Benedictines

You've no doubt heard of some of the more prominent religious orders, like the Franciscans, the Dominicans, the Jesuits, and the Carmelites.

One of the earliest of these communities, the Benedictines, was founded in the early 6th century by a young man named Benedict, who is now known and revered as Saint Benedict, and who truly merits the epithet, Larger Than Life.

As a well-born Roman teenager, he gave up his law school education, his father's house, and his inheritance to live in a cave, and became the greatest figure in the early growth and development of Christian monasticism.

Saint Benedict lived 1500 years ago, yet to this day his ideas still appeal to men and women who, led by the Spirit, come to believe that in today's world life in a benedicted monastery is the only life worth living.

He is quoted as saying, He who labors as he prays lifts his heart to God with his hands.

So, the life in his monasteries was one of prayer and work, an existence designed to be both useful to man and pleasing to God.

Pray and work, ora et labora in Latin, would become the motto of the Benedictines worldwide.

It's important to understand that Benedict didn't write the rule of his monasteries for mystics, clerics, or people in search of severe self-punishment.

Ba-da-ba-ba-ba.

Why, it may be asked, is there a little community of Irish Benedictine nuns at Ypres? During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, three English ladies, Lady Percy with Lady Montague, Lady Fortescue, and others, wishing to become religious and being unable to do so in their own country, assembled at Brussels and founded an English house of the ancient order of St.

Benedict, their numbers increasing, they made affiliations at Ghent, Dunkirk, and Pontoise.

In the year 1665, the Vicar General of Ghent was made the Bishop of Ypres, and he founded there a Benedictine Abbey, with the Lady Marina Beaumont as its first Lady Abbess.

In the year 1682, on the death of the first Lady Abbess, Lady Flavia Carey was chosen as the first irish lady abbess of what was intended to be at that date and what has remained down to the present day an irish community at that time the irish had no other place for religious in flanders a legal donation and concession of the house of ypres was made in favor of the irish nation and was dedicated to the immaculate conception under the title of gratia dei irish nuns from other houses were sent to ypres to form the first irish community from that day to this there have been only two lady abbesses of ypres who have not been irish and the community has always been so far as the vast majority of its members are concerned composed of irish ladies its history which has recently been published contains the names of the various lady abbesses they are practically all irish with the familiar names butler o'brien ryan mandeville dalton lynch and so on in sixteen eighty seven james the second of england desired the lady abbess of the day lady joseph butler to come over from ypres to dublin and to found an abbey there under the denomination of his majesty's chief royal abbey in sixteen eighty eight the lady abbess accompanied by some others of the community arrived in dublin and established the abbey in big ship street leaving the house at ypres in the charge of other members of the community it is recorded that when passing through london she was received by the queen at whitehall in the habit of her order which had not been seen there since the reformation in dublin james the second received her and granted her a royal patent giving the community house, rent, postage free, and an annuity of a hundred pounds.

This royal patent, with the great seal of the kingdom, was in the custody of the nuns at Ithra when this war began.

Those who came by the monastery passed down the ruse at Jacques, singing lustily, Here we are, here we are, here we are again, here we are, here we are, here we are again.

