Benedict was born in the province of Nursi, near Rome, around the year 480. His father's name is Eutropius. In his youth, he took refuge in an isolated cave located near a monastery in Subiaco, the mountainous region near Rome, to live there as a solitary confinement, devoted to prayer and worship. Within a few years, others followed him to pray with him, and then to participate in his lifestyle. After he advanced in the life of an ascetic, and became able to be a spiritual guide, he established twelve small monasteries there, which he supervised and managed. He also established a monastery that is still famous to this day, the Monastery of Monte Cassino, where he died in about the year 547.
When he reached an age that allowed him to obtain education, his parents sent him to Rome. As it seemed that the young man had been brought up in piety, he was disturbed by the absurdity of some of the young men he met and was forced to talk to. It was only a short period of time until he decided to retire from the world because he did not want to be vulnerable to his temptations. He left the city secretly and headed toward the wilderness. His nanny, Kirla, followed him thirty miles from Roumieh, but he knew how to distract her and continued his journey until he came to the wilderness of the Subla Mountains, forty miles from the city. That place was a harsh, barren rock range overlooking a river in the valley and a lake. There Benedict met a monk named Romanos from a nearby monastery. This man dressed him in monastic garb, provided him with useful instructions, and led him to a narrow cave deep in the mountains, almost inaccessible to people. Since Romanos kept Benedict's order a secret, he began bringing him, from time to time, some food that he dangled from a rope on which he hung a bell. The age of our saint, at that time, was nearly fifteen. Saint Gregory Theologian said that he was a boy.
سلك ينديكتوس، في ما زوده به رومانوسمن توجيهات، ثلاث سنوات قيل بعدها ان الله سُرّ ان يكشف أمره لآخرين ليكون لهم نورا وهداية. فخلال العام 497م، فيما كان أحد الكهنة في تلك الآنحاء يعدّ لنفسه طعاما، أحدَ الفصح المجيد، سمع صوتا يقول له: “أنت تعدّ لنفسك مأدبة وخادمي بنديكتوس، في سوبلاكم يضنيه الجوع”. للحال خرج الكاهن يبحث عن الناسك ولم يعثر عليه إلا بشق النفس. بعد ذلك بقليل التقى القديس، قرب المغارة، بعض الرعاة. أول رد فعل لديهم كان الدهش. ظنوه حيوانا غريبا لأنه كان يلبس جلد الحيوان. فلما عرفوه انه رجل الله أُخذوا به حتى مال بعضهم إلى سيرة كسيرته. مذ ذاك ذاع صيته وأخذ قوم يزورونه ويمدّونه ببعض ما يحتاج إليه، وكان هو، بدوره، يزودهم بنصائحه وتوجيهاته.
On the other hand, the struggle between Benedict and the demons was fierce. The burden of the experiences on him was, at times, harsh and violent. From this, Satan brought back to the saint’s memory the image of a woman he had previously met in Rome. The memory began to bother him until he began to think about leaving the wilderness. Nothing allowed him to endure the experience. She clung to his soul and refused to leave him. Finally, after his patience became exhausted, he threw himself, naked, between the thorns and began to roll over them until he was completely injured and blood flowed from him. As a result, in the midst of pain and wounds, by the grace of God, the spirit of adultery was extinguished in him and he disappeared and did not return.
Benedict's goodness spread, and ascetics began to make their way to him. The monks of Vicovara, following the death of their abbot, sent to ask him if he would be willing to be their shepherd, which he agreed to, but reluctantly. He had a feeling that he was out of place in their midst. Indeed, some people dared to poison him with wine, and when he was crucified on the cup, it broke. So he preached to them and returned, from where he came, to Sublakum, where monastic students began to come to him. He built monastery after monastery until the total number of monasteries he established at that time reached twelve, and an abbot and twelve monks settled in each of them.
