Today on the Eastern Calendar is the feast of Benedict the Rigtheous of Nursia. I have a special place in my heart for Benedict as 10 years ago next Friday I took my first vows as a Benedictine at Glastonbury Abbey in Hingham, Massachusetts. I spent some of the best years of my life in the community and I often say if I knew then what I know now I would still be there. Benedict is known as the father of Western Monasticism as most of the monks in the Western World followed his rule of life. Benedict quoted St. Basil in many places in his rule and loved the early saints of the undivided church.
Here is his information from http://www.goarch.org/
The image of God, was faithfully preserved in you, O Father. For you took up the Cross and followed Christ. By Your actions you taught us to look beyond the flesh for it passes, rather to be concerned about the soul which is immortal. Wherefore, O Holy Benedict, your soul rejoices with the angels.
Kontakion in the Fourth Tone
O sun that shinest with the Mystic Dayspring’s radiance, who didst enlighten the monastics of the western lands, thou art worthily the namesake of benediction; do thou purge us of the filth of passions thoroughly by the sweat of thine illustrious accomplishments, for we cry to thee: Rejoice, O thrice-blessed Benedict.
Reading:
This Saint, whose name means “blessed,” was born in 480 in Nursia, a small town about seventy miles northeast of Rome. He struggled in asceticism from his youth in deserted regions, where his example drew many who desired to emulate him. Hence, he ascended Mount Cassino in Campania and built a monastery there. The Rule that he gave his monks, which was inspired by the writings of Saint John Cassian, Saint Basil the Great, and other Fathers, became a pattern for monasticism in the West; because of this, he is often called the first teacher of monks in the West. He reposed in 547.
