Where it Began. St. Benedict's Impact from Subiaco, Italy - EWTN Vaticano Special

[Music] [Music] this week on vaticano we discover some of the treasures housed in the Monastery of Saint Benedict of Nursia in Subiaco Italy and we visit the holy grotto where the Saint remained for three years dedicating his life completely to prayer also a Benedictine monk tells us what makes up the holy rule of Saint Benedict and how it works and close we'll introduce you to one of the main devotees of the saint of mushiya all this and much more now on vaticano [Music] about 40 miles from Rome in the upper part of the valley of the river an en is the city of Subiaco known as the land of monasteries this area has long been a destination for tourists has shown by the remains of the imperial villa built by the Emperor Nero [Music] and it is precisely on this spot on the remains of Nero's Villa where in the sixth century AD Benedict of Nursia built the first of 12 monasteries that he eventually founded all throughout the valley st. Benedict initially dedicated the monastery to saint sylvester but in the 14th century they changed its name and dedicated it to st. Scholastica it is today out of the original 12 monasteries the only ones still standing a little bit more than a mile from Subiaco surrounded by an oak tree forest is the path of the monasteries which leads to the monastery of st. Scholastica follow the path all the way up to the top of the mountain and you will find the monastery of st. Benedict built in the 12th century over the sacred cave where the saint lived as a hermit for three years any visitor to this monastery which clings to an imposing piece of rock and overlooks a ravine is in for an authentic mystical experience when pope pius ii visited it in 1461 he described