This small book is a revision and extension of Richard Newman’s Saint Benedict in His Time, which was published by Three Peaks Press in 2013. Both books look at the saint in his historical context; this second book stands alone, but would also be of interest to readers of the first.
The most striking thing revealed by Newman’s research is the similarities between Benedict’s world of a millennium and a half ago and ours – alongside the enormous differences. It is estimated that Benedict’s life lasted from 480 to about 547. This was a time of tremendous upheaval and conflict in both Church and state, with the Arian heresy still very much alive, rival popes, wars, plagues and famines. In 536, Italy lived under a dust cloud probably caused by volcanic eruptions; the sun could scarcely be seen and the crops failed, causing widespread hunger and distress. Benedict’s tools for harmonious community living were therefore fashioned in a forge with many of the features of our own age, and can work for people of many different times and cultures.
Benedict seems to have come from a prosperous family (though Newman disputes that he was a member of the illustrious Anicii) in a world governed by strong hierarchical principles. Yet it is not known whether he was ever ordained. The Mass is never mentioned in the Rule and the chapter in which priests are discussed is not wholly positive. Certainly elitism has no place in Benedict’s monastery. He stresses that a monk’s rank be determined by the date of his entry, not by any human considerations, and that all alike must play their part in the practical running of the monastery, including the arduous and time-consuming work of food preparation. He insists that all must be listened to and that the wisest course may often be revealed to the youngest, an insight which must have caused great surprise at the time. All guests are to be received as Christ, but special tender consideration is to be given to the poor and pilgrims.
The destruction of Monte Cassino by the Lombards in the 580s had the effect of sending the Rule out into the world – it is still lived on every continent by Anglicans as well as Roman Catholics and by a growing number of oblates. Originally written for monks, it has been lived by countless nuns. St Gregory’s Dialogues and Newman’s reflections on Benedict’s sister, Scholastica, show that Benedict was open to female influence: yet another way the Rule is proved timeless and relevant.
Among many items of great interest is Newman’s discussion of the genesis of the Divine Office, which provides the structure of the monastic day and is the main occupation of Benedictine monks and nuns. Newman traces its origins back to the family prayers of a pious ordinary household. There is also a section called “Excurses”, which includes thumbnail sketches of characters such as Theodoric and Totila and fascinating insights into subjects as diverse as the method of bread-making in 5th-century Italy and the writing tablets in use in the 6th century (some have been discovered in Ireland, which measure exactly the size of a sheet of A4 folded lengthways).
Newman writes with great clarity and simplicity so his book is accessible to any ordinary reader. His notes reveal the thoroughness of his research and provide pointers towards further study for the scholarly, however I regretted the omission of Dom John Chapman’s St Benedict and the Sixth Century (Sheed & Ward, 1929). He makes good use of St Gregory’s account of Benedict’s life and miracles, but sometimes points to a possible mundane explanation of a miraculous event.
The timely appearance of many bags of grain at a monastery door when the monks were down to their last loaf of bread, Newman suggests, may have been the delivery of the harvest from one of the remoter properties of the monastery which Benedict had been expecting. There is a similar deflating explanation for the miracle of an apparently empty oil vat suddenly overflowing with oil. Nevertheless, in the final two chapters (on the community life of the monks and their prayer), Newman shows that the greatest miracle performed by St Benedict was the provision of guidelines for diverse people – not excluding slaves and Arian Goths – to live and pray together in harmony, growing closer in love to God and to each other.
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.