and received his benediction, upon the command of his
Superior went forth in haste, and, being come to the place to which the child
was driven by the stream, thinking still he went upon the dry land he ran upon
the water, took him by the hair of the head, and returned speedily back. No
sooner had his foot upon firm ground but he came to himself, and perceiving
that he had gone upon the water, much astonished, he wondered how he had
done that which wittingly he durst not adventure.” (Dialogues II, Chapter VII)

THE LOAF
- “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ take this bread and cast it in some
place where no man may find it.” The crow, gaping and spreading her wings,
run croaking about it, as though she would have said, I would willingly fulfill
command, but I am not able. The man of God commanded again saying:
“Take it up, take it up, and cast it where no man may find it.” So, at length the
crow took it up in her beak and flew away with it and three hours after
returned again to receive from his hand her ordinary allowance. (Dialogues II,
Chapter VIII)

THE HUGE STONE

- “and having first prayed, he gave his blessing, when behold the stone was as
easily lifted as if it had not weight at all.”

THE FIRE
- As they were casting on water to quench this fire, the man of God, hearing
the tumult, came, and perceiving that there appeared fire in the eyes of the
Brethren and not in his, he forthwith bowed his head in prayer, and calling
upon those whom he saw deluded with an imaginary fire, he bade them sign
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their eyes that they might behold the kitchen entire, and not those fantastical
flames which the enemy had counterfeited. (Dialogues II, Chapter X)

THE BOY CRUSHED BY THE WALL

- all of them much grieved and discomforted, not for the loss of the wall but for
the harm to their brother, brought the heavy tidings to their venerable Father
Benedict, who bid them bring the boy to him, who could not be carried but in a
sheet, by reason that not only his body was bruised but also his bones
crushed with the fall. Then the man of God willed them to lay him in his cell
upon his mat where he used to pray; so, causing the Brethren to go out he
shut the door, and with more than ordinary devotion fell to his prayers. A
wonder to hear, the very same hour he sent him to his work again, whole and
sound as ever he was before, to help his Brethren in making up the wall;
whereas the old enemy hoped to have had occasion to insult over Benedict
for his death. (Dialogues II, Chapter XI)

THE MONKS and THE WOMAN

- One day some Brethren upon occasion went abroad, and were forced to stay
later than usual, so they rested and refreshed themselves in the house of a
certain devout woman of their acquaintance. Returning late to the Monastery,
they asked, as was the custom, the abbot’s blessing, of whom he straightway
demanded, saying: “Where dined you?” they answered: “Nowhere.” To whom
he said: “Why do you lie?” (Dialogues II, Chapter XII)

Chapter Thirteen: of the brother of Valentinian the Monk, whom the man of God blamed
for eating in his journey
- A brother also of Valentinian the monk, of whom I made mention before, was
a layman, but devout and religious: who used every year, as well to desire the
prayers of God's servant, as also to visit his natural brother, to travel from his
own house to the Abbey: and his manner was, not to eat anything all that day
before he came thither. Being therefore upon a time in his journey, he lighted
into the company of another that carried meat about him to eat by the way:
who, after the day was well spent, spake unto him in this manner: "Come,
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brother," quoth he, "let us refresh ourselves, that we faint not in our journey":
to whom he answered: "God forbid: for eat I will not by any means, seeing I
am now going to the venerable father Benedict, and my custom is to fast until
I see him."

