Benedict of Nursia

Father of Western Monasticism · c. 480–549

Benedict was born as the Roman Empire was crumbling. His first monks so disliked his discipline that they tried to poison him; according to Gregory the Great, his biographer, the cup shattered when Benedict blessed it. Years later he wrote a rule for another community, at Monte Cassino between Rome and Naples, and it proved a model of moderation.1

We have, therefore, to establish a school of the Lord’s service, in the institution of which we hope to order nothing that is harsh or rigorous.2 Benedict of NursiaRule of St. Benedict, prologue

The Rule is a short document of perhaps thirteen thousand words. It ordered the monk’s day around common prayer, the reading of Scripture and the fathers, and manual work, under the authority of an abbot. It contains not one reference to a classical author but shows a deep knowledge of the Bible.3

His Legacy

The Rule made the monastery the center of medieval learning and piety, and most theologians of the Middle Ages were monks or closely tied to monasteries. It also fixed the conviction that the life of vows was a higher calling than ordinary Christian life. The Reformers rejected that distinction and taught that every lawful calling is holy before God. Rome counts Benedict among its saints and Church Fathers.4

Medieval Theologians

Notes

  1. Mark Galli and Ted Olsen, eds., 131 Christians Everyone Should Know (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2000), “Benedict of Nursia.” Summarized. ↩
  2. “The 100 Most Important Events in Church History,” Christian History 28 (1990), “Benedict Writes His Monastic Rule (540).” ↩
  3. “100 Most Important Events,” “Benedict Writes His Monastic Rule (540).” Summarized. ↩
  4. Michael J. Vlach, “Historical Theology I: A.D. 100–1600” (course notes, TH 507, The Master’s Seminary, Fall 2007), “Monasticism”; James G. McCarthy, The Gospel According to Rome (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 1995), on the Church Fathers. ↩