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Today, July 11, we celebrate the feast of St. Benedict, patron saint of Europe, founder of the Benedictine order and guardian for many centuries of our hermitage of San Michele alle Grottelle.
The figure of San Benedetto, in fact, appears in the third cycle of frescoes that we find in the second cave of the rock sanctuary. Starting from the left, the martyr Saint Catherine of Alexandria is depicted with a cycle of scenes from her life.
Of this third cycle the figure of San Benedetto remains intact, and a Madonna and Child carried by Angels, round in shape, which suggests a profound link with the oriental ones of Greek origin. Among the fragments of frescoes it is possible to identify the figure of a saint with a starry sky in the background and with parts of a crucifix.
The teaching of St. Benedict, born in Norcia around 480 AD. C., is one of the most powerful levers, after the decline of Roman civilization, for the birth of European culture. It is the premise for the diffusion of centers of prayer and hospitality.
For San Gregorio it is “a bright star” in an era marked by a serious crisis of values. Many miracles have been attributed to St. Benedict, but the most enduring miracle of the father of the Benedictine order is the composition of the Rule, written around 530 AD. It is a manual, a prayer code for monastic life. The style, from the very first words, is familiar: Benedict exhorts the monks to tend “the ear of the heart”, to “never despair of God’s mercy”: “Listen, O son, to the teachings of the master, and tend ‘ear of your heart; welcome the advice of a father who loves you in order to return with the effort of obedience to the One from whom you had distanced yourself through the sloth of disobedience”.
Prayer and work
“Idleness – writes St. Benedict in the Rule – is the enemy of the soul; this is why the brothers must, in certain hours, devote themselves to manual work, in others instead, to reading the books containing the word of God”. Prayer and work are not in opposition but establish a symbiotic relationship. Without prayer, an encounter with God is not possible. But monastic life, defined by Benedict as “a school of the Lord’s service”, cannot do without concrete commitment. Work is an extension of prayer. “The Lord – St. Benedict reminds us – expects us to respond every day with deeds to his holy teachings”.
