Monasticism, not mummies. A Benedictine oblate blog

Getting directions at night

Scetis is among several areas where the Egyptian desert produced its greatest gift to the world — not the Great Pyramids, not mummies, but monasticism. Beginning about 300 AD Coptic men went to live in the Egyptian desert because they wanted to live the complete Christian life — the life that dwells with God. Some of those Coptic monks went to a remote Egyptian desert valley called Natron. They called their monastic settlements "Scetis" which is Coptic for "to weigh the heart."1 All of Christianity owes its monastic heritage to the Coptic church in Egypt and one of its most important examples, Scetis.

The remote Valley Natron (Wadi Natrun) is where monks established Scetis which consisted of groups of related monastic huts (cells) and settlements. The valley is in Lower Egypt (the northern part of Egypt by the delta of the Nile River).

Scetis is about 25 miles west of the Nile River. In ancient times, Scetis was a day and a night's journey south of Nitria — another monastic area and about a three-day journey northwest of the Great Pyramids.

Monasticism is often associated with stability and perseverance. At the time the Coptic monks went to Valley Natron, the Step Pyramid at Saqqara which is now the oldest free-standing stone structure in the world was already about 3,000 years old. They lived among antiquity even then.

Scetis' remoteness did have a direct connection to the Pyramids and mummies, however. The Valley Natron's ten "salt lakes" were a principal source of Natron also called niter. The Egyptians mined Natron — a salt-like mineral used as a drying agent in embalming. Natron was also used for hardening glass and ceramics.2

The Valley Natron is about 22 miles long and some of it lies below sea level. Low marshes and oases in the valley helped the monks find enough water to live. The water did not taste bad even though it had an unpleasant bituminous odor.

There were no marked routes on the earth leading to the Valley Natron. Travelers needed to know the map of the stars to find their way.3

If the monks chose the word "Scetis" ("to weigh the heart") as a description of their practices, it was a perfect choice. In about 400 AD or a 100 years after the first Coptic monks went to Scetis, the European monk John Cassian was in Scetis recording the monastic way. Weighing the heart was surely how the monks saw the effect of the remote wilderness.4

For monks in Scetis, the ultimate goal was to dwell in the tent of God, but the Scetis desert monks knew there was an intermediate goal — the daily, hourly path to follow. They taught that purity of heart must be the traveler's constant guide — without it the way is lost.4 In Valley Natron purity of heart was weighed.

John Cassian recorded what he learned and brought that Egyptian monastic wisdom back to the west in two key books, the Institutes and Conferences.

It may seem ironic that early Coptic desert monks who sought one of the most remote regions of Egypt developed a way of monastic life that shaped all of subsequent western history.

In addition to the works of John Cassian, the "Sayings of the Desert Fathers" are contained in two main series, the Alphabetical and Systematic Series of the Apophthegmata Patrum (from the Greek: apo, from; phtheggomai, to cry out; pater, father). Descriptions of the lives of Coptic desert fathers have also been preserved. Today, three easily-available books give an excellent study of the desert fathers:

The Sayings of the Desert Fathers (Cistercian studies 59) [Paperback]

The Wisdom of the Desert Fathers [Paperback]

The Lives of the Desert Fathers: Historia Monachorum in Aegypto (Cistercian Studies No. 34) [Paperback]

Many of the monastic principles Cassian lived with in Scetis were taken up and used 130 years later in about 530 AD by St. Benedict in his Rule for monks.

The Rule not only contains principles of monastic life from Scetis, but in Chapters 42 and 73 of the Rule, St. Benedict instructs monks to read the Institutes and Conferences (also called Collations). The clear voice of early Egyptian monks in Scetis carries well across the stillness of the desert at night.

St. Benedict became the father of western monasticism. His Rule became a trusted guide in the chaotic breakdown of civilization after the collapse of the western part of the Roman Empire. The Rule of St. Benedict (RB) became the main Rule for all monks in Europe. St. Benedict's monks and his Rule helped preserve the ancient Roman and Greek manuscripts and then reformed European civilization from a new mineral — the salt of the earth.

I blogged about the extensive Benedictine contributions to the world, but it would be equally true to recognize that behind those great accomplishments is Egyptian Coptic Christianity and in particular the Scetis monks.

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Footnotes:

Picture is M42 Orion by makelessnoise and is used subject to license.

1. Harmless, W. (2004). Desert Christians an introduction to the literature of early monasticism. Oxford [etc.: Oxford University Press, pp 173-175.

2. Natron as a flux.

See especially this interesting article:

The Use of Natron in Human Mummification: A modern
Experiment, (in PDF), by Bob Brier and Ronald S. Wade

3. Harmless, W. (2004). Desert Christians an introduction to the literature of early monasticism. Oxford [etc.: Oxford University Press, pp 173-175.

4. From Cassian's Conferences:

"And so the end of our way of life is indeed the kingdom of God. But what is the (immediate) goal you must earnestly ask, for if it is not in the same way discovered by us, we shall strive and wear ourselves out to no purpose, because a man who is traveling in a wrong direction, has all the trouble and gets none of the good of his journey. And when we stood gaping at this remark, the old man proceeded: The end of our profession indeed, as I said, is the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven: but the immediate aim or goal, is purity of heart, without which no one can gain that end: fixing our gaze then steadily on this goal as if on a definite mark, let us direct our course as straight towards it as possible, and if our thoughts wander somewhat from this, let us revert to our gaze upon it, and check them accurately as by a sure standard, which will always bring back all our efforts to this one mark, and will show at once if our mind has wandered ever so little from the direction marked out for it."

Benedictine contributions to the world. A Benedictine oblate blog

Kylemore Abbey, Republic of Ireland

The Benedictine monastic way has produced some of the greatest achievements in all of history. Thomas Woods, author of How the Catholic Church built Western Civilization, said,

"The monks played a critical role in the development of Western civilization...This historical fact comes as less of a surprise when we recall Christ's words: 'Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven, and all these things shall be added unto you.' That, stated simply, is the history of the monks."1

Much of the following is taken from Woods' excellent book:

The Benedictines enshrined work as a means to glorify God, the Benedictines preserved ancient texts. Virtually every ancient text that survived to the eighth century has survived to today.

The Benedictines were pioneers in all forms of agriculture. A modern expert noted that "every Benedictine monastery was an agricultural college for the whole region in which it was located."2

Benedictine monks developed Sweden's commerce in corn, Ireland's salmon fisheries, and Para, Italy's cheese making. "Please pass the Parmesan cheese. Thank you monks."