THE POSSESSED CLERIC

- He was therefore brought to the servant of Almighty God, Benedict, who, by
pouring forth prayers to our Lord Jesus Christ, presently drove out the enemy.
Having cured him, he commanded him, saying: “Go! And hereafter never eat
flesh, and presume not to take Holy Orders, for what time so ever you shall
presume to take Holy Orders, you shall again become a slave to the devil.”
(Dialogues II, Chapter XVI)

THE PROPHECY
- “All this Monastery which I have built, with whatsoever I have prepared for my
Brethren, are, by the judgment of almighty God, delivered over to the heather;
and I could scarce obtain to save the lives of those in this place.” (Dialogues
II, Chapter XVII)

THE FLAGON OF WINE

- Our monk Exhilaratus, whom you know well, on a time was sent by his master
with two wooden vessels (which we call flagons) full of wine, to the man of
God in his Monastery. He brought one but hid the other in the way,
notwithstanding, the man of God, although he was not ignorant of anything
done in his absence, received it thankfully, and advised the boy as he was
returning back, in this manner: “Take care, son, thou drink not of that flagon
which thou hast hid, but turn the mouth of it downward and then thou wilt
perceive what is in it.” He departed from the holy man much ashamed, and
desirous to make further trial of what he had heard, held the flagon
downwards, and presently there came forth a snake, at which the boy was
sore affrighted and terrified for the evil he had committed. (Dialogues II,
Chapter XVIII)
Garciano, Aiyana (2022)

THE NAPKIN
- One day, as his custom was, he appointed one to go; but the Monk who was
sent, after his exhortation, by the entreaty of the Nuns, took some small
napkins and hid them in his bosom, As soon as he came back, the man of
God began very sharply to rebuke him, saying; “How hath iniquity entered thy
breast?” The Monk was amazed, and because he had forgotten what he had
done, he wondered why he was so reprehended. To whom the holy Father
said: “What! Was not I present when thou tookest the napkins of the
handmaids of God and didst put them in thy bosom?” (Dialogues II, Chapter
XIX)

THE FAMINE
- At another time also in the country of Campania began a great famine, and all
people suffered from great scarcity of food, so that all the wheat in Benedict
his Monastery was spent, and likewise almost all the bread, so that but five
loaves remained for the Brethren’s refection. When the venerable Father
perceived them sad, he endeavoured by a mild and gentle reproach to
reprehend their pusillanimity, and with fair promises to comfort them, saying:
“Why is your soul sad for want of bread? To day you are in want but to-
morrow you shall have plenty.” The next day there were found two hundred
sacks of meal before the Monastery gates, by whom God Almighty sent it as
yet no man knoweth. Which when the Monks beheld, they gave thanks to
God, and by this were taught in their greatest want to hope for plenty.
(Dialogues II, Chapter XXI)

THE VISION
- The night before the appointed day the man of God appeared in sleep to him
whom, he had constituted Abbot and to his Prior, and described to them most
exactly how he would have the building ordered. (Dialogues II, Chapter XXII)

THE DEAD YOUNG MONK

- Upon a certain day, a young Monk of his, who was over-much affected
towards his parents, went from the Monastery to their abode without his
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benediction, and the very same day, as soon a he was come to them he died.
The day following his burial they found his body cast up, which they inferred
the second time, and the next day after it was found in like manner lying
above ground as before. Hereupon they ran straight way and fell at the feet of
the most mild Father Benedict imploring his aid, to whom the man of God with
his own hand gave the communion of the Lord’s Body saying: “Go, and lay
the Body of the Lord upon his breast and so bury him.” This done, the earth
dept his body, and never after cast it up. (Dialogues II, Chapter XXIV)

THE DRAGON
- The venerable Father, overcome with his importunity in anger bade him
begone. Scarce was he got out of the Monastery, when he met in the way a
dragon who, with open mouth made towards him. Seeing it ready to devour
him, he began to quake and tremble, crying out aloud: “Help, help, for this
dragon will devour me.” (Dialogues II, Chapter XXV)

THE BOY WITH LEPROSY

- But I must not pass over in silence what I heard of a very honorable man
named Anthony, who affirmed that a servant of his father fell into a leprosy,
insomuch that his hair fell off, and his skin was swollen so that he could not
longer hide the increase of his disease. Who being sent by the gentleman’s
father to the man of God, he was by him quickly restored to his former health.
(Dialogues II, Chapter XXVI)

