Author
This is an article taken originally from Die Tagespost, July 20th, 2011, and is not an official newspaper translation. Translated by Scott G. Hefelfinger, S.T.L.
Like their founding father, the Benedictines of Norcia wish to make a contribution to Christian civilization through prayer and work.
At the birthplace of the monastic father, St. Benedict, and his sister, Scholastica, lives the monastic tradition of Norcia. The ancient Nursia lies in the extreme southeast tip of Umbria on slopes that soar and dive within the Monti Sibilli (“Sibylline Mountains”), a region enshrouded in legend and lore, and well-known throughout Italy since the Middle Ages for its excellent sausage and truffle delicacies. But the enchanting little town is not only a pilgrimage destination for gourmets; the city walls, which have enfolded the city in a protective embrace since the fourteenth century, also guard a place of great significance for not only the Catholic Church but also the history of the Christian occident: the birth house of St. Benedict of Nursia and his twin sister, St. Scholastica.
The remains of this house, along with the basilica erected over it around the year 1200 a.d., are located in the central square of the city, the piazza of St. Benedict. For centuries, the Benedictine monks were stewards of this shrine, until they were expelled in 1810 during the reign of Napoleon. Not until the year 2000 was the shrine once again looked after by a Benedictine community—which is young, strong in the faith, and well on the way to revitalizing the ideal embodied in the rule of St. Benedict in our time, a time characterized by the widespread renunciation of faith and the spiritual identity crisis that accompanies an only externally united Europe.
Cassian Folsom from Massachusetts would also look impressively convincing in a plaid lumberjack’s shirt on a hunt for a grizzly bear. In reality, however, he is the Prior of the Benedictines of Norcia as well as a liturgical specialist and lecturer at the renowned university of Sant’ Anselmo in Rome.
Fr. Cassian is a pleasant partner in conversation—clear, resolute, and circumspect. Sometimes it seems that, of all people, he is the one most amazed at the ability his community has developed to draw young men from every corner of the globe, especially since the community only began in 1998, when he founded it in Rome. “At first, we were only three,” he relates, “and our convent was not much more than an apartment with a portable private chapel. We wanted to return to the spirit of our origin, as the Second Vatican Council recommended for religious communities in its decree, Perfectae Caritatis.” “There is a point,” explains the Prior, “at which you cannot reform anymore. Then, there is only one option left: you must return to your roots.”
“What St. Benedict achieved in his time is what we must do in ours” could be the motto of this community. In the fifth century—a time of complete disintegration and the turmoil of the collapse of the Roman Empire in the face of Barbarian invasions—Benedict founded monasteries and taught his fellow monks how to turn completely towards God by means of two main principles, prayer and work. From the Benedictine ora et labora developed the beginning of Europe’s Christian civilization; today, as this heritage appears to stand before an almost complete loss of faith, this civilization finds its children repudiating their own ancestry. The Benedictines of Norcia would like to be God’s humble instrument for the necessary New Evangelization of Europe. At this point, there are already nineteen monks living here—of these, four are ordained priests and two, novices.
Although the order appears to be unacquainted with the difficulty of recruiting young men, Father Cassian nevertheless makes clear that four priests are still too few: “The pilgrims coming to the birthplace of St. Benedict still require much more extensive spiritual and pastoral care. We should be able to offer more opportunities for confession—people come here and have a profound desire for this.” For pilgrims attending holy Mass, the first thing that catches the eye is how remarkably young this community is. Approximately twenty eight years of age is where the Prior estimates the average age of his community. “Young men are here because our way of life is extremely rigid and very challenging.” He denies with great vehemence that there is a vocational crisis in today’s world: “Vocations are there! Because God is always calling!”
What further strikes a visitor to the monastery is the international character of the group: Americans, Indonesians, a Filipino, and a few Europeans, mainly Italian, are all represented. This not only makes for variety in the culinary plan, it also presents a spiritual challenge. Living together strengthens the virtues of patience as well as a reciprocal and loving acceptance of the other in the school of mercy. In a special way, this mutual acceptance is also a fruit of the complete gift to God—this too draws the notice of those who visit this holy place. Even if preoccupations or distractions plague a visitor, to witness the monks praying at Vespers, Compline, or their conventual Mass celebrated in the extraordinary form is to be swept up in the tremendous intensity of it all, an intensity only further heightened by the simplicity of garments and the meticulous, almost meditative gestures of bowing and signing with the cross. Then, there is also the particular magic of Gregorian chant, which hardly anyone can resist, provided he has not become bodily or spiritually deaf. Over and over again, one can observe this magic at work, since the steps leading to the Church’s main entrance are situated on the central piazza of Norcia and make for a popular meeting place. When even the most excited throng of tourists or the most rambunctious groups of youth find themselves forced by unexpected rain to take refuge in the Church, they reverently sit down in the pews, as if transformed; and then they listen attentively as once more one of the monastic hours of prayer is chanted in the crypt and broadcast live in the nave of the Church. Such a transformation is only accomplished by those for whom prayer has become their pulse, their heartbeat, the very air they breathe.
