Benedict was not the first monk to compose a rule for living in community — but he's certainly the most influential. He wrote the Rule that the Emperor Charlemagne would propose as guidebook for all monks in the West. Yet Benedict himself was self-effacing in the extreme, and he remains elusive for historians. Lately, he has emerged as a patron and model for people whose civilization could be entering a Dark Age. Know anybody like that?

LINKS

Benedict of Nursia, The Rule https://ccel.org/ccel/benedict/rule/rule

Gregory the Great, Life of Our Most Holy Father St. Benedict https://ccel.org/ccel/gregory/life_rule/life_rule

Mark the Monk (a disciple of Benedict), Poem in tribute to St. Benedict https://ccel.org/ccel/gregory/life_rule/life_rule.iv.html

Mike Aquilina’s website https://fathersofthechurch.com

Mike Aquilina’s books https://catholicbooksdirect.com/writer/mike-aquilina/

Theme music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed http://www.ccwatershed.org

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