St. Benedict of Nursia (c. 480-543), detail from a fresco by Fra Angelico, San Marco, Florence (c. 1400–1455).

Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict around 529.

Used as a noun, the term Benedictine denotes membership in the order. By extension it is sometimes applied to other adherents of the Benedictine spirituality.

During the subsequent centuries many more Benedictine communities were founded, not only for monks but also for nuns, first throughout Europe and eventually also other areas of the world. This led to the formation in modern times of the Order of St Benedict. In addition to those autonomous Benedictine communities, a number of independent monastic orders were founded on the rule of St Benedict, and so are also Benedictines in that sense. Such orders include the Congregation of Cluny, the Cistercians, and the Trappists. Benedictine communities are primarily found in the Catholic Church but several Benedictine communities exist within other Christian communities, though small in number.

The current Abbot Primate of the global Benedictine Confederation of the Order of St. Benedict is a German Benedictine, Notker Wolf. The center of the Confederation is Sant'Anselmo in Rome where every four years the abbots of the Benedictine order from around the world meet for a Confederation Congress. In 2000, there were 8,182 Benedictine monks, 7,179 nuns, and 10,000 "Active Benedictine Sisters."^[1]

England[link]

In the English Reformation all monasteries were dissolved and their lands confiscated by the Crown, forcing their Catholic members to flee into exile on the Continent, although during the 19th century they were able to return to England, including to Selby Abbey in Yorkshire, one of the few great monastic churches to survive the Dissolution. Noteworthy, too, is St. Mildred's Priory, Isle of Thanet, Kent, built in 1027 on the site of an Abbey founded in 670 by the daughter of the first Christian King of Kent. Currently the Priory is home to a community of Benedictine nuns. Four of the most notable English Abbeys are the Basilica of St Gregory the Great at Downside, commonly known as Downside Abbey, Ealing Abbey in Ealing, West London and St. Lawrence's in Yorkshire (Ampleforth Abbey)and Worth Abbey which has appeared in two BBC2 TV programmes; 'The Monastery (BBC TV series)' and 'The Big Silence' .^[2][3] In 1928, Prinknash Abbey was officially returned to the Benedictines after four hundred years. Henry VIII had used the site as a hunting lodge. During the next few years, Prinknash Park, so called, was used as a home, until it was returned to the order.^[4][5] Since the Oxford Movement there has also been a modest flourishing of Benedictine monasticism in the Anglican Church and Protestant Churches. Anglican Benedictine Abbots are invited guests of the Benedictine Abbot Primate in Rome at Abbatial gatherings at Sant'Anselmo.^[6] There are an estimated 2,400 celibate Anglican Religious (1080 men and 1320 women) in the Anglican Communion as a whole, some of whom have adopted the Rule of St. Benedict.^[7] For a full list of all historic Benedictine houses in England & Wales see below.

France[link]

In the late 19th century, laws were enacted preventing religious teaching. The original intent was to allow secular schools. In 1880 and 1882, Benedictine teaching monks were effectively exiled; this was not completed until 1901.^{[8][9][10][11][12]}

Benedictine's rules[link]

Communities of the Benedictine order are governed by the 73 chapters of the Rule of St. Benedict.

Usage in popular culture[link]

The Benedictine order has been brought to public attention by the Brother Cadfael novels, a series of murder mysteries by Edith Pargeter writing under the name Ellis Peters. The stories were also made into a television series starring Derek Jacobi. The protagonist, Brother Cadfael, is a Benedictine monk living at Shrewsbury Abbey during the 12th century. The novels contain many details about the Benedictine order and lifestyle. A Benedictine abbey provides the setting for a murder mystery in medieval Europe in the book The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco.

List of historic Benedictine houses in England & Wales[link]