then alternately each side repeated hallo hallo hallo hallo the crowd whose knowledge of the english language did not extend far enough to enable them to grasp the meaning of here we are again soon however caught up the chorus of hallo hallo and quickly the street resounded with cries which were certainly discordant but which nevertheless expressed the enthusiastic joy of the people chapter one chapter two the allies at ypres the contrast between the reception of the two armies was striking on the arrival of the germans people kept in their houses or looked at the foe with frightened curiosity now everyone lined the streets eager for a glimpse of the brave soldiers who had come to defend ypres a week before the citizens had furnished food to the enemy because they dared not refuse it and only then what they were obliged to give now each one vied with the other in giving bread butter milk chocolate everything they had went to the soldiers and sounds of rejoicing came from all sides perhaps the most pleased of all were the poor wounded belgians who had been so tried the preceding week all those who were able to drag themselves along crowded to the windows and doors to welcome their new comrades and the latter unable to make themselves understood by words made vigorous signs that they were about to chop off the germans heads what excited the most curiosity were the petticoats as they were styled of the highlanders and every one gave their opinion on this truly extraordinary uniform which had not been previously seen in these parts the soldiers were quartered in the different houses and establishments of the town once more the abbey was left unmolested though once again also the want of bread was felt not that it had been at this time stolen but that in spite of all their efforts the bakers could not supply the gigantic demand for bread necessary to feed our newly arrived friends seeing that we were likely to be forgotten in the general excitement edmund was sent out to see what he could find after many vain efforts he at last succeeded in getting three very small-sized loaves with which he returned in triumph scarcely had he got inside the parlor when there came a vigorous tug at the bell the newcomer proved to be a man who having caught sight of the bread came to beg some for his soldiers edmund was highly indignant and loudly expostulated but the poor man with tears in his eyes turned to mother prioress who had just entered and offered to pay for the bread if only she would give him a little i have my own son at the front he exclaimed and i should be so grateful to any one that i knew had shown kindness to him and now i have been all over the town to get bread for my soldiers and there is none to be had mother prioress kind heart was touched and telling the good man to keep his money she gave him the loaves as well with which he soon vanished out of the door edmund grumbling all the time because the nuns and himself had been deprived of their supper mother prioress laughing told him the soldiers needed it more than we she turned away thinking over what she could possibly give the community for supper she went almost mechanically to the bread-bin where lifting up the lid she felt around in the dark what was her delight to find two loaves which still remained and which had to suffice for supper as well as breakfast next morning we retired to rest feeling we were at any rate well guarded and the firm tread of the sentries as they passed under our windows at regular intervals inspired us with very different feelings from those we had experienced the week before on hearing the heavy footsteps of the german watch the officials of the british headquarters entered the town with the army and for several weeks ypres was their chief station from which issued all the commands for the troops in the surrounding districts we were not long however in knowing the consequences of such an honour the next day at about ten thirty a m the whir of an aeroplane was heard we were becoming accustomed to such novelties and so did not pay too much attention till to our horror we heard a volley of shots from the grand place saluting the newcomer we knew from this what nationality the visitor was the firing continued for some time and then ceased what had happened our enclosure prevented us from following the exciting events of those troubled times but friends usually kept us supplied with the most important news it was thus that soon afterwards we heard the fate of the air monster which had tried to spy into what was happening within our walls the first shots had been unsuccessful but at last two struck the machine which began rapidly to descend the inmates unhurt flew for their lives as soon as they touched ground but seizing the first motor-car to hand the soldiers chased them and at last took them prisoners what was their horror to find in the aeroplane a plan of the town of ypres with places marked on which to throw the three bombs one of these places being the grand place then occupied by thousands of british soldiers endless were the thanksgivings which mounted up to heaven for such a preservation and prayers and supplications for divine protection were redoubled since the beginning of the war every one even the most indifferent had turned to god from whom alone they felt that succour could come and those who before never put their foot in church were now amongst the most fervent pilgrimages and processions were organized to turn aside the impending calamity and heedless of human respect rich and poor the fervent and the indifferent raised their voices to the mother of god who has never yet been called upon in vain even the procession of our lady of thin so well known to all those who yearly flock to ypres for the first sunday in august with its groups its decorations its music had been turned into a penitential procession and the kermesse and other festivities which took place during the following eight days were prohibited needless to say the monastery was not behindhand every day the community assembled at one o'clock for the recitation of the rosary and when possible prayed aloud during the different employments of the day numberless were the aspirations to the sacred heart our lady of angels our holy father st benedict each one's favorite patron the holy angels or the souls in purgatory each suggested what they thought the most likely to inspire devotion perhaps the best of all was that which dame josephine requiescat in pace announced to us one day at recreation it ran as follows dear st patrick as you once chased the serpents and venomous reptiles out of ireland please now chase the germans out of belgium the office of the dead was not forgotten for those who had fallen on the battlefield and we offered all our privations and sacrifices for the good success of the allies or the repose of the souls of the poor soldiers already killed we also undertook to make badges of the sacred heart for the soldiers though at the moment we saw no possible means of distributing them at length to our great joy the arrival of the british troops among whom were many irish catholics opened an apostolate for us which went on ever increasing the idea had first come to us when weeks before a number of belgian soldiers were announced of whom two hundred and fifty were to have been quartered at the college rev mother prioress had then suggested that we should make badges so as at least to help in some little way when every one else seemed to be doing so much we set to work with good will some cutting the flannel others embroidering others writing till at last we had finished what was our disappointment to hear that not a single soldier had come to the college we then tried in every way possible to find a means of distributing our handiwork but all in vain till one day a poor girl called helene who washed the steps and outer porch leading to the principal entrance of the convent came to beg prayers for her brother who was at the front mother prioress promised her we should all pray for her brother at the same time giving her a badge of the sacred heart for him together with a dozen others for any one else she might know to be in the same position helene soon returned for more and the devotion spreading through the town every one came flocking to the parlor to get badges for a father a brother a cousin a nephew at the front many even also asking them for themselves so that they might be preserved from all danger even the little children in the streets came to ask for a little heart until the poor sister at the door was unable to get through her other work owing to the constant ringing of the bell in despair she laid her complaints before her superior saying that a troop of children were there again of whom one had come the first thing in the morning for a badge on receiving it she had gone outside where changing hats with another child she promptly returned pretending to be some one else the sister who had seen the whole performance through the guichet had smiled at her innocent trick and given her another but now here she was again this time with some one else's apron on and bringing half a dozen other children with her mother prioress then saw the little girl herself who nothing abashed put out her hand saying des petits coeurs s'il vous plait mon sir this was too much for mother prioress's tender heart and instead of scolding she told them there was nothing ready then but for the future if they came back on mondays they might have as many petits coeurs as they wished the little troop marched quite contentedly out of the door headed by the girl who could not have been more than seven years old and diminishing in size and age down to a little mite of two who toddled out hanging on to his brother's coat the devout procession was brought up by a tiny black dog which seemed highly delighted with the whole proceeding this little digression has brought us away from our subject but was perhaps necessary to show how we were able to send badges to the soldiers by means of this somewhat strange manner of apostolate for a young girl hearing of the devotion brought them by dozens to st peter's parish where an irish regiment was stationed impressing on each man as she pinned the badge to his uniform that it was made by the irish dames chapter two chapter three incidents of the struggle meanwhile in the distance we could hear the sound of cannonading which told us of the approach of the enemy and when we met at recreation the one and only topic of conversation was the war each day brought its item of news such or such a town had fallen another was being bombarded a village had been razed to the ground another was burning so many prisoners had been taken such a number wounded many alas killed as often as not what we heard one day was contradicted the next and what was confirmed in the morning as a fact was flatly denied in the afternoon so that one really did not know what to believe we could at least believe our own ears and those told us by the ever-approaching sound of firing that the danger was steadily increasing for the brave little town of it was therefore decided that in case of emergency each nun should prepare a parcel of what was most necessary lest the worst should come and we should be obliged to fly soon crowds of refugees from the towns and villages in the firing line thronged to the streets the city was already crowded with soldiers where then could the refugees find lodging and nourishment how were they to be assisted all helped as far as they were able and dinner and supper were daily distributed to some thirty or forty at the abbey doors this meant an increase of work which already weighed heavily enough on our reduced numbers for we had since september eighth lost four subjects one choir dame and three lay sisters owing to the law then issued commanding the expulsion of all germans resident in belgium this had been the first shock nothing as yet foretold the future nor gave us the least subject for serious alarm when on the afternoon of september seventh an official came to the parlor to acquaint us with the newly published law and to say that our four german nuns would have to leave within thirty-six hours We were literally stunned.