THE DEBT
- These two days, as his custom was, he spent in prayer, and, on the third day,
when the poor debtor came again, thirteen shillings were found upon a chest
of the Monastery that was full of corn. These the man of God caused to be
brought to him, and gave them to the distressed man, saying that he might
pay twelve, and have one to defray his charges. (Dialogues II, Chapter XXVII)

THE GLASS OF OIL

- This was accordingly done; under the window was a steep fall, full of huge
rough stones, upon which the lass fell, yet it remained as whole and entire as
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if it had not been thrown down, so that neither was the glass broke not the oil
spilt. (Dialogues II, Chapter XXVIII)

THE BARREL OF OIL

- Having ended the Chapter, he and all the Brethren fell to their prayers. In the
place where they prayed was an empty oil-barrel close covered. As the holy
man continued his prayer, the cover of the said tun began to be heaved up by
the oil increasing under it, which ran over the brim of the vessel upon the floor
in great abundance. Which so soon as the servant of God, Benedict, beheld,
he forthwith ended his prayer, and the oil ceased to run over. (Dialogues II,
Chapter XXIX)

THE POSSESSED MONK

- One day as he was going to St. John’s Oratory, which stands upon the very
top of the mountain, he met the old enemy upon a mule, in the habit and
comportment of a physician, carrying a horn and a mortar; who, being
demanded whither he went, answered he was going to the monks to minister
a potion. So the venerable Father Benedict went forward to the chapel to
pray, and, having finished, returned back in great haste, for the wicked spirit
found one of the ancient Monks drawing water, and presently he entered into
him, threw him on to the ground and tortured him pitifully. As soon as the man
of God, returning from prayer, found him thus cruelly tormented, he only gave
him a blow on the cheek with his hand, and immediately drove the wicked
spirit out of him, so that he durst never after return. (Dialogues II, Chapter
XXX)

THE ROPE
- The barbarous Ruffian, looking upon him with enraged fury, thought to affright
him with his usual threats, and began to cry out with a loud voice, saying:
“Rise, rise and deliver up this rustic’s goods which thou hast received.” At
whose voice the man of God suddenly lifted up his eyes from reading and
saw him and also the countryman whom he kept bound but, as he cast his
eyes upon his arms, in a wonderful manner the cords began to fall off so
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quickly, that no man could possibly have so soon untied them. (Dialogues II,
Chapter XXXI)

THE DEAD BOY RESTORED TO LIFE

- Then the servant of God enquired, saying: “Where is he?” He answered: “Lo!
His body lieth at the Monastery Gate.” Whither, when the man of God with his
Brethren was come, he knelt down and laid himself on the body of the child;
then, raising himself and with his hands held up towards Heaven, he prayed:
“O Lord, regard not my sins, but the faith of this man who craveth to have his
son restored to life, and restore again to this body the soul which thou hast
taken from it.” Scarce had he finished these words, but all the body of the boy
began to tremble at the re-entry of the soul, so that in the sight of all who
were present he was seen with wonderful quaking to pant and breathe.
Whom he presently took by the hand and delivered alive and sound to his
father. (Dialogues II, Chapter XXXII)

THE REUNION
- “God Almighty forgive you, sister, what is this you have done?” To whom She
mad answer: “I prayed you to stay and you would not hear me; I prayed to
Almighty God and he heard me! Now, therefore, if you can, go forth to the
Monastery and leave me.” But he not able to go forth, was forced to stay
against his will. (Dialogues II, Chapter XXXIII)

THE DEATH OF SCHOLASTICA

- The next day, the venerable woman returned to her Cloister and the man of
God to his Monastery. When, behold, three days after, while standing in his
cell, he saw the soul of his sister depart out of her body, and, in the form of a
dove, ascend and enter into the celestial mansions. Who rejoicing much to
see her great glory, gave thanks to God Almighty in hymns and praises, and
announced her death to the Brethren. Whom he forthwith sent to bring her
body to the Monastery and caused it to be buried in the same tomb that he
had prepared for himself. By means of which it fell out, that as their minds
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were always one in God, so also their bodies were not separated in their
burial. (Dialogues II, Chapter XXXIV)