v t e Benedictine abbeys and priories in medieval England and Wales Independent houses Abergavenny · Abbotsbury · Abingdon · Alcester · Athelney · Bardney · Bath · Battle · Bedford · Birkenhead · Bradwell · Buckfast · Burton · Bury St Edmunds · Canterbury (Christ Church) · Canterbury (St Augustine's) · Canwell · Cerne · Chertsey · Chester · Cholsey · Colchester · Coventry · Crowland · Durham · Ely · Evesham · Eynsham · Faversham · Glastonbury · Gloucester · Humberston · Luffield · Malmesbury · Milton · Monk Bretton · Muchelney · Mullicourt · Norwich (Holy Trinity) · Pershore · Peterborough · Ramsey · Reading · Rochester · St Albans · St Benet of Hulme · Sandwell · Selby · Sherborne · Shrewsbury · Snelshall · Tavistock · Tewkesbury · Thorney · Upholland · Walden · Westminster · Whitby · Winchcombe · Winchester (New Minister) · Winchester (St Swithun) · Worcester · York (St Mary's) Dependent houses Aldeby · Alkborough · Alcester · Alvecote · Beadlow · Bedemans Berg · Belvoir · Binham · Brecon · Bristol · Bromfield · Cardiff · Cardigan · Cranborne · Darenth · Deeping · Dover · Dunster · Earls Colne · Ewenny · Ewyas Harold · Exeter · Farne · Felixstowe · Finchale · Freiston · Great Malvern · Hatfield Peverel · Henes (Sandtoft) · Hereford · Hertford · Holy Island · Horton · Hoxne · Hurley · Jarrow · Kidwelly · Kilpeck  · Kings Lynn · Lamanna · Leominster · Leonard Stanley · Lincoln · Little Malvern · Littlemore · Lytham · Middlesbrough · Monkwearmouth · Morville · Norwich (St Leonard) · Oxford (of Canterbury) · Oxford (of Durham) · Oxford (of Gloucester) · Penwortham · Pilton · Redbourn · Richmond · Rumsburgh · St Bees · St Ives · Scilly · Snaith · Snape · Stamford · Studley · Sudbury · Tickhill · Tynemouth · Wallingford · Westbury-on-Trym · Wetheral · Wymondham · Yarmouth Alien priories Allerton Mauleverer · Andover · Andwell · Appuldurcombe · Arundel · Astley  · Aston Priors · Atherington  · Avebury · Axmouth · Blyth · Boxgrove · Brimpsfield · Burstall · Burwell · Caldy · Carisbrooke · Chepstow · Clatford · Cogges · Corsham · Covenham · Cowick · Creeting · Debden · Deerhurst · Dunwich · Ecclesfield · Edith Weston · Ellingham · Everdon · Eye · Folkestone · Frampton · Goldcliff · Grovebury · Hamble · Harmondsworth · Hatfield Regis · Haugham · Hayling · Headley · Hinckley · Holbeck · Horsham St Faith · Horsley · Lancaster · Lapley · Lewisham · Linton (or Isleham) · Livers Ocle · Llangennith · Llangua · Loders · Minster · Minster Lovell · Minting · Modbury · Monks Kirkby · Monk Sherbourne · Monmouth · Newent · Ogbourne St George · Otterton · Panfield · Pembroke · Pill · Ruislip · Runcton · St Cross · St Dogmells · St Michael's Mount · St Neots · Sele · Spalding · Sporle · Standon · Steventon · Stogursey · Stoke-by-Clare · Stratfied Saye · Swavesey · Takeley · Throwley · Tickford · Titley · Toft Monks · Totnes · Tutbury · Tywardreath · Upavon · Ware · Wareham · Warminghurst · Warmington · Wath · Weedon Beck · Weedon Lois · West Mersea · Wilsford · Wing · Winghale · Wolston · Wootton Wawen · York (Holy Trinity)

See also[link]

• Saint Benedict Medal
• Benedictine Confederation
• Oblates of Saint Benedict
• Oblates
• Order of Saint Benedict
• Order of Saint Benedict (Orthodox)
• Order of St. Benedict (Anglican)
• Order of Cistercians
• Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (Trappists)
• Pontifical Congregation of the Benedictine Sisters of the Reparation of the Holy Face
• Mechitarist Order of the Armenian Catholic Church.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Benedictine Monasteries or Benedictines

• The Order of Saint Benedict – Website mastered by a monk of St John's Abbey Collegeville
• St Benedict's Blessing; A Website on Benedictinism
• Popes from the Religious Orders, 12 Benedictines
• The Rule of St. Benedict
• Prayer and Lectio divina in the Benedictine Tradition
• Episcopal Benedictine Order in Diocese of Olympia

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Saint Dominic of Silos, O.S.B.
Saint Dominic enthroned as Abbot by Bartolomé Bermejo (15th c.)
Born	1000 Cañas (modern Rioja), Spain
Died	December 20, 1073(1073-12-20) Silos
Honored in	Roman Catholic Church
Major shrine	Abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos Santo Domingo de Silos, Spain
Feast	20 December
Attributes	abbot surrounded by the Seven Virtues; mitred abbot enthroned with a book, a veil tied to his crozier, as proper to an abbot
Patronage	against rabies; against rabid dogs; against insects; captives; pregnant women; prisoners; shepherds

Dominic of Silos, O.S.B., (Spanish: Santo Domingo de Silos) (1000 – December 20, 1073) was a Spanish monk, to whom the Abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos, where he served as the abbot, is dedicated. He is revered as a saint in the Catholic Church.

Born in Cañas, La Rioja, to a family of peasants, he worked as a shepherd before becoming a Benedictine monk at the Monasteries of San Millán de la Cogolla. There, he soon became Master of novices and then prior, before being driven out with two of his fellow monks by King García Sánchez III of Navarre, for opposing his intention to annex the monastery's lands.

Under the protection of King Ferdinand I of León, they found refuge in the town of Silos at the decaying Monastery of St. Sebastian, occupied by only six monks. (After his death, both the monastery and the town were renamed for him.) Dominic was appointed as the abbot of the community and proceeded to rebuild the monastery, both spiritually and physically. He turned it into a center of book design, gold and silver work, scholarship, and charity. The monastery became one of the centers of the Mozarabic liturgy, and also preserved the Visigothic script of ancient Spain.

Wealthy patrons endowed the monastery, and Dominic raised funds to ransom Christians taken prisoner by the Moors. He died of natural causes on 20 December 1073.

Ferdinand welcomes Domingo de Silos by Martín Bernat and Bartolomé Bermejo, 1477-79

Veneration[link]

Dominic's relics were translated to the monastery church on 5 January 1076. Churches and monasteries were dedicated to him as early as 1085.

Patronage[link]

The mother of the better-known Saint Dominic of Guzmán, the Blessed Joan of Aza, is said to have prayed at his shrine before she was able to conceive the son she named for him. That son would grow up to found the Dominican Order. Dominic's special patronage thus became connected with pregnancy, and until the establishment of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931, his abbatial crozier was used to bless the queens of Spain, and was placed by their beds when they were in labor.

The noted 13th-century priest and poet, Gonzalo de Berceo, wrote an account of his life.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Domingo de Silos

• Patron Saints Index: Dominic of Silos
• Dominic of Silos