Some of the news of this period were preserved in memory and circulated generation after generation. In the monastery of Saint Jerome, one of the monks was neglecting the heartfelt prayer that was apparently being recited in the church, the liturgical service, so he would leave and go to work. The monks of the monastery tried in vain to dissuade their brother from this shameful act, but he did not care. They relayed his news to Saint Benedict, who once entered the church at the end of the service and saw a little black boy leading the monk out with his sleeve. He prayed for him. Then on the third day, he saw him about to leave as usual, so he hit him with a stick, so Satan fled and the monk returned to himself. In another monastery, the Monastery of Saint John, the need for water was urgent and the monks could not find a way to satisfy their need, so the saint prayed and the water came out of the ground. In the monastery of Saint Clement, on the bank of the lake, while a Gothic monk was cutting thorns, the iron of his sickle fell into the lake. The monks prayed, and through the intercession of their father, they brought the stick of the sickle and placed it in the water. It attracted the iron, so they praised God and gave thanks.
Benedict's reputation reached the ears of many famous people in Rome and elsewhere, so they began flocking to him to ask him for advice and prayers and to seek the blessing of the Lord God at his hands. It was reported that some of these people used to leave their children with him so that they could be raised in a virtuous life from an early age. Among these were the two sheikhs, Eutychios and Tertullus, who were famous Persians. These two left behind their two sons, Maurus and Placidus, in the year 522, and both of them became prominent students of the saint.
When Satan saw the success the saint was having, he set upon him one of the envious weak souls, Florentius, who was a priest nearby. This spread malicious news about the saint with the intention of distorting his reputation and harming him and his blessed work. It seems that he was powerful and a lot of evil, until the saint was forced to leave his headquarters in Sublakum to reach the summit of Cassino. However, on his way there, he received news from Florentius that he had died after the portico fell on him. The saint was saddened by what happened, while his student Moros expressed his relief at being saved from the priest’s persecution of his teacher and monks. Benedict had no choice but to inflict a severe punishment on the student.
Cassino, which is in Naples, was a small town built on a high plateau. Above it was an ancient temple of Apollo surrounded by tall trees. There some pagans still came and offered sacrifices. When the saint took note of this, he worked with the word and verses to guide many to faith in Jesus, then he attacked the idol and smashed it to pieces, overturned the altar, destroyed the temple, cut down the trees, and built two churches in the place. From that time, the Cassino Plateau Monastery began to be established starting in the year 529 AD. On that day, Benedict was forty-eight. In addition, our saint founded a monastery for nuns near the place and another for monks in Terracina. He also sent his student Saint Placides to found a monastery on the island of Sicily.
In the West, it is believed that Saint John Cassian (+435), whom the Church celebrates on the twenty-ninth of February, was the first to write about monastic life. However, the true father of monasticism in the West is Saint Benedict, as he wrote down a set of laws for communal monastic life that is considered one of the most important documents in the history of Western monasticism. All of these laws are characterized by a balance between order and legitimate spontaneity. What is striking is that he was not presenting an ideal as much as he was presenting a practical program, accessible to those of virtue, emphasizing purity of heart, humility, and concern for what belongs to God, and carefully laying down the rules of daily prayers and obligations.
القديس بنديكتوس كان يجهل علوم الدنيا لكنه امتلأ من العلم الإلهي. القديس غريغوريوس الذيالوغوس يقول عنه انه كان “جاهلا على علم وحكيما على أمّية”. قالوا انه صار شماسا وربما كاهنا، لكن الأمر ليس مؤكدا. الصورة التي رسمها له القديس غريغوريوس الذيالوغوس تبيّن انه كان يعظ في بعض الأمكنة في الجوار وانه كان على محبة فائقة، يمدّ يده إلى المحتاجين بكل ما أُوتي. كذلك اجتمع لديه من الإشراقات الإلهية والخبرة في قيادة النفوس ومداواتها ما خوّله وضع قانون رهباني فضّله القديس غريغوريوس الذيالوغوس على كل القوانين التي عرف. وقد شاع هذا القانون حتى شمل الرهبان في الغرب قاطبة. أسُسه كانت الصمت والخلوة والصلاة والاتضاع والطاعة.