THE BISHOP OF CAPUA

- While as yet the Monks were at rest, the man of God, Benedict, being diligent
in watching, rose up before the night office and stood at the window making
his prayer to Almighty God about midnight, when suddenly, looking forth, he
saw a light glancing from above, so bright and resplendent that it not only
dispersed the darkness of the night, but shined clearer than the day itself.
Upon this sight a marvelous strange thing followed, for, as he afterwards
related, the whole world, compacted as it were together, was represented to
his eyes in one ray of light. As the venerable Father had his eyes fixed upon
this glorious luster, he beheld the soul of Germanus, Bishop of Capua, carried
by angels to Heaven in a fiery globe. (Dialogues II, Chapter XXXV)

THE PROPHECY OF HIS DEATH

- The same year in which he departed out of this life, he foretold the day of his
most holy death to some of his disciples who conversed with him, and to
others who were far off, giving strict charge to those who were present to
keep in silence what they had heard, and declaring to the absent by what sign
they should know when his soul departed out of his body. Six days before his
departure he caused his grave to be opened, and immediately after he fell
into a fever. (Dialogues II, Chapter XXXVII)

THE WOMAN IN THE CAVE

- A certain woman bereft of reason, and altogether distracted in her senses,
roamed over mountains and valleys, through woods and fields by day and
night, never resting, except when forced from weariness to lie down. One day,
as she raged thus madly up and down, she lighted upon the cave of blessed
Benedict, and by chance entered and remained there. The next morning she
came out as sound and perfect in her senses as if she had never been out of
them, and from that time remained all her life in the health which she had
there recovered. (Dialogues II, Chapter XXXVIII)
Garciano, Aiyana (2022)

The Medal of St. Benedict

The Medal of St. Benedict has long been used as a means of fostering and expressing
religious devotion. The medal is intended as a means of reminding us of God and of
stirring up in us a ready willingness and desire to serve God and our neighbor. With this
understanding we reject any use of it as if it were a mere charm or had some magic
power to bring good luck or better health. That is not to say that devotion to God with
attention to the medal is not a source of great help and power. Whoever wears this
Medal with devotion, trusting in the life-giving power, may expect the powerful protection
of the great patriarch of Western Monasticism in spiritual and temporal need.
History
From the writings of St. Gregory, the Great (540-604), St. Benedict had a deep faith in
the cross. In his frequent combats with the evil spirit, he made use of the sign of the
cross and worked miracles. St. Gregory the Great, a promoter of Benedictine life, in his
Dialogues (II:4) represents St. Benedict as dispelling his own temptations by the sign of
the cross. It is also fitting that on the Medal of St. Benedict we should find on it the
poisoned cup broken by the sign of the cross that the saint made over it when the
degenerate monks of Vico Varo endeavored to kill him by mixing poison with his drink.
This faith in, and special devotion to, the cross was passed on to succeeding
generations of Benedictines, notably Ss. Maurus and Placid, his first and most
renowned disciples, who worked numerous miracles through the power of the Holy
Cross and in the name of their holy founder.
Devotion to the cross of Christ also gave rise to the striking of medals that bore the
image of St. Benedict holding a cross aloft in his right hand and his rule for monasteries
in his left hand. Thus, the cross has always been closely associated with the Medal of
St. Benedict.
At some point in history a series of capital letters was placed around the large figure of
the cross on the reverse side of the medal. For a long time, the meaning of these letters
was unknown, but in 1647 a manuscript dating back to 1415 was found at the Abbey of
Metten in Bavaria giving an explanation of the letters.
It is doubtful when the Medal of St. Benedict originated. During a trial for witchcraft at
Natternberg near the Abbey of Metten in Bavaria in the year 1647, the accused testified
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that they had no power over Metten, which was under the protection of the cross. Upon
investigation, a number of painted crosses, surrounded by the letters which are now
found on Benedictine medals, were found on the walls of the abbey, but their meaning
had been forgotten.
Finally, in an old manuscript, written in 1415, was found a picture representing St.
Benedict holding in one hand a staff which ends in a cross, and a scroll in the other. On
the staff and scroll were written in full the words of which the mysterious letters were the
initials. Medals bearing the image of St. Benedict, a cross, and these letters began now
to be struck in Germany, and soon spread over Europe. They were first approved by
Benedict XIV in his briefs of 23 December 1741, and 12 March 1742.
The present medal is the jubilee medal, which was struck first in 1880, to commemorate
the fourteenth centenary of St. Benedict's birth.
The habitual wearer of the jubilee medal can gain all the indulgences connected with
the ordinary medal and, in addition:
1) All the indulgences that could be gained by visiting the basilica, crypt, and tower
of St. Benedict at Monte Cassino (Pius IX, 31 December 1877)
2) A plenary indulgence on the feast of All Souls (from about two o’clock in the
afternoon of 1 November to sunset of 2 November); after confession and Holy
Communion. Any priest may receive the faculties to bless these medals.

