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Cassino (Agenzia Fides) – After the Mass and the Regina Caeli in Piazza Miranda in Cassino, the Holy Father Benedict traveled to the Abbey of Montecassino. In the afternoon, the Holy Father met with the monastic community and greeted several of his trip's organizers. He later traveled to the Basilica for the celebration of Vespers, attended by the Abbots and Communities of Benedictine Monks and Nuns.
“To live no longer for themselves but for Christ: this is what gives full meaning to the lives of those that let themselves be conquered by him. The human and spiritual journey of St. Benedict attests to this clearly, he who, leaving all things behind, dedicated himself to the faithful following of Jesus. Embodying in his own life the reality of the Gospel, he has become the founder of a vast movement of spiritual and cultural renaissance in the West,” the Pope said in the homily. Recalling this extraordinary event of the “mystical experience” of Benedict, referred to by biographer Saint Gregory the Great, which occurred on the night of October 29, 540, the Pope said: “Of course, similar to what happened to Paul after his heavenly rapture, St. Benedict, following this extraordinary spiritual experience, also found it necessary to start a new life. If the vision was transient, the effects were lasting, his very character -- the biographers say -- was changed, his appearance always remained calm and his behavior angelic, and even while he was living on earth, he understood that in his heart he was already in heaven.” This divine gift was granted him because “the charism with which God had endowed him had the ability to reproduce in the monastery the very life of heaven and reestablish the harmony of creation through contemplation and work.”
Continuing on with his homily, the Pontiff mentioned how “Benedict was a shining example of holiness and pointed the monks to Christ as their only great ideal; he was a master of civility, who proposed a balanced and adequate vision of the demands of God and of the final ends of man; he also always kept well in mind the needs and the reasons of the heart, in order to teach and inspire a genuine and constant brotherhood, so that in the complexity of social relationships the unity of spirit capable of always building and maintaining peace was never lost sight of.” The Pope then recalled how the word “Pax” is what greets pilgrims and visitors on the door of this Abbey, which “stands as a silent reminder to reject all forms of violence in order to build peace: in families, within communities, between peoples and all of humanity.”
Under the guidance of Benedict, the monasteries became “centers of fervent dialogue, encounter and beneficial union of diverse peoples, unified by the evangelical culture of peace. The monks have known how to teach by word and example the art of peace, implementing in a concrete way the three 'ties' that Benedict identifies as necessary to maintain the unity of the Spirit among men: the cross, which is the very law of Christ, the book which is culture, and the plow, which indicates work, the lordship over matter and time,” the Pope said.
The Pope recalled that through the activities of the monasteries, “populations of Europe have experienced a genuine redemption and a beneficial moral, spiritual and cultural development, learning in the spirit of continuity with the past, of concrete action for the common good, and of openness to God and the transcendent aspect of the world.” He then asked for prayers that Europe may “always exploit this wealth of principles and Christian ideals, which constitutes an immense cultural and spiritual wealth” and this is possible “only if the constant teaching of St. Benedict is embraced, the 'quaerere Deum,' to seek God, as the fundamental commitment of man. Human beings cannot achieve full self-realization or ever be truly happy without God. It is your special responsibility, dear monks, to be living examples of this interior and profound relationship with him, implementing without compromise the program that your founder summarized in the 'nihil amori Christi praeponere' [put nothing before the love of Christ.] (Rule 4.21). In this holiness consists, a valid proposal for every Christian, more than ever in our time, in which the need to anchor life and history to solid spiritual principles is felt. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, your vocation is as timely as ever, and your mission as monks is indispensable.”
After the celebration of Vespers, the Pope venerated the relics of Saint Benedict and Saint Scholastica, inside the main altar of the Basilica, and he then traveled by car to the nearby Polish Military Seminary, where he lighted a candle and said a prayer for those from all over the world who have fallen in battle. He then left by helicopter, to return to the Vatican. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 25/5/2009)