العبارة المفتاح في الحياة الرهبانيّة، بحسب القدّيس بندكتس، هي “صَلِّ واعْمَلْ”. فينبغي للراهب الالتزام بالبرنامج المرسوم للحياة اليوميّة الذي يتركّز على تلاوة الصلوات وقراءة المزامير بدءًا من الساعة الثانية صباحًا. أمّا العمل، الذي كان يقتصر على الزراعة، فهو واجب لأنّه يقتضي بذل المجهود ويشكّل وسيلة للسيطرة على النفس والطاعة وكسب العيش. ويذكّر القدّيس بندكتس بأنّ العمل الرهبانيّ هو عمل يخلو من المصلحة، لأنّه مبنيّ على الزهد في النفس. فغاية العمل الرهبانيّ القداسة، لا الربح ولا كسب المال. من هنا، يؤكّد بندكتس أنّ الرهبان لا يبحثون في عملهم سوى عن الاكتفاء الذاتيّ كي يتحصّنوا ويستقرّوا، فلا يكونوا عبئًا على المؤمنين.
In the eyes of his students, Benedict was a perfect role model for monasticism. The Lord God provided him with many talents, including miracle work and insight. He strengthened the monks and expelled demons from them with the sign of the cross. Once, when those who were building one of his monasteries were unable to lift a rock from its place due to its weight, he prayed a short prayer and the rock became surprisingly light. Once he raised one of his monks from the dead after a wall fell on him on the Cassino Plateau. He also foretold with many tears that the Cassino Monastery would be desecrated and demolished. This actually happened at the hands of the Labardians, forty years later, around the year 580 AD. Benedict also mentioned that he was barely able, in prayer, to obtain pardon for people in those areas.
On the other hand, it was forbidden, according to Benedict’s Law, for a monk to eat outside his monastery unless he was at a distance that would not allow him to return to his monastery on the same day he went out to relieve himself. This rule, as Gregory Thealogos stated, was fully observed. Nothing, in the opinion of our saint, was more dangerous for a monk, in dealing with the affairs of the world, than eating and drinking in worldly circles. Benedict knew in spirit the mistakes of the monks and their thoughts and warned them to be strong. Once a monk came to him with two bottles of wine, so he hid one and took the second to the saint, saying that it was a gift from so-and-so, so Benedict pointed out to him that he should not drink from the other. When the monk returned to his cell and opened the bottle, he found a snake in it. Another time, one of the monks was on duty and was serving the saint while he was eating. Then a thought came to the monk’s mind and he said: Your position is higher than that of Benedict, so how can you serve him? The man, it seems, was from the elite. Immediately, the saint looked at him and ordered him to draw the sign of the cross on himself and leave him.
When Balisarius, the military leader, was summoned to Constantinople, Totila, the king of Gaut, invaded and plundered Italy. When he heard about Benedict's holiness and the miracles that were being performed by him, he wanted to test it, so he announced that he was going to visit the saint. But instead of going to him personally, someone close to him dressed him and made him claim that he was the king. When the alleged man came to the situation, the man of God quickly said to him: Take off these clothes, my son, because they are not yours!
It appears that Benedict died after his sister Scholastica in the year following his meeting with Totila. He informed his disciples of the day of his demise in advance and had them open his grave six days before his death. When they did, he developed a fever. On the sixth day, they carried him to the church, where he contributed the sacraments. After providing his monks with his instructions, he leaned on one of them, raised his hands, and surrendered his soul. Today was a Sabbath and the date was the twenty-first of March, most likely in the year 543 AD. He was sixty-three years old. Most of his remains are still located in the Cassino Monastery. Some of his bones were transferred to the Monastery of Foré in France. Those who intercede for him ask for his protection from the harmful effects of insects and their poisons. When he lay down, one of the monks present saw a vision, and Saint Maurus also saw it. He was in France at that time, and he saw a wide road covered with luxurious carpets and on its sides countless lit candles. And a venerable old man said: This is the path that Benedict, the Beloved of God, took, and it led him to heaven.
