St Benedict Novena Day 1 (March 12): The monks of Norcia, Italy

Fresco from St Benedict's, Norcia

As flagged yesterday, today is the day to start your Novena to St Benedict! You can find the novena prayer below.

I also invite you to join me through this novena in praying for the restoration of traditional Benedictine religious life, and to that end, want to highlight a few monasteries of particular interest.

And what better place to start than the birthplace of St Benedict himself, where a relatively new foundation of American monks are working for the restoration of monastic life there.

Monastery of St Benedict, Norcia

The monks of Norcia will be familiar to many readers of this blog because of their wonderful service in making their daily EF Mass, Lauds, Vespers and more available online.

This is a monastery that is growing quickly, but needs your help!

First, their Prior, Fr Cassian Folsom who was chosen as Inside the Vatican Magazine's person of the year for 2011, has unfortunately suffered a relapse in the cancer that had been in abeyance since treatment a few years back. Please pray for his recovery.

Secondly, they need help meeting the everyday expenses of the monastery, and their site gives you a number of options to make donations, depending on where you live.

Thirdly, they have purchased a ruined sixteenth century Capuchin Monastery as the site for their future monastery as they expand beyond their current accommodations, and need help to restore and build!

And to learn more about them, do watch the excellent video recently made about them posted below.

The St Benedict Novena Prayer (and the special intention)

O glorious St. Benedict, sublime model of all virtues, pure vessel of God's grace! Behold me, humbly kneeling at thy feet. I implore thy loving heart to pray for me before the throne of God. To thee I have recourse in all the dangers which daily surround me. Shield me against my enemies, inspire me to imitate thee in all things. May thy blessing be with me always, so that I may shun whatever God forbids and avoid the occasions of sin.

Graciously obtain for me from God those favors and graces of which I stand so much in need, in the trials, miseries and afflictions of life. Thy heart was always so full of love, compassion, and mercy toward those who were afflicted or troubled in any way. Thou didst never dismiss without consolation and assistance anyone who had recourse to thee. I therefore invoke thy powerful intercession, in the confident hope that thou wilt hear my prayers and obtain for me the special grace and favor I so earnestly implore (mention your intentions here), if it be for the greater glory of God and the welfare of my soul.

Help me, O great St. Benedict, to live and die as a faithful child of God, to be ever submissive to His holy will, and to attain the eternal happiness of heaven. Amen.

[For the special intention (Magnificat antiphon of the feast): O pattern of heavenly life, our guide and teacher Benedict, whose soul is now rejoicing with Christ in heaven: protect thy flock, dear shepherd, and by thy holy prayer support them; and with thyself as leader showing that brightened way, make them enter the heavens.]

And if you would like to read more about the saint himself, please do take a look at my previous novena series on the saint.

St Gregory the Great, Class II (March 12)



St Gregory dispatches St Augustine and his monks to England

 From the martyrology:

"At Rome, St. Gregory, pope and eminent doctor of the Church, who on account of his illustrious deeds and the conversion of the English to the faith of Christ, was surnamed the Great, and called the Apostle of England."

St Gregory I the Great, was born in 540, and was pope between 590 and 604.

He became a monk after meeting refugees from St Benedict's Monte Cassino, who had fled to Rome after the destruction of the monastery, and established a monastery in his home on the Caelian in Rome. 

He was sent as Ambassador to Constantinople by Pope Pelagius II in 579, and engaged there in the always vigorous theological disputes of the Eastern Church! 

As Pope he is credited with the revision of the liturgy (hence the naming of the chant for him), the conversion of the English and many important writings. 

The most important of his works from a Benedictine perspective though, is Book II of his Dialogues, which is the Life of St Benedict, which you can read more about by clicking here.

And for more on the life of the saint himself, go here.

Novena to St Benedict for the restoration of Benedictine religious life: starts March 12



c17th  SS Benedict and Scholastica are depicted in the upper panel
alongside the Transfiguration

The feast of St Benedict is on March 21, so if you would like to make the traditional novena to the saint, you will need to start tomorrow (March 12). 

A copy of the novena prayer can be found below, but I'll also include it each day in a post for the novena.

Pray for the restoration of Benedictine religious life

And this year, as well as for our own sanctification, I'd like to ask you to join me in praying for the restoration of traditional Benedictine religious life.

It is my conviction that Catholicism will fall in the West unless religious life is restored.  Without the splendid monastic liturgy, the sacrifices, and the example of truly committed religious, how can priests and the laity go on, how can the West be won?

The laity can help in this battle, first and foremost by supporting those monasteries already out there, and also by praying for new monasteries to be established in places and countries that lack them.

In terms of existing monasteries, they generally need:

• our prayers above all, for their success;
• vocations - so consider whether you have properly discerned your own, or can do more to encourage a family member of friend;
• financial support - some few are well-endowed, or have schools and other business activities which more than pay for them, but these days, particularly in the case of the traditionally inclined monasteries, these are few and far between and most live pretty much hand to mouth!  So consider buying their products through their website, visiting them for a retreat, or making a donation outright;
• some monasteries have specific needs for goods which you may be able to help out with; and
• free (or cheap) labour - some monasteries have work days or other ways of volunteering your services....