It was the Benedictines who first improved cattle breeding by other than random means. But it is a monk of another order — the Augustinians' — Gregor Johann Mendel (1822 - 1884) who is known to all biology students as the father of the modern science of genetics.

The Benedictines fostered the production of great wine. In 1531 Benedictine monks in the Abbey of Saint Hilaire near Carcassonne, in southern France produced sparkling wine (champagne is a sparkling wine).

Although Dom Perignon (late 1600s) of Saint Peter's Abbey, Hautvilliers-on-the-Marne, did not invent champagne, his deserved fame as the father of champagne comes from the fact that Dom Perignon did develop many of the modern techniques used in the effective production of champagne, including the use of wire to hold the cork in place. Pop!

The Benedictine band made technological advancements in architecture and buildings. They expanded the use of water power and directed spring waters to Paris.

A Benedictine monk made the first modern clock in about 996 AD.

About 1200 AD a Benedictine monk built and tested a glider that went 600 feet.

The English Benedictines developed advanced furnaces for the production of metals — specifically the extraction of iron from ore. Within in the last 20 years an archeometallurgist discovered that the slag (a byproduct of smelting) from an early 1500s English Benedictine smelting furnace showed a level of technological sophistication that was not achieved until much later by other inventors.

An English king's short-sighted suppression of the English monasteries stopped the work of talented Benedictines who now appear to have been on the verge of the techniques that sparked the advances of the industrial age 200 years later.

Cardinal Newman would have understood why such Benedictine abilities and effective endeavors passed without notice at the time only to be recognized recently in the light of better 20-20 hindsight:

St. Benedict found the world, physical and social, in ruins, and his mission was to restore it in the way, not of science, but of nature, not as if setting about to do it, not professing to do it by any set time or by any rare specific or by any series of strokes, but so quietly, patiently, gradually, that often, till the work was done, it was not known to be doing. It was a restoration, rather than a visitation, correction, or conversion. The new world which he helped to create was a growth rather than a structure. Silent men were observed about the country, or discovered in the forest, digging, clearing and building; and other silent men, not seen, were sitting in the cold cloister, tiring their eyes and keeping their attention on the stretch, while they painfully deciphered and copied and re-copied the manuscripts which they had saved. There was no one that 'contended or cried out,' or drew attention to what was going on; but by degrees the woody swamp became a hermitage, a religious house, a farm, an abbey, a village, a seminary, a school of learning, and a city. Roads and bridges connected it with other abbeys and cities, which had similarly grown up; and what the haughty Alaric or fierce Attila had broken to pieces, these patient meditative men had brought together and made to live again. (Mission of St. Benedict, §9; reprint, p. 67) quoted in Butler, Cuthbert. Benedictine Monachism. London: Longmans, Green &, 1924, page 319-320.

While some people think of monasteries as being shut away from the world, that view gives a too narrow view of how monastic life affects and enhances the wider community. Benedictine monasteries were places of beauty and learning, as focus on God often is.

"These monasteries too, presented pictures of a cultured society engaged in the pursuit of art, literature, and science, while at the same time they exemplified in themselves the benefits which civilization brought into every detail of daily life. If the "Pax Romana" had been a blessing in an earlier age, the "Pax Benedictina" brought with it even greater happiness, for now both supernatural and natural benefits were simultaneously put in reach of everyone alike."3

When it came to using modern means of communication virtually no one surpassed the Benedictine monks — I am speaking of those like Abbot Fredegise at Saint Martin’s Abbey (early 800s AD) who helped develop the Carolingian minuscule — a better form of writing. Before the monks put there hooded heads to task, Europe had many forms of scripts such as

ALLCAPITALLETTERSANDNOPUNCTUATION

After the work of Abbot Fredegise, Europe and its future had a form of writing with lower case letters, spaces between the words, and punctuation. These advancements led to easy reading and writing — and widespread learning — which helped build the new civilization.

During centuries of upheaval, barbarian invasions, and cultural collapse, perhaps the most under recognized achievement of the Benedictine monks was that they existed at all and were able to maintain monastic houses as islands above the worldly wash. Amid chaos, they were places of prayer, work, and reading. Those three Benedictine characteristics helped build the greatest civilization ever known.

By the 1500s the Benedictines had given the Church 24 popes, 200 cardinals, 7,000 archbishops, 15,000 bishops, 1,500 canonized saints, 20 emperors, 10 empresses, 47 kings, and 50 queens.

At its pinnacle, Benedictine Europe had 37,000 Benedictine monasteries. Many cities of today trace their origins to such monastic houses.

All these Benedictine accomplishments should be seen as secondary to the greater accomplishment of spreading the good news of life to a "chaotic and pagan Europe."4

St. Benedict — the first Benedictine — is also known for another accomplishment — compiling his famous Rule in about 530 AD. Other than the Bible, the Rule of St. Benedict has been called the most important book in the development of European civilization.

This Rule for monks, sisters and nuns guides many people seeking to dwell with God. That was the goal to which St. Benedict aspired. All else was secondary.

For St. Benedict who lived in a time of cultural chaos and wars, he was guided by a simple charge:

"prefer nothing to the love of Christ"

All the accomplishments flowed from that truth about the human condition. The Benedictines' accomplishments have earned them the right to be heard by anyone wanting to live in the "real world" — it is the one the Benedictines help build.

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Footnotes:

On July 5, 2010 I updated this blog by adding the Newman quote. It was too good to leave out.

Picture is Kylemore Abbey by Jule_Berlin and is used subject to license.

At Jule_Berlin's Flickr page there is the following description of this most beautiful abbey:

Kylemore Abbey (Irish: Mainistir na Coille Móire) is a Benedictine nunnery founded in 1920 on the grounds of Kylemore Castle, in Connemara, County Galway, Republic of Ireland. The abbey was founded when Benedictine Nuns fled Belgium in World War I.
Originally called Kylemore Castle, it was built between 1863 and 1868 as a private home for the family of Mitchell Henry, a wealthy politician from Manchester, England who was also MP for Galway County from 1871 to 1885. After the death of his wife Margaret in 1875, Mitchell did not spend much time there. He and his wife are both buried in the small mausoleum near the church in the grounds of the abbey. Notable features of the abbey are the neo-Gothic church (built between 1877 and 1881), a miniature replica of Norwich Cathedral, made from local green Connemara marble, and the Victorian walled garden.

