St. Benedict July 11

In this popular series "Book of Saints" (Usually about a couple dollars each from your Catholic Bookstore.) Fr. Lovasik gives this description of St. Benedict:

Benedict was born in the year 480 in a noble family of Rome.  He went to a town called Subiaco, set on a mountain forty miles from Rome.  There he lived in a cave in the side of a cliff for three years.  Sometimes a raven brought him food.  People heard about this holy man.  Soon more than 140 monks were living with him in a monastery at Subiaco.  They were busy every day praying, clearing the land, planting crops, teaching school, feeding the poor.  Benedict's motto was: "Pray and work."  Benedict and his monks built a large monastery on Monte Cassino in Italy on the top of a mountain.  It became the home of thousands of monks.  Later they went out to teach all through Europe.  They were called Benedictines.  Today they have monasteries all through the world. 

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At dinner tonight, Use your copy of this book if you have one or just read this description to your family. 

Talk about one the Rules of St. Benedict, like:

-The brethren should serve one another, and no one should be excused from kitchen duty except for sickness or because he is more usefully engaged elsewhere, because through this service the reward of an increase in charity is gained.

-To provide for laundering and night wear, every monk will need two cowls and two tunics, but anything more must be taken away as superfluous.

One such place where Benedictines pray and work today is at Belmont Abbey College in Charlotte, NC.  Here is a short message about prayer from Abbot Placid Solari.

http://www.oneminutemonk.com/assets/mp3/mp3-playerOneMinuteMonk3.html

And for a free copy ot the new and revised version of the Rule of St. Benedict go to OneMinuteMonk.com.

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