But here there is also enough labora, work—whether intellectual, bodily, or pastoral. The Benedictines of Norcia constantly take in many guests, for whom they provide and cook. Thus, alongside their theological and linguistic studies, there is no shortage of wholly profane housekeeping. Seminarians from Rome are the most frequent guests, and additionally what they call a “vocational experience” takes place every summer and lasts for one month. During this time, young men are invited to experience the monastic life for a limited period of time in order to find out whether they have a vocation. This year there are eleven participants, twice as many as last year. Long before this year, however, there was already the challenge of insufficient space to house these guests in the convent attached to the church at the Piazza San Benedetto.
A San Benedetto fuori le mura (“St. Benedict outside the walls”) is already planned, with room for twenty-five monk’s cells and thus also more room for guests, but the work of rebuilding the property situated on a deserted hill is currently at a standstill, leaving what is at the moment but the ruins of an ancient past and beauty. “The necessary funds are lacking,” says Fr. Cassian, “and we depend on donations; but there is an economic crisis, everything is stagnant, and we also feel that.” It pains him visibly, for he, who also lectures once a week in Rome at the Benedictine university, Sant’ Anselmo, longs for cloistral tranquility. It is understandable, considering that his daily schedule begins at 3:30 in the morning.
Since 2009, two years after the publication of the Motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, the Benedictines of Norcia celebrate the Roman rite in utroque usu (“according to both usages”). “Both forms have their own advantages,” explains the liturgical expert: “the ordinary form, for example, emphasizes rational understanding and participation; it speaks in prose, we might say. On the other hand, the extraordinary form—though it is likewise extremely attractive on intellectual grounds—stresses ritual and in this sense it is very poetic. Man needs both, however: prose and poetry.”
For this reason, the community of Norcia received from the Holy See the explicit apostolate of cultivating both forms of the Roman rite. Although the usus antiquior is the from which is celebrated in the conventual Mass, the priests of the order fulfill their task of cultivating the Novus Ordo as well by ascending to the tiny mountain villages around Norcia to celebrate parish Masses in the ordinary form.
Many young people are in search of authenticity and commitment, according to Fr. Cassian; they feel attracted to the extraordinary form because it is contemplative and therefore also suits the monastic life. One of these young people is Br. Anthony, 26, from Texas. In six years, God willing, he will be ordained to the priesthood. Since even his time in college, Anthony felt himself drawn to the monastic life; he read books, tried out the life of a monastery during several visits to communities in the United States. He was originally interested in entering the Trappists, because from the beginning he felt a strong attraction to a life of asceticism and total self-giving. But—the young monk is completely honest—the average age with the Trappists was too high for him. Finally, he gave everything over to the Lord: He should lead him where He wants him to be. When, in 2005, he went on a school trip to Rome and there got to know Fr. Cassian and the community in Norcia, it seemed to him an answer to his prayer. Until that point in time, Br. Anthony could never imagine spending his life outside the United States.
Today he can visit his family once a year. When asked whether he finds life in the monastery to be a still, tranquil river or rather a genuine adventure, he answers vigorously: “It is an adventure—the adventure of seeking after God! When I entered here, it was only the beginning. On this journey, there is always a further step to take, a next mountain to scale; I am on the way to God and it’s never finished.” His confrere, Kyle, is twenty-five and also from Texas; it was by way of friends that he found the way to Norcia. At Easter in the year 2009, Kyle entered the Catholic Church, and in the summer of the following year he took part in the month-long “vocational experience.”
Although their life stories are fundamentally different, the two young Benedictines are in certain points very similar—speaking about their own lives does not come as easily to them as speaking about their enthusiasm and zeal for “quaerere Deum,” the search for God, to which they have wholeheartedly committed themselves.
By Barbara Wenz