The abbey houses a secondary girls' boarding school, Kylemore Abbey International Girls' School. The house and gardens are open to the public.

The name Kylemore originates from the Irish words Coill Mór – meaning Great Wood.

1. Woods, Jr. Thomas E. How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization. Grand Rapids: Regnery, Inc., 2005. P. 60.

2. Id. P. 29.

3. "The Benedictines" by Dom Bruno Hicks, (1878-1954)

4. Dom David Knowles, "The Benedictines," A Digest for Moderns, Second Edition, page 50 in chapter 6. Forward by Marion R. Bowman, O.S.B. Abbot of Saint Leo Abbey, The Abbey Press, Saint Leo, Florida, 1962
Online version (but this online version omits chapters 5 and 6, the last two chapters).

Overview of English Benedictines. A Benedictine oblate blog

Monastic Life is an overview English Benedictine communities. The short, well-organized 14-page PDF summary has a detailed drawing of a typical monastery, describes daily life, and has a good description of how monasteries affected and improved the life of the wider community. This resource is from Feltonfleet School in Cobham, Surrey, England.

From "Monastic Life"

"The Importance of Monasteries

"A monastery existed to serve God in a number of ways.

● To worship and praise God
● To help the poor, elderly and sick.
● To look after and help travellers
● To maintain learning and to educate people
● To feed and cloth the inhabitants of the monastery to ensure that they could carry out their duties.
● The Medieval monastery played an important part in relieving the suffering, poverty and ignorance that was prevalent in those days of war and hardship.
● The monks were experts on medicine and farming techniques.
● They offered shelter and hospitality to the poor.
● They were often the only hospital around.
● The monastery offered a certain number of places for teaching pupils the elements of reading, writing, and Latin. This was virtually the only source of education in the Middle Ages. There was many a baron who could not read or write.
● The monasteries set a rare example of hygiene and cleanliness. Rivers were tapped to provide a supply of fresh water.
● Since the monks were some of the very few who could read and write, they have provided us with invaluable information in the form of books, pamphlets and pictures.
● Monks also promised to look after elderly (rich) people in exchange for a gift of money or land. This was called a corrody. This was rather like a medieval insurance policy that was only of benefit to those who could afford it."

I liked finding "Monastic Life" on the Internet recently especially because the document is part of the educational resources available at Feltonfleet School in Cobham, Surrey, England. The Feltonfleet School is an independent day and weekly boarding Preparatory School for boys and girls aged 3-13 years. How about that!

I am sure there are other schools providing information about the Benedictines in Medieval times, but this was the first one I found that has the information on the Internet. Well done Feltonfleet School.

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Footnotes:

Picture is "The remains of the Abbey" (Shaftesbury Abbey) by Digging For Fire and is used subject to license.

From Wikipedia:

"Shaftesbury Abbey was an abbey that housed nuns in Shaftesbury, Dorset. Founded in the year 888, the abbey was the wealthiest Benedictine nunnery in England, a major pilgrimage site, and the town's central focus. The abbey was destroyed in 1539 by the order of Thomas Cromwell."

"Thomas Hardy wrote of the Abbey ruins:

"Vague imaginings of its castle, its three mints, its magnificent apsidal Abbey, the chief glory of south Wessex, its twelve churches, its shrines, chantries, hospitals, its gabled freestone mansions—all now ruthlessly swept away—throw the visitor, even against his will, into a pensive melancholy which the stimulating atmosphere and limitless landscape around him can scarcely dispel."

Note: the links to the file on the Feltonfleet School's web site did not work when I first posted this blog, here is a copy of Monastic Life.

Monastic deserts are uninhabited not uninhabitable. A Benedictine oblate blog

CityDesert — “Desert Spirituality for the City” — is a new-to-me blog that is well worth reading.

The “desert” homes of the early desert fathers may have been more like uninhabited remote areas that were actually fit for the support of life and not the completely barren wastelands that I sometimes pictured in my mind and wondered about.

The always helpful New Advent Encyclopedia has an insightful article on the “desert” or wilderness in the Old Testament. The article can also give a better idea of the term in later monastic writings.

From the first part of the New Advent article:

“The Hebrew words translated in the Douay Version of the Bible by "desert" or "wilderness", and usually rendered by the Vulgate desertum, "solitude", or occasionally eremus, have not the same shade of meaning as the English word desert. The word wilderness, which is more frequently used than desert of the region of the Exodus, more nearly approaches the meaning of the Hebrew, though not quite expressing it. When we speak of the desert our thoughts are naturally borne to such places as the Sahara, a great sandy waste, incapable of vegetation, impossible as a dwelling-place for men, and where no human being is found except when hurrying through as quickly as he can. No such ideas are attached to the Hebrew words for desert. Four words are chiefly used in Hebrew to express the idea.”

The article then continues to explain and give examples of the four Hebrew words.

“A place apart” is how I think of where the monastic fathers lived — the core concept is living in a place outside the scope of where others live. And to further narrow the distinctions, this is not like being barred from all other human contact.

The European Benedictine monks who are the spiritual grandsons of John Cassian(1) illustrate this idea of living apart, but not being cut off from the wider community.

Monasteries were often where towns grew up, where local roads and bridges were maintained, where large surrounding populations saw the monastery as a cultural and economic leader of the community, and where schools helped local neighbors.

The CityDesert blog proclaims that for contemporary Christians we can find desert spirituality in the city. Although mostly uninhabited today the desert city has a long history of being a good land, a land of milk and honey — where the most exquisite flowers grow.

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Footnotes:

(1) I wrote this blog about Cassian’s role in the development of Western monasticism from Eastern principles.

The Plan of St. Gall portrays a planned community hub rather than an isolation chamber. I blogged about the Plan of St. Gall at the end of this blog. See also the Plan of St. Gall itself and a section on the Horn & Born book about the Plan and monastic life during the Middle Ages.

Cistercian History Audio. A Benedictine oblate blog

The Benedictine nuns of Holy Trinity Monastery in England posted the audio of three talks, called their Trinity Lectures 2009. All three 40-minute talks are excellent, but if you listen to only one, you might like the talk on "The Cistercians" by James France.

“The Cistercians” audio gives the history of this successful reform monastic movements that developed in the late 1000s AD.

The Cistercian talk is packed with interesting information all along James France’s survey of Cistercian history and development. For example, I learned that the Chapter House/Room in Benedictine monasteries got its name because that is where the chapters of the Rule of the St. Benedict were read each day to the monks. France also has a good sense of dry English humor which made the talk one of my favorites.

