The St Benedict Monastery in Norcia

Around 529 AD, Benedict of Nursia, who disliked the way of life in Rome, wanted to start a new way to live that honored God in a more faithful way. He built his monastery on the ruins of an old temple dedicated to Apollo. Legend has it he kept a table from the old temple to use it for his worship. 

Once established at Monte Cassino, Benedict never left. He wrote the Rule of St Benedict that became the founding principle for Western monasticism, lived there and trained other monks and eventually died there. 

Over the centuries, the monastery was attacked 4 times, the last time during WWII. It’s a miracle that while 90% of the Abbey was destroyed, some key places of the monastery remained intact: his tomb, Scholastica’s tomb, a big statue of St Benedict, and more. The Abbey was rebuilt in the same design with the same materials as they used before. 

On Thursday we had the honor to have Mass in a sided chapel with Father Steve. After we had a tour of the church where the tomb of Benedict and Scholastica are buried. We recited the Prayer of St Benedict. It was a special thing to do with our seniors.