If you are an oblate, your first obligation is of course to the monastery to which you made your oblation and whose spiritual benefits you share in especially.  But most of us can spare at least a prayer for other monasteries.  Some monasteries offer goods and services you might benefit from.  And some monasteries - particularly the newer ones in the process of just starting out, or building a monastery - are worth your consideration more generally.

Monasteries to note

In order to highlight this intention, and the ways in which we can help, I plan to highlight a number of Benedictine monasteries each day through the novena period.

Each day I'll provide a little information and some links on a mix of traditionalist monasteries, conservative monasteries that are doing good things, monasteries I know of that have some traditionalist monks amongst them, and monasteries that particularly need our practical or spiritual help one way.

I'm obviously going to have to be pretty selective here, as there are only nine days to cover them all, so you are mostly going to get my selected favourites!  But do feel free to contact me and let me know of any you think should be highlighted, or to add the name of the monastery you are an oblate of, or should otherwise be highlighted in the comments box.

The St Benedict Novena Prayer (and the special intention)

O glorious St. Benedict, sublime model of all virtues, pure vessel of God's grace! Behold me, humbly kneeling at thy feet. I implore thy loving heart to pray for me before the throne of God. To thee I have recourse in all the dangers which daily surround me. Shield me against my enemies, inspire me to imitate thee in all things. May thy blessing be with me always, so that I may shun whatever God forbids and avoid the occasions of sin.

Graciously obtain for me from God those favors and graces of which I stand so much in need, in the trials, miseries and afflictions of life. Thy heart was always so full of love, compassion, and mercy toward those who were afflicted or troubled in any way. Thou didst never dismiss without consolation and assistance anyone who had recourse to thee. I therefore invoke thy powerful intercession, in the confident hope that thou wilt hear my prayers and obtain for me the special grace and favor I so earnestly implore (mention your intentions here), if it be for the greater glory of God and the welfare of my soul.

Help me, O great St. Benedict, to live and die as a faithful child of God, to be ever submissive to His holy will, and to attain the eternal happiness of heaven. Amen.

[For the special intention (Magnificat antiphon of the feast): O pattern of heavenly life, our guide and teacher Benedict, whose soul is now rejoicing with Christ in heaven: protect thy flock, dear shepherd, and by thy holy prayer support them; and with thyself as leader showing that brightened way, make them enter the heavens.]

The Forty Martyrs, Memorial (March 10)

From the martyrology for March 9:

"At Sebaste in Armenia, under the governor Agricolaus, in the time of Emperor Licinius, the birthday of forty holy soldiers of Cappadocia.  After being chained down in foul dungeons, after having their faces bruised with stones, and being condemned to spend the night naked, in the open during the coldest part of winter, on a frozen lake where their bodies were benumbed and covered with ice, they completed their martyrdom by having their limbs crushed.  The most noteworthy among them were Cyrion and Candidus.  Their glorious triumph has been celebrated by St. Basil and other Fathers in their writings.  Their feast is kept tomorrow."

The story of their martyrdom in 320 is very well-attested to, being the subject of a sermon by St Basil of Caesarea around fifty or sixty years after the event. 

Forty soldiers who had openly confessed themselves Christians were condemned by the prefect to be exposed naked upon a frozen pond near Sebaste on a bitterly cold night, that they might freeze to death. Among the confessors, one yielded and, leaving his companions, sought the warm baths near the lake which had been prepared for any who might prove inconstant.

One of the guards set to keep watch over the martyrs beheld at this moment a supernatural brilliancy overshadowing them and at once proclaimed himself a Christian, threw off his garments, and joined the remaining thirty-nine. Thus the number of forty remained complete.

At daybreak, the stiffened bodies of the confessors, which still showed signs of life, were burned and the ashes cast into a river. Christians, however, collected the precious remains, and the relics were distributed throughout many cities; in this way, veneration of the Forty Martyrs became widespread, and numerous churches were erected in their honour.

St Francis of Rome OSB, Memorial (March 9)

From the martyrology:

"At Rome, St. Frances, widow, renowned for her noble family, holy life, and the gift of miracles."

Famed both as a mystic and for her charitable works, St Francis is patron of Benedictine Oblates.  You can read more about her and the group of oblates she founded here.

From the martyrology: St John of God (March 8)

Murillo, 1672

From the martyrology:

"At Granada in Spain, St. John of God, founder of the Order of Brothers Hospitallers, famed for his mercy to the poor, and his contempt of self.  Pope Leo XIII appointed him as heavenly patron of the sick and of all hospitals."

St John (1495-1550) was born in Portugal, his mother died when he was only a small child, and his father joined a monastic order.  As a young man, John worked as a shepherd for a farmer who was very pleased with his strength and diligent work. John had an offer to marry the farmer's daughter and become heir to the property; he refused because he wanted to pursue a spiritual life in the service of God.

He moved to Spain and became a soldier, then worked for a time disseminating spiritual works.  He had a major conversion after listening to a sermon by St John of Avila, which initially saw sent to an insane asylum.  He thereafter organised an Order to assist the poor and particularly the sick.

St Thomas Aquinas, memorial (March 7)

Fra Battolommeo

From the martyrology:

"In the monastery of Fossanova, near Terracina in Campania, St. Thomas Aquinas, confessor and doctor of the Church, a member of the Order of Preachers, famous for his noble family, for the sanctity of his life, and for his knowledge of theology.  Pope Leo XIII declared him the heavenly patron of all Catholic schools."

You can read more about this most important of the theologian-saints here.