Today, Cistercians come in two flavors of both monks and nuns:

“Cistercians of the Common Observance,” [O. Cist.] and perhaps the better known and more numerous:
"Cistercians of the Strict Observance," [O.C.S.O] who are also called the Trappists.

The other two excellent talks in the Trinity Lectures 2009 are:

Henrietta Leyser
"Christina of Markyate" and

Pauline Matarasso
"Wulfric of Haselbury"
Read by Sarah Newton for Pauline Matarasso.)

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Footnotes:

The picture is by Jule Berlin.

For many and for one. A Benedictine oblate blog

Saint Benedict founded the abbey of Monte Cassino in about 529 AD. At Monte Cassino St. Benedict wrote his famous Rule.

And after a little while what had been the 6th century became the 20th century.

In 1964 upon the rebuilding of Monte Cassino abbey after its destruction in WWII by bombing, Pope Paul VI proclaimed St. Benedict “patron of Europe.”(1)

Near the beginning of the 21st century, new Pope Benedict XVI explained that he chose the Benedict name in part because of his admiration of how St. Benedict influenced an entire continent — helping to create European civilization after the destruction of the Roman Empire.

In 2009 Pope Benedict XVI visited Monte Cassino Abbey and spoke about the Pope’s desire that Europe live by its “Christian principles and ideals that constitutes an immense cultural and spiritual wealth:”

“This is possible but only if one accepts the constant teaching of St Benedict, that is the "quaerere Deum", the quest for God, as man's fundamental commitment. Human beings cannot completely fulfil themselves, they cannot be truly happy without God. It is your task in particular, dear monks, to be living examples of this inner and profound relationship with him, implementing without compromise the programme that your Founder summed up in the "nihil amori Christi praeponere", "prefer nothing to the love of Christ" (Rule 4: 21).”

This also applies to my own life, I want to live by the ancient endowment (patrimony) of “Christian principles and ideals that constitutes an immense cultural and spiritual wealth.” And it is true that in my life, the greatest change in my manner of living came when I began following, as best as I could, the Benedictine way of organizing the day and praying the divine office.

A Rule that helped create an entire civilization certainly has had sufficient guidance for one oblate and my manner of daily living.

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Footnotes:

Picture is Reading by ThunderChild5.

(1) Women for Faith & Family is also the source of this quote:

"In 1964 Pope Paul VI proclaimed Benedict “patron of Europe”, because of his influence in the formation of Christendom in the Middle Ages. The Pope’s letter, Pacis Nuntius (Messenger of Peace), issued October 24, 1964 during the re-consecration of the rebuilt monastery of Monte Cassino. Pacis Nuntius declares:

“Messenger of peace, creator of unity, master of civilization and above all, herald of the religion of Christ and founder of monastic life in the West: these are the proper titles with which to acclaim St Benedict Abbott. On the fall of the Roman Empire, by then exhausted, Europe seemed to fall into darkness ... bereft of civilization and spiritual values”.

I cannot say that prior to becoming a Benedictine oblate I was in darkness, but between then and now, I can say that my world is closer to the source of the light. It is a new way of life, a new personal culture.

Keep a garden in your heart. A Benedictine oblate blog

Bok Tower Sanctuary, Florida, USA

[Click picture to enlarge]

St. Benedict’s monks were often in their monastic gardens and he mentions the monastery's garden in parts of the Rule as illustrating a monk’s daily life.

The word “garden” (Latin “hortus”) is mentioned three times in the Rule of St. Benedict.

In the first two instances, the Rule gives short lists of locations and then instructs monks on proper conduct while monks are engaged in work.

In chapter 7 on the twelve degrees of humility, the garden is included in the twelfth degree as one of the places a monk should have humility not only in his heart, but also in his very appearance. A monk should have his head bowed with his eyes toward the ground.

In chapter 46 on reporting mistakes to the abbot, the garden is listed among the places a monk might be working and is used to illustrate that a monk must not fail to report mistakes wherever he works.

In chapter 66 on porters and reading the Rule often there is also the practical and perhaps theological advice that necessary facilities: water, mill, garden and various workshops should be within the monastery enclosure.

The garden within the monastic enclosure was an essential part of the monastery because monks mostly ate vegetables. Within the monastery the garden was probably further enclosed within a separate fenced or walled enclosure.

Monasteries had a food garden and a medicinal garden. The food garden was what we would call the kitchen/spice garden. Monks grew onions, leeks, celery, coriander, dill, poppy, radishes, chard, garlic, shallot, parsley, chervil, lettuce, pepperwort, parsnip, cabbage, and fennel.

The heavier food crops of beans, carrots, lentils, and beets were grown in larger fields outside the monastery.

Although the kitchen garden was for food and its flavoring, the monks certainly appreciated God’s beauty in what they grew for their sustenance. I am actively and contemplatively trying to cultivate such a spirit within my own life. I want to be very aware of what is around me — what surrounds where I live and what sustains me.

The world may see monasticism as a restricted life, but that may be like saying learning how to read and write restricts a person’s natural ability to see letters and draw letters in complete freedom.

The Plan of St. Gall is a famous monastic blueprint from the early 800s AD.(1) The Plan contains the notation next to the garden, “Here the planted vegetables flourish in beauty.”

The Plan of St. Gall is a 30 inch x 44 inch (77 x 112 cm) sheet of calf-skin vellum on which is drawn a comprehensive plan for a monastery and all of its facilities. It never served as the plan for a complete monastery, but like a utopian model its principles did serve as the plan for monasteries for centuries. As an ideal vision of the perfect monastery which could be applied and adapted to the particular circumstances in each local, its genius is not unlike that found in the Rule of St. Benedict — the monastic rule that would be followed in monasteries using the St. Gall Plan.

The Plan of St. Gall is “the oldest surviving and most extraordinary visualization of a building complex produced in the Middle Ages. It contains ground plans for some forty buildings, ranging from a church, monastic school, abbot’s residence, and infirmary, to such [closely integrated] elements as a water mill, stables, and poultry houses.”(2)

The kitchen garden (food/spice garden) in the Plan of St. Gall is at the eastern end of the Plan and south of the protecting fruit trees planted in the cemetery. The Plan of St. Gall web site provides a detailed view of the plan and reveals the remarkably orderliness of the monastic mind. The placement of the two gardens, medicinal and food, shows how the gardens were part of a harmony of function within the monastic enclosure.