أمّا في ما يتعلّق بالسلطة فكان بندكتس أكثر تشدّدًا على الذين يمارسونها منه على الذين يطيعونهم، فيذكّر الرئيس “بأنّه ليس حرًّا في استخدام سلطته”، وبأنّه لا يمتلك “أيّ تسلّط”، فيفرض عليه أن يستشير الإخوة، بمن فيهم الفتيان. ويعترف للرهبان بحقّهم في تقديم الاعتراضات، أي في الحوار، مع حقّ الرئيس باتّخاذ القرار النهائيّ. فيقول القدّيس بندكتس في الفصل الثالث من قوانينه: “كلّما وجب البحث في قضيّة هامّة تطرأ في الدير، يقوم الرئيس بدعوة الجماعة كلّها ويعرض عليها المسألة. ثمّ يجمع آراء الإخوة وينظر فيها وحده برويّة، ويعمل بعد ذلك بحسب ما يراه الأنسب”. أمّا السبب الذي يدفعه إلى القول بدعوة كلّ الرهبان إلى المشاركة في الاستشارات فهو، برأيه، “أنّ الله غالبًا ما يُلهم الأصغر سنًّا أفضل الاقتراحات”. ويخلص بعد ذلك إلى القول: “لكنّه يليق بالتلاميذ أن يطيعوا المعلّم، إلاّ أنّه يحسن به أن يأمر، في كلّ شيء، بتبصّر وعدالة”.
كما يوصي القدّيس بندكتس باهتمام خاصّ بجميع أنواع المستضعَفين (المرضى والأولاد والشيوخ)، وبالضيوف، وعابري السبيل الذين “لا يخلو الدير منه أبدًا”. وهو، حين يتحدّث في قوانينه عن كمّيّات الأكل والشرب، أو عن العمل، أو حين يفرض أعمال تكفير وعقوبات، فإنّه يبرهن عن اعتدال يهدف إلى تهذيب النفس أكثر منه إلى تحطيم الإرادة. من هنا، يسعنا القول إنّه يعمل ذلك بدافع من الروح الإنجيليّة، وبوحي من محبّة يمكّنانه من المحافظة على توازن كفوء بين العزلة والحياة الجماعيّة، والصلاة والعمل… ويعتبر القدّيس بندكتس أنّ على رئيس الدير أن يُظهر “تارةً قساوة المعلّم وتارةً حنان الأب”، كما يرى أنّ موهبة التمييز هي الموهبة الأساس التي ينبغي أن يتجمّل بها. فيدعوه إلى التكيّف في إرشاد النفوس مع ما يقتضيه اختلاف الطباع، ويضيف قائلاً: “فمنهم مَن يحتاج إلى الإرشاد بالملاطفة، ومنهم بالتوبيخ، ومنهم بالإقناع”.
يروى عنه أنّه في آخر حياته تناول الطعام مع شقيقته القدّيسة سكولاستيكا (تعيّد لها الكنيسة في العاشر من شهر شباط)، التي شعرت بأنّ هذا اللقاء سيكون الأخير، فطلبت إليه أن يواصل الحديث في الأمسية، فرفض متذرّعًا بالقوانين. لكنّها صلّت ونالت من الله أن يُنزل عاصفة أرغمت بندكتس على البقاء معها. المغزى من هذه الأقصوصة أنّ سكولاستيكا “فاقت أخاها قدرةً لأنّها فاقته حبًّا”. فلا يستطيع حفظُ القوانين أبدًا أن يحلّ محلّ ممارسة الحرّيّة الروحيّة المتأصّلة في محبّة الله.
Among his teachings is that there are twelve levels of humility, the highest of which are:
- Devoted heart, fear of God, and behavior in His presence.
- Abandoning self-will.
- Obedience.
- Patience with the fees and wounds.
- Revealing our thoughts and perceptions to the Father Superior.
- Contentment and joy with humiliation, despicable work, poor clothing, considering ourselves unworthy of dignity, and looking at ourselves as unemployed slaves.
- Considering ourselves as inferior to others, less valuable than others, and even the greatest of sinners.
- Avoid exclusivity in speech and action.
- To love silence and use it.
- To avoid decadent pleasures and laughter.
- We must refrain from speaking loudly and be modest.
- To walk in humility in every action and to keep our eyes on the earth like the tax collector and the repentant Manasseh.
Saint Benedict added that divine love is the reward that comes from sincere humility. He made the heart broken and the abandonment of one's will before obedience.
The church celebrates him on March 14.
Troparia in the eighth tune
For the fruitless wilderness, with the streams of your tears, you were gracious, and with the sighs that came from the depths, you bore fruit with your labors a hundredfold, and you became a star for the inhabited world, shining with wonders, O our righteous father Benedict, so intercede with Christ God to save our souls.