Front
Garciano, Aiyana (2022)

Saint Benedict
On the face of the medal is the image of St. Benedict. In his right hand he holds the
cross, the Christian symbol of salvation. In St. Benedict's left hand is his rule for
monasteries that could well be summed up in the words of the prologue exhorting us to
"set out on this [God's] way, with the Gospel for our guide." On a pedestal to the right of
St. Benedict is the poisoned cup, shattered when he made the sign of the cross over it.
On a pedestal to the left is a raven about to carry away the loaf of poisoned bread that a
jealous enemy sent to St. Benedict.
Flanking him on each side are the words:
Crux S. Patris Benedicti
(The Cross of the Holy Father Benedict)
Below his feet are these words:
Ex S M Casino MDCCCLXXX
(From the Holy Mount of Cassino, 1880)
On that date, Monte Cassino was given the exclusive right to produce this medal. This
is the medal struck to commemorate the 1400th anniversary of the birth of St. Benedict.
Inscribed in the circle surrounding Benedict are the words:
Ejus in obitu nostro presentia muniamur
(May his presence protect us in the hour of death)
Benedictines have always regarded St. Benedict as a special patron of a happy death.
He himself died in the chapel at Monte Cassino while standing with his arms raised up
to heaven, supported by the brothers of the monastery, shortly after he had received
Holy Communion.
Garciano, Aiyana (2022)

Reverse: Cross of Saint Benedict

The back side of the medal is the Cross.

The vertical beam of the Cross has five letters:
C.S.S.M.L.
Crux Sacra Sit Mihi Lux
(May the Holy Cross be for me a light)
The horizontal beam of the Cross also has five letters:
N.D.S.M.D.
Non Draco Sit Mihi Dux
(Let not the dragon be my guide)
The four large letters at the angles of the Cross:
CSPB
Crux Sancti Patris Benedicti
(The Cross of the Holy Father Benedict)
Encircling the Cross in a circle around the right margin are these letters:
V.R.S.N.S.M.V.
Vade retro Satana; nunquam suade mihi vana
(Begone Satan! Suggest not to me thy vain things)
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Around the left margin of the circle are these letters:

S.M.Q.L.I.V.B.
Sunt mala quae libas; ipse venena bibas
(The drink you offer is evil; drink that poison yourself)
At the top of the circle is the word
PAX
(Peace)
The Medal Wards Against
1) To destroy witchcraft and all other diabolical and haunting influences;
2) To impart protection to persons tempted, deluded, or tormented by evil spirits;
3) To obtain the conversion of sinners into the Catholic Church, especially when
they are in danger of death;
4) To serve as an armor against temptation;
5) To destroy the effects of poison;
6) To secure a timely and healthy birth for children;
7) To afford protection against storms and lightning;
8) To serve as an efficacious remedy for bodily afflictions and a means of
protection against contagious diseases.