Monks are linked to their sources of nourishment and monks saw gardens as part of God’s cycle of beauty during the year. Silence, music, reading, the divine office, and lectio divina can each be a garden to our spirit. We do not grow our own food, but thanks to my dear wife, outside our home is a flower garden that feeds our souls in the same way.

I hope your prayers and work lead you to create a monastic garden in your life. Ora et labora (prayer and work) is an ancient blueprint for whatever you plant within your monastic soul.

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Footnotes:

(1) “The Plan of St. Gall has been preserved in the Monastic Library of St. Gall (Switzerland). Indeed, its presence there was singled out by UNESCO as a reason that the library, the repository of over 2000 late antique and medieval manuscripts, was designated a World Heritage site in 1983.” Source

(2) Plan of St. Gall at UCLA.

The first part of a book on the Plan of St. Gall is here with all of its navigation aids, but the single pages I found most interesting on gardens were the following (these pages are direct links without the navigation to go forward and back to other pages):

Vol II, page 203

Vol II, page 205

A visit by rather than to Monte Cassino. A Benedictine oblate blog

St. Scholastica
at Monte Cassino Abbey, Italy

[Click picture to enlarge]

A display case at St. Leo Abbey in Florida, USA, contains a small piece of block labeled “Monte Cassino.” The display case is in the main waiting area of the monastery and the piece of block is unique among the historical memorabilia that St. Leo Abbey has available to view.

I assume the piece of block was obtained after the USA’s WWII destruction of Monte Cassino — and I have been led to stop and remember the long history of all the Benedictines rebuilding monasteries all over Europe (and now the world) after invasions, fires, earthquakes, and government acquisitions. When you have been around since the dust was still in the air after the collapse of the Roman Empire, ora et labora (prayer and work) covers a lot of labora in 1,500 years.

Other than the name, Monte Cassino, the small irregular piece of block in the display case at St. Leo Abbey is not explained. Those familiar with history know the significance of this bit of rubble that is resting far from its origins and sacrifice, but I also know that many visitors who look into the display case do not know what they are looking at. They see, but do not understand. This always leads me to the frequent self-evaluation: I am the one who sees many pieces of art, sculptures, paintings, stained-glass windows, clothing, documents, artifacts, and carvings at St. Leo Abbey — and in the abbey’s Church of the Holy Cross — yet, I have no clue what many of them mean. And like that piece of Monte Cassino, I know those items have much to say — that is why someone thought they should be part of what we see when we visit the monastery — someone long ago thought I should know "just in case" so that everything is illuminated. I appreciate that. Being able to see with understanding is on my list!

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The picture is "Statuadi Santa Scolastica nel monastero di Montecassino," by Beatrix and is used subject to and may not be used except according to the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 license, which is gratefully acknowledged.

Chimes: Time’s Poetic Parallelism. A Benedictine oblate blog

The Bok Carillon (Bell) Tower, Florida, USA

The Big Ben chimes in our home mark every quarter hour (listen to the chimes software we use).

Hearing the chimes throughout the day turns my mind to see God’s call and opens my heart to hear His voice.

The progression of chimes through each hour creates a kind of time parallelism. This is similar to the way Hebrew parallelism in the Psalms organizes and structures ideas. Read the rest of this blog here.
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Footnotes:

The picture is Bok Tower copied from a post card. Bok Tower is in Florida, USA.   Bok Tower was built in 1929 as a sanctuary for the American people.  It is a favorite place we visit often.  This Bok Tower picture was suggested for this blog by my wonderful wife.  Thank you, good choice.

Respect for the Influence of Monasticism. A Benedictine oblate blog

Michael writes an interesting and substantive blog called “The Catholic” which is a “journal of [his] experience as a Catholic and a Benedictine oblate.” Michael is becoming an oblate novice tomorrow, March 21, 2009, on a feast day for St. Benedict. Congratulations Michael.

His comments on this blog are equally thoughtful. Recently I wrote a blog on the current society’s loss of its memory of monasticism.

In contrast to the state of the current culture, I quoted Dom Knowles in his 1929 book “The Benedictines” that in 1929, in England, “The past glories of monasticism are deeply imbedded in the historical consciousness of us all.”

In my blog, I bemoaned that before becoming an oblate, I had no historical consciousness of monasticism at all.

Michael’s comment was that “The author [Dom Knowles] writing in England in the 1920's was definitely writing from a place and time where things spiritual were still held in respect by much of society even if they didn't practice it themselves.”

Michael’s comment gave a good insight into another way in which monasticism was a part of the culture in the past: the effect of presence. In addition to any direct involvement of a monastery in the lives of its surrounding community, monasticism can also impart its presence to those who may not have any desire to know about or enter into the monastic spirit.

Monasticism can touch lives without any contact at all:

In 1309 "three busy officials of the King of England, Edward I.... had been sent to the last remaining fragments of the King's regions in France, and specifically to the island of Jersey, to enquire into the state of Royal property. [The officials heard about] two monks, by birth loyal to the King of France, by monastic vow attached to a Norman monastery and by chance of appointment abandoned on a remote outcrop of rock between Jersey and the Cherbourg peninsula. Their rock was truly tiny - at high tide little more than a break in the waves — but the King of England was nevertheless interested in who owned it, and, more particularly, in what its only two residents did. Their answer [provides a good insight into Benedictine life]:

'He who is called Prior and his companion ... dwelling in the chapel throughout the whole year maintain a light burning in that chapel so that the sailors crossing the sea by that light may avoid the peril of the reef ... where the greatest danger exists of being wrecked. These two always perform the divine office.'” From "The Benedictine Handbook," by Anthony Marett-Crosby, Editor.

Some people have direct control of the ship by their hand on the wheel. Others may offer their influence indirectly by tending a light.

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The picture is "Porthcawl Harbour Storm" by nick_russill

I missed finishing this blog last night when we lost the electricity for 2.5 hours. But I had some quiet time -- mostly by the light of a flashlight.

Loss of Monasticism Memory. A Benedictine oblate blog

I read a few paragraphs from the "The Benedictines,"(1) nearly every day. This small, seldom mentioned book, was originally published in 1929, eighty years ago. If we use 20 years as a cultural generation, we are about four generations past the generation of the book.

The reason I mention the passage of time is because of the following paragraph from "The Benedictines":

“The past glories of monasticism are deeply imbedded in the historical consciousness of us all. Who has not heard of Canterbury and Westminster, Bec and Cluny, Montserrat and Monte Cassino? Their very names have a beauty and associations which rival the names of myth and romance enshrined by Virgil and Milton.”

