Tag Archives: Benedictine

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Benedict, Feast Day July 11

The feast day of St. Benedict is celebrated on July 11.  In the Eastern Church it is celebrated on March 14th.

St. Benedict was born in Nursia in 480 to upper class parents. He attended university in Rome. To escape the vice he was surrounded by he fled Rome and spent three years in seclusion. After these three years he founded the monasteries he is famous for.

St. Benedict is considered the founder of western monasticism. His monasteries were based on the principles in his book The Rule of Benedict. This book begins with this prologue:

“Listen carefully, my son, to the masters’ instructions and attend to them with the ear of your heart. (R.B. Prologue)”

St. Benedict Public Domain Image
St. Benedict
Public Domain Image

His rule begins with the word LISTEN! The monasteries have a very strict discipline. They focus on daily personal and liturgical prayer. Singing of the Psalms and reading the Divine Office is practiced daily. Listening to the word of God is the primary focus of their spirituality.  Lectio Divino is slow reading and meditation on the scripture. Benedictine spirituality also demands obedience, hospitality, and service.

St. Benedict died while standing in prayer before God in the year 547. St. Benedict is the patron saint of students and Europe.

 

Shatter all your temptations against Christ.

Quote of St. Benedict

July is the Month of the Most Precious Blood.

 

Prayers, Quips and Quotes Articles for the Month of July

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Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Camillus de Lellis, Feast Day July 18




St. Camillus Public Domain Image
St. Camillus

The feast day of St. Camillus de Lellis is July 18.

St. Camillus  was born on May 25, 1550 in Bucchianico, Abruzzo, Italy.  His mother died when he was a child and he received little attention.

As a teenager he was adventurous and a risk taker often losing his money and fighting.  During one fight he was wounded in his leg.  The wound did not heal but spread to his foot. It was during this time that his father also died.

Camillus continued to fight and gamble.  He became so destitute that he stopped at a church to request help.  Leaving the church, he met two monks.  He soon began working for a Capuchin monastery helping with construction projects.  After talking to a priest, he had a burning desire to become a Benedictine priest.  However, he was rejected due to lack of education.

At the age of 25, Camillus was admitted into a hospital for treatment of his leg.  To pay for the treatment he cared for the sick and dying in the hospital.  He was discharged form the hospital for gambling and fighting.  He decided to study to become a Benedictine, however his wound again needed treatment.  He returned to the hospital where he was hired to help reform the hospital.

At the age of 34 he became a priest and organized others to help.  They called themselves “Servants of the Sick.”

The Order of St. Camillus serves the sick and dying in 35 countries.  They care for both the physical and spiritual needs of the person in need.

 

It is always a feast where love is,

And where love is, God is.

Quote of Dorothy Day, Servant of God

 

July is the Month of the Most Precious Blood

Prayers, Quips and Quotes; St. Benedict, Feast Day July 11




 

St. Benedict Public Domain Image
St. Benedict
Public Domain Image

The feast day of St. Benedict is celebrated on July 11. In the Eastern Church it is celebrated on March 14th.

St. Benedict was born in Nursia in 480 to upper class parents. He attended university in Rome. To escape the vice he was surrounded by he fled Rome and spent three years in seclusion. After these three years he founded the monasteries he is famous for.

St. Benedict is considered the founder of western monasticism. His monasteries were based on the principles in his book The Rule of Benedict. This book begins with this prologue: “Listen carefully, my son, to the masters’ instructions and attend to them with the ear of your heart. (R.B. Prologue)”

His rule begins with the word LISTEN! The monasteries have a very strict discipline. They

St. Benedict Public Domain Image
St. Benedict
Public Domain Image

focus on daily personal and liturgical prayer. Singing of the Psalms and reading the Divine Office is practiced daily. Listening to the word of God is the primary focus of their spirituality. Lectio Divino is slow reading and meditation on the scripture. Benedictine spirituality also demands obedience, hospitality, and service.

St. Benedict died while standing in prayer before God in the year 547. St. Benedict is the patron saint of students and Europe.

 

 

Shatter all your temptations against Christ.

Quote of St. Benedict

July is the Month of the Most Precious Blood.




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Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Romuald, Feast Day June 19




St. Romuald Public Domain Image
St. Romuald
Public Domain Image

 

 

 

St. Romuald was born at Ravenna, Italy in 951. His feast day is celebrated on June 19.

As a young man he pursued the pleasures of the world. However, at the age of 20, he witnessed a duel between his father and a relative over property. His father killed the relative. St. Romuald fled to a Benedictine monastery to do penance as if he had committed the crime himself.

St. Romuald became a monk at the Basilica of Saint Apollinare in Classe. Wanting a stricter order he founded several monasteries of his own. When faced with temptation he always turned to prayer. His rule states,

 “Sit in your cell as in paradise. Put the whole world behind you and forget it. Watch your thoughts like a good fisherman watching for fish. The path you must follow is in the Psalms – never leave it.”

St. Romuald spent 30 years founding monasteries. His father eventually followed him and became a monk. When he wavered he had the encouragement of his son.

St. Romuald died in the year 1027.

 

I arise today through God’s strength to pilot me.

God’s wisdom to guide me, God’s eye to see before me.

God’s ear to hear me, God’s word to speak for me,

God’s hand to guard me, God’s way to be before me,

God’s shield to protect me, God’s host to secure me.

 

Quote of St. Patrick, Feast Day March 17

June is the Month of the Sacred Heart.

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Elizabeth of Schoenna, Feast Day June 18




St. Elizabeth of Schoenna
St. Elizabeth of Schoenna

The feast day of St. Elizabeth of Schoenna is celebrated on June 18.

St. Elizabeth was born in 1129 in Bonn, Germany. She was raised in a monastery and at the age of twelve entered a Benedictine Monastery. She made her profession in 1147 and became superioress of the Benedictine Nuns in 1157.

Elizabeth often had visions and ecstasies which occurred on Holy Days and Sundays. She wrote down her visions and after her death in 1165, the material was published by her brother Egbert who was a priest. The church has not examined her work and has not given an opinion.

Although she has never been formally canonized her name has been entered in the Roman martyrology.

To be ignorant of the Scriptures is to be ignorant of Christ.

Quote of St. Jerome; Feast day September 30

 

June is the Month of the Sacred Heart.

 

Prayers, Quips and Quotes: St. Augustine of Canterbury, Feast Day May 27




St. Augustine of Canterbury Public Domain Image
St. Augustine of Canterbury

The feast day of St. Augustine of Canterbury is celebrated on May 27.

St. Augustine was the prior of the Benedictine Monastery of St. Andrew in Rome. Pope Gregory decided he needed to send missionaries to England. Augustine and 30 monks were who he chose to send. The mission was to unite the Christians after the Saxon conquest of England.

The King of England listened with curiosity to what the missionaries had to say. On Pentecost Sunday in 597, King Ethelbert was baptized. He believed in religious freedom and did not make his new religion mandatory however many followed his example and were baptized. St. Augustine was not successful in uniting the Anglo-Saxon Christians with the original Briton Christians (Celtics). He followed Pope Gregory’s advice to purify rather than destroy pagan temples and customs. As much as possible pagan rites and festivals were changed into Christian feasts.

St. Augustine died eight years after arriving in England. He died on May 26.

God’s works are not regulated by our plans and wishes.

Quote of St. Vincent de Paul; Feast day September 27

 

May is the Month of Our Lady