Benedictine

A monk or nun belonging to the order founded by Saint Benedict of Nursia.

Benedict of Nursia was a devout Roman Catholic who lived from 480 to 550 ce. Although he was not an ordained priest, those who follow his Benedictine Rule today generally study for the priesthood.

Benedictines are a contemplative order of monks and nuns, usually living communally and reaching for a deeper relationship with God through prayer, meditation, and community service as part of the Roman Catholic Church.

(See also Catholicism)

Sources: Renard, John. The Handy Religion Answer Book. Detroit: Visible Ink Press, 2002.

The monastic order of St Benedict of Nursia (c.480-c.550) had its origins at Monte Cassino, south of Rome, where c.540 Benedict drew up a rule. This codification became dominant, until challenged by the rule of St Augustine in the 11th cent. One of its chief strengths was its adaptability, and many interpretations were introduced. The first Benedictine abbeys in England were probably those founded by Wilfrid of York at Ripon and Hexham at the end of the 7th cent. Thereafter the order spread rapidly. The Viking raids of the 9th cent. severely affected most Benedictine houses, some of which were destroyed; others were refounded, and some new ones established in the mid-10th cent. under the influence of Æthelwold, bishop of Winchester, Archbishop Dunstan of Canterbury, and Wulfstan, bishop of Worcester, all themselves monks. Following the Norman Conquest some abbeys lost land, but most soon recovered under new, Norman abbots, and new abbeys were founded. There was also an increase in the number of Benedictine nunneries, though the most prestigious were Anglo-Saxon foundations like Shaftesbury or Wilton.

The Benedictines were challenged by the rising appeal to lay society of new orders, like the Cistercians and the Augustinians, and the friars who presented a new spirituality. By the 16th cent. the number of Benedictine monks had declined and their dynamic had largely been lost.

The Benedictine order follows the rule of St Benedict of Nursia (died c.550), a complete guide to cenobitical life structured around the eight offices of the day. This became by the 10th c. the standard rule in Western Europe. Benedictine monasteries were usually richly endowed, their inmates aristocratic. Primarily devoted to prayer, the monks also wrote chronicles, illuminated manuscripts, produced stained glass and other associated crafts, and dispensed hospitality and charity. After about 1050 their ascendancy was challenged by new orders, but they continued to play a major role in ecclesiastical affairs throughout the Middle Ages and beyond, and became particularly celebrated for their historical erudition [see Maurists]. Among the most famous French houses were Saint-Denis in Paris, Cluny, Fleury (Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire), Saint-Martin in Tours, and Marmoutier.

[Jean Dunbabin]

n.

An order of monks otherwise known as black friars.

    She thought it a crow, but it turn out to be
        A monk of St. Benedict croaking a text.
    "Here's one of an order of cooks," said she --
        "Black friars in this world, fried black in the next."
                                   "The Devil on Earth" (London, 1712)

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 denotes their members, the Benedictines. By extension it is sometimes applied to other adherents of the Benedictine spirituality, for example, "Oblates (secular)".

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 (religion) 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]

Contents 1 England 2 France 3 Benedictines in popular culture 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

England

In the English Reformation all monasteries were dissolved and their lands confiscated by the Crown, forcing their Roman 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. Two of the most notable English abbeys are St. Gregory's in Somerset (Downside Abbey) and St. Lawrence's in Yorkshire (Ampleforth Abbey).^[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 also welcomed 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 Benedict.^[7]

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]}

Benedictines 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.

See also

• Saint Benedict Medal
• Benedictine Confederation
• Oblates of Saint Benedict
• Order of Saint Benedict
• Order of Saint Benedict (Orthodox)
• Order of St. Benedict (Anglican)
• Rule of St Benedict
• 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 (category): 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

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - benediktinermunk
adj. - benediktinsk

Nederlands (Dutch)
benedictijn(s)

Français (French)
n. - (Relig) bénédictin, Bénédictine (liqueur)
adj. - bénédictin

Deutsch (German)
n. - Benediktiner
adj. - benediktinisch

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - Βενεδικτίνος (μοναχός ή μοναχή), βενεδικτίνη (γαλλικό λικέρ)
adj. - βενεδικτίνος

Italiano (Italian)
benedettino

Português (Portuguese)
n. - monge (m) beneditino
adj. - beneditino

Русский (Russian)
бенедиктинец, бенедиктинский

Español (Spanish)
n. - licor, monje benedictino
adj. - benedictino, perteneciente o relativo a los benedictinos

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - benediktiner(munk), benediktinerlikör, munklikör
adj. - benediktiner-

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
本笃会的修士, 一种甜酒, 本笃的, 本笃会的

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 本篤會的修士, 一種甜酒
adj. - 本篤的, 本篤會的

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 베네딕트회의 수도자
adj. - 베네딕트[회]의, 베네딕트의

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - ベネディクト会の
n. - ベネディクト会士, ベネディクティーヌ

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) راهب بندكتي, مشروب روحي (صفه) نسبهالى القديس بندكت‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮נזיר בנדיקטי, ליקר‬
adj. - ‮של בנדיקטוס הקדוש או המסדר הבנדיקטי‬

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