The answer to the question is: me!

Prior to becoming an oblate, the glories of monasticism were NOT deeply imbedded in my historical consciousness. I had heard of Canterbury and Westminster, but only in the context that they were places in England and without any thought that they were related to monasteries or monasticism.

More embarrasing is the fact that I had never heard of Bec, Cluny, or Montserrat.

In fact, Monte Cassino, is the only place I knew was a monastery, but I did not associate it with the common-knowledge glories of monasticism, but rather I knew it as the “Italian” monastery bombed to smithereens by the allies during World War II.

Although the "The Benedictines" was written in England and I live in the United States, the comment about what everyone knew in 1929 as part of the “historical consciousness of us all” and the knowledge of the glories of monasticism always strikes me as one of the many fascinating passages from the book because of what paragraph says about my own education and how much I had not known about monasticism until I visited St. Leo Abbey in Florida, USA in 2006.

What the rest of the world may know about the glories of Canterbury and Westminster, Bec and Cluny, Montserrat and Monte Cassino I do not know, but I think the author of the “The Benedictines" would find that the modern world has lost much of the memory of monasticism.

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Footnote:

(1) "The Benedictines," A Digest for Moderns
By Dom David Knowles
Monk of Downside Abbey, 1929


Here are previous blogs about "The Benedictines":

Friday, December 19, 2008
Demanding what’s lacking.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008
What oblates do.

Sunday, October 26, 2008
1,500 years together — Attachment and Detachment.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008
What’s So Special About Ordinary?

Sunday, August 17, 2008
A Jewel Paid Into the Church Treasury.

Sunday, March 23, 2008
Oblate Spring launched today.

Benedictines by the numbers. A Benedictine oblate blog

The third episode of EWTN’s Major Religious Orders of Men aired this week. Fr. Charles Connor, the excellent host of the new series, spoke on the Benedictines and will continue that focus in the fourth episode.

During the third episode, Fr. Connor gave the following summary of how the Benedictines had progressed from their beginning in about 530 AD with St. Benedict and the founding of Monte Cassino abbey about 70 miles southeast of Rome.

Here is the Benedictine Order, by the numbers, at the start of the 1300s (14th century):

The Benedictines had 37,000 monasteries in Europe. (And the population of Europe was about 25% of what it is today.)

The Benedictines had monasteries in virtually every area of Europe including Iceland and Benedictine monks had missionary outreaches to Greenland and its Eskimos.

And in the history of the Benedictine order to the beginning of the 1300s, the Benedictines had given the Church and Europe:

24 Popes
200 Cardinals
7,000 Archbishops
15,000 Bishops
1,500 canonized saints
20 emperors
10 empresses
47 Kings
50 Queens

One of the most surprising effects I have experienced after becoming a Benedictine oblate is a very different view of Europe and its history before 1500 AD.

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The picture in this blog is by Moguntiner

Monks by FedEx. A Benedictine oblate blog

In the EWTN series “The Major Religious Orders of Men” (my past blog), the host Fr. Charles Connor, Ph.D., said that Eastern monasticism came to Ireland perhaps before 400 AD.

Fr. Connor did not have extensive time to explain, but mentioned that it is believed this long-distance transplanting of the austere Eastern monastic traditions to Ireland occurred by trade and commerce.

Huh? Just how does that happen?

Did the Irish say in 400 AD: "We need to adopt a severe form of bodily deprivation — let's go online and order ourselves a desert monk from Egypt. Maybe we will get free shipping if we order three."?

Or maybe a ship captain from Egypt just yelled from his boat in an Irish harbor: "Hey Irish, have you heard of the new trend sweeping the East? In Egypt and Asia Minor some Christians live in the desert in extreme asceticism, fasting, depriving themselves of sleep, enduring heat and cold with little protection — they flee the world and live in seclusion, it's very popular."

Well apparently it was not just by word of mouth. Irish monks were taught Greek (the language of the East) by Greek-speaking monks at a time when knowledge of Greek had virtually disappeared from mainland Europe.

In fact, monks in Ireland not only developed a monasticism inspired by the distant East, but the Irish also acquired ancient texts which they began copying — becoming a crucial link in the preservation of many ancient Greco-Roman documents. They must have gotten them from Cappadocia public library by Inter-library loan.(1)

By the 500s AD Irish monasteries were the most important centers of learning in Europe.

By the 600s AD the Irish monks living an Eastern monastic tradition were evangelizing mainland Europe.

"And when Charlemagne reigned (771-814 AD), Irishmen were at his court, "men incomparably skilled in human learning"." (2)

God's track record of spreading the Gospel by sending St. Paul all over the ancient world in several long missionary journeys is well known. But God's means by which austere Eastern monasticism was delivered to far away little Ireland for spreading the Gospel in Europe shows that God runs the tightest ship in the shipping business.

Eastern monks to Ireland? No problem, they will be there by 10:00 AM.
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Footnote

(1) Cappadocia is a part of modern Turkey and also had a strong Eastern monasticism tradition. New Advent has an excellent overview of Eastern monasticism.

(2) Quote on Charlemagne court from New Advent article on Ireland.

Is a new oblate an old Christian? A Benedictine oblate blog

Support Structure for Sky Ride

Busch Gardens

I like to think about the most basic elements of the monastic life. Where and how and why does the monastic life diverge from the full Christian life lived by “regular” people?

What are the spiritual, liturgical, and organizational elements that create the monastic life — and are those even the correct elements?

Equally interesting to me as an oblate is the question about how some people — those with an interest — come closer to the monastic way of life while still living in the world?

As a former evangelical Protestant, I came to the Catholic Church after a full season of life and without any prior understanding of the Church’s beauty and ancient truth.

The Catholic Church’s monastic traditions are new to me — and they appear vivid and sudden as someone walking out of a desert mirage.

The basic supporting elements and characteristics of monastic strength that came through the earliest Eastern desert Fathers are matters I think about often.

St. Benedict understood how the Eastern monastic life could be lived in the West. St. Benedict’s Rule for monks living in monasteries under the leadership of an abbot helped preserve learning and then create European civilization. I hear people say that monasteries may fill that role again.

I am interested in the societal contributions of monastic life, for example, virtually every ancient manuscript that survived to 700 AD is still available today thanks in large part to the monasteries.