In particular, we owe it to St. Benedict that the monasteries were the homes of practical agriculturalists, as well as of saints and of artists and of men of learning.

The alliance of science with technology, by which learning is kept in contact with irreducible and stubborn facts, owes much to the practical bent of the early Benedictines.

Modern science derives from Rome as well as from Greece, and this Roman strain explains its gain in an energy of thought kept closely in contact with the world of facts.

But the influence of this contact between the monasteries and the facts of nature showed itself first in art.

NDCL comes in at 2-1, Benny at 3-0.

Benedictines in this series has won 12 of 14.

They have won 12 of the 14 games that they have faced.

NDCL trying to get back on track with that.

I know well how devoted your Lordship is to Saint Teresa, how much you admire her undaunted courage, fortitude, zeal, and confidence in God amidst all her immense labors and extraordinary interior trials, and above all, how anxious your Lordship is that the same spirit of prayer and the same heavenly virtues with which that glorious Virgin was so wonderfully endowed may be diffused more and more amongst all men, and especially amongst those holy religious who have chosen the Lord as the portion of their inheritance forever.

The illustrious Order of Saint Benedict has produced many admirable contemplatives and writers on mystical theology, all of whom speak in the highest terms of the works of Saint Teresa.

I am truly grateful for your Lordship's approbation of my humble endeavors to give a correct translation of those esteemed works, the doctrine of which the Church herself styles heavenly.

I also return your Lordship many sincere thanks for your constant kindness towards me and the encouragement I have so frequently received from your Lordship to persevere in my humble labors.

they have not been ashamed to glory in that which Paul so execrates, that he is unable to express his detestation too strongly.

Unless indeed we suppose that Christ was not divided by the Corinthians, when one teacher set himself above another, 1 Cor 1.12.13.3.4, and that now no injury is done to Christ, when, instead of Christians, we hear some called Benedictines, others Franciscans, others Dominicans, and so called, that while they affect to be distinguished from the common body of christians they proudly substitute these names for a religious profession section fifteen the charge is against the profession not every monk the differences which i have hitherto pointed out between the ancient monks and those of our age are not in manners but in profession Hence let my readers remember that I have spoken of monachism, monachatus, rather than of monks, and marked not the vices which cleave to a few, but vices which are inseparable from the very mode of life.

In regard to manners, of what use is it to particularize and show how great the difference? This much is certain, that there is no order of men more polluted by all kinds of vicious turpitude, nowhere do faction, hatred, party spirit, and intrigue more prevail.

In a few monasteries, indeed, they live chastely, if we are to call it chastity, where lust is so far repressed as not to be openly infamous.

and remained there a long time, seen by many people.

The next year, 1539, saw the martyrdom of three abbots of the great Benedictine order.

By this time the work of destruction had gone on so fast that only a few of the larger monasteries survived, and now under the pretext of creating new bishoprics and endowing them with the confiscated monastic lands, the three great monasteries of Glastonbury, Reading, and Colchester were ordered to surrender.

Those of us who have visited the ruins of Glastonbury and tried to reconstruct the past can have but little real idea of the glory of this ancient foundation.

"'I, too, am a lawbreaker, though not willingly.

I was, and am, a monk of the Order of St. Benedict, whom it has pleased the King's grace to cast back, penniless, into the world.' "'Against your will, brother?' Joan asked, her grey eyes wide.

"'I, for by decree of King Henry, those religious under the age of twenty-three, whom he deemed too numerous for the community, can be forcibly ejected.

Of such was I.' Like Friar Peter, said Jim.