But I am more interested in how a monastic-type of spirituality can be fully embraced by oblates in 2009. I think we can because at the source of the monastic way is a form of Christian life that was lived by many Christians in the 250 years before the first monks and hermits appeared in the desert.(1)
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Footnote:

(1) The end of this recent blog on an EWTN Monastic TV series touches very briefly on this thought.

EWTN Monastic Series. A Benedictine oblate blog

St. Anthony

Thanks to a friend’s reminder, I wanted to make sure you know about the “Major Religious Orders of Men” a new EWTN series by Father Charles Connor.

The first episode was on the history of early Eastern Monasticism, it aired this week.

The next times for the show on the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) are:

US Eastern Time on EWTN:

Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009 at 11:30 pm
Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2009 at 11:30 pm
Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009 at 4:00 am
Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009 at 11:30 pm
Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2009 at 4:00 am

For anyone who saw the first episode, did you like it?

The second episode will be a continuation of the history of monasticism in the East and its effect on the development of monasticism in the West.

I liked the first episode. The show gave a fine introduction to the history of monasticism. The show’s content was similar to the material in RB 1980 on the history of monasticism in the East, which helped confirm my appreciation for the RB 1980 book as a first reference book (see previous blog) for Benedictine oblates. Father Charles Connor is a historian and the first episode contained several interesting insights.

I liked Father Connor’s statements about the ascetic and consecrated life being a part of the Church from the first century. Connor said that what was new at the beginning of the fourth century was not the monastic life, but the adaptation of the monastic life to the world in which the Christians were then living when the persecutions ended (from about 305 to 313 AD). The monks and hermits were trying to preserve intact the ideal of the Christian life as it had been lived from the very beginning.

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References:

EWTN
home page.

St. Anthony the Great -- "Founder" of Eastern monasticism

Nothing’s new except seeking the old. A Benedictine oblate blog

I try to read a few pages in a monastic book each day, but I neglect this practice more often than I enjoy it.

After the morning office a few days ago I got my current monastic book(1) and opened it to where I stopped reading, but I got called away and it was not until late at night that I saw the book again, still there, opened and unread.

Happily, yesterday and today I was able to read several pages. The book is now summarizing the role of monasticism and particular monks in the Carolingian renaissance (about 790 AD to about 900 AD). That renaissance was brought about by Charlemagne’s efforts to bring order to the West.

Charlemagne “attacked disorder in every domain: doctrine, morality, worship, and monastic observance.”

In terms of the liturgy, Charlemagne wanted to restore the older liturgical practices and to accomplish that, “it was thought closer contact with Roman liturgy had to be renewed.” And to bring about such renewal, Charlemagne encouraged the study and learning of Latin. It was thought that if priests did not know Latin, they could not properly understand the “Sacred Scriptures.”

Monks served as major teachers of these renewing activities. Their works led to more learning, reading, and the spread of Latin.

The desire for renewal by the use of Latin in the liturgy is a discussion topic today (both pro and con) as a result of Pope Benedict XVI’s actions, but the 21st century is the not the first time a similar work has been started, it also happened in the 800s AD during the Carolingian renaissance and was moved ahead by monks who also took the Benedictine name.

These early works by Benedictine monks further solidified the monastic tradition in the West on its three pillars: sacred reading, liturgy, and work.

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Footnote:

The Love of Learning and The Desire for God: A Study of Monastic Culture, by Jean Leclercq

Vatican on Monasticism. A Benedictine oblate blog

The Oblate Spring web site is the companion to this blog. Today I revised the page containing links to "Vatican Documents on Monasticism." Some of the Vatican's statements have been extracted and added as quotes below the links.

A summary of the documents linked on the "Vatican Documents on Monasticism" page might be the following from Pope John Paul II in 1996:

"In the heart of the Church and the world, monasteries have been and continue to be eloquent signs of communion, welcoming abodes for those seeking God and the things of the spirit, schools of faith and true places of study, dialogue and culture for the building up of the life of the Church and of the earthly city itself, in expectation of the heavenly city."

I especially think the following from Pope John Paul II in 1995 helped me understand the total call of being part of the faithful baptized. What is sometimes thought of as being “monastic” can also be sought by all:

"Moreover, in the East, monasticism was not seen merely as a separate condition, proper to a precise category of Christians, but rather as a reference point for all the baptized, according to the gifts offered to each by the Lord; it was presented as a symbolic synthesis of Christianity.”

End of the Year. A Benedictine oblate blog

The month of November is devoted to remembrance of the dead. Or in a larger view, to remembering those saints and people who have completed life on earth. This makes sense because November also completes the liturgical year.

This year, it is on November 30 that we start anew with Advent leading to the birth of Jesus.

I use the book Benedictine Daily Prayer (BDP) to pray the divine office and on November 26 the book has its last saint of the liturgical year to be honored. He is St. Silvester Gozzolini (“Born at Osimo, Italy, 1177; died at Monte Fano, 1267").

St. Silvester Gozzolini founded “the Silvestrine Benedictines, known as the Blue Benedictines from the color of their habit.” They followed a stricter interpretation of the Rule of St. Benedict. The small Silvestrine congregation still exists today after over 750 years and they have monasteries located on several continents, including at least two Silvestrine monasteries in the USA.

I was particularly drawn to the story of St. Silvester Gozzolini because, like St. Gregory, he was another active contemplative.

Early in St. Silvester’s adult life he became a “canon of the Cathedral (canons were the priests who assisted the bishop in running his diocese; their parish was the Cathedral church).” But he also longed to fulfill another dream — that of a contemplative.

Although it was St. Silvester’s desire to enter the solitary contemplative life, he continued in his duties at the diocese until his objection to the immoral life of the bishop caused the bishop to threaten Silvester’s removal. At about the same time, St. Silvester saw “firsthand the decaying corpse of a local nobleman who had been renowned for his physical beauty.”

St. Silvester left the diocese and went to live near the ocean in seclusion. However, disciples began to seek his guidance. That led to the formation of a group which later became a monastery and the Silvestrine congregation of Benedictine monks. Over his long life (he entered the heavenly realms at age 90) he founded 11 monasteries.

St. Silvester Gozzolini is another example of how the contemplative and active life are not in conflict.

BDP has this fitting final prayer to honor St. Silvester Gozzolini as the last saint in November, as we honor all who have gone on, and as we near the end of the liturgical year:

“Lord our God, you inspired blessed Silvester, your abbot, with the desire for monastic solitude and zeal for the active ministry. May we seek you always with true sincerity of heart and through our service in humility hasten toward our eternal home. This we ask of you.”


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Sources:

St. Silvester at St. Patrick Catholic Church

The picture is of a flying raven from IHeartVector Thank you!



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Seclusion is seclusion, right? A Benedictine oblate blog

The video shows the ancient practices of Benedictine monks. From the video, some people may think that these secluded Benedictine monks have little influence on the “real” world going on outside. But like many things Benedictine, there is often another truth working — even in that seclusion — as this recent quote from Father Benedict Groeschel shows:

“The Benedictines go back to be beginning of the Dark Ages. They have a beautiful, beautiful tradition.

“St. Benedict who was a Roman nobleman started this in the midst of the chaos of the barbarian invasions; and he started monasteries: Subiaco, Monte Cassino.

“Ferdinand Lot in a great historical study of the end of the Roman Empire and the beginning of the Dark Ages said the monasteries of the Benedictine Order shown like islands of light in a sea of darkness. The only place that a sensitive and intelligent person could go.

“It is recognized by all that the monks and nuns of the Benedictine Order and in the East of the Eastern Studite Order — they preserved not only religion, but culture for the whole world. And God knows the way we are going right now, we may need it again.”(1)

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Footnote

(1) The entire quote is from Father Benedict Groeschel on “Sunday Night Live with Father Benedict Groeschel, on EWTN Television, Sunday, October 26, 2008.

In the episode Father Benedict Groeschel had a conversation with Prioress, Mother Dolores Hart, O.S.B., (Her story) of the Abbey of Regina Laudis. (Queen of Praise) Dolores Hart was a well-known actress of stage and film who became a nun. Her Internet Movie Database information is at IMDb.

Through a glass clearly. A Benedictine oblate blog

I found the Byzantine Anglo-Catholic Blog recently.

The subheading of the Byzantine Anglo-Catholic Blog is “The interplay between Benedictine spirituality, high-church Anglicanism, and the hesychast tradition of Eastern Orthodoxy.”1

The author of the BAC blog listed the following parts Eastern Christian spirituality that have affected him the most, and he adds, at least up until now:

“— Theosis--theosis is the process of achieving union with God. It is a slow and gradual process and continues after death. It is done through prayer, reception of the sacraments, and participation in the life of the church. It is what Christianity is basically all about.

— The Jesus prayer--this is the underpinning of the Eastern Christian contemplative tradition, also referred to as hesychasm.1

— Icons--icons are not just pretty or inspiring pictures, but ways of connecting with God, Jesus, Mary, and the saints.

— Bells and smells--It's ok for the liturgy to be something of great aesthetic beauty, even if the aesthetic is very traditional. Arguably, worship of this sort is more conducive to contemplative prayer than even a well-done folk mass.

— Eschatology--God created the universe out of love, and he eventually wants to unite with it--but in a non-pantheistic way, let me stress. In the world to come, we will not only have resurrected physical bodies, but we will also live in a resurrected physical cosmos. This has obvious implications for how we treat each other, animals, and the environment in this life.”

I think I should know more about Eastern Orthodoxy, in part due to my interest in church unity, but mainly because of the East's contribution to monasticism in the West. I want to fully grasp the deep spirituality of the Catholic church. A place to begin looking through the glass clearly.

[See footnote 2 regarding the picture at the beginning of this blog.]

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Footnotes:

1. “The Greek word "hesychia" signifies peace, repose. The hesychast monks, besides various other spiritual exercises, uninterruptedly practiced the Jesus Prayer, that is, they continually repeated the words: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." Such praying not infrequently was accompanied by special bodily techniques, for example, by prostrations, by a bent over posture of the body while sitting, by rhythmical breathing.”

“Monks who had long practiced such prayer attained a lofty state of spirit, perceived the manifest grace-filled presence of God in their hearts and in a radical manner eliminated from their consciousness not only sinful, but all involuntary notions and feelings; they were wholly absorbed in contemplating God. The hesychast monks who were successful in this prayer not infrequently received gifts of prophetical clairvoyance, and they promoted the enlightenment of the people surrounding them and of those who resorted to their spiritual help. In a word, the influence of these monks, who lived mainly on Athos, [the spiritual center of Eastern Orthodoxy] was very powerful during the epoch of Gregory Palamas.”

Footnote 1 source

2. “The Wonderworking KURSK ROOT ICON of Our Mother of God of "The SIGN"

The picture at the first of this blog is from the Korennaya (Kursk Root) Hermitage in Kurst, Russia.

“In the 13th century, during the dreadful period of the Tartar invasion of Russia, the devastated province of Kursk was emptied of people and its principal city, Kursk, became a wilderness. Now, the residents of the city of Rylsk, which had been preserved from invasion, often journeyed to the site of Kursk to hunt wild beasts. One of the hunters, going along the bank of the river Skal, which-was not very far from ruined Kursk, noticed an icon lying face down on the ground next to the root of a tree. The hunter picked it up and found that it was an icon of the Sign, such as was enshrined and venerated in the city of Novgorod. At this time, the icon's first miracle was worked, for no sooner had the hunter picked up the sacred image than there immediately gushed forth with great force an abundant spring of pure water. This took place on September 8th in the year 1295.”

.... skipping ahead in the long long of the Kursk area and the Hermitage ...


“At the Battle of Kursk in 1943, Korennaya was an important head quarters of the Russian Army. There is a large WWII Memorial Museum located next to the Kursk Root Hermitage on land that used to be part of the monastery. It was used for the Generals underground bunkers. The Battle of Kursk is history's largest tank battle. The German army was defeated and their strategic initiative was lost forever. Shortly thereafter, the German South Army Group surrendered at Stalingrad. These defeats resulted in an eventual German retreat from Russia which was then closely pursued by the Red Army. The Red Army moved into Germany and captured Berlin on May 9, 1945. The Russian Military suffered an estimated 13,600,000 deaths in expelling the German invaders. ...

“Most all of the Hermitage buildings were neglected for 70+ years during the communist regime. Many repairs still need to be completed. A large building located straight across from the Main Monastery court yard is a solid building but is waiting for funds. During the soviet control of the Korennaya Hermitage, they tried to cover the Kursk Root Spring by filling the whole area with a cement cap but the Holy Spring Water would always find a way to escape and continue it's Holy Tradition since 1295. The communists also put guard dogs by the Holy Spring to keep all the people from using any of the Holy Spring Water and any of the monastery.”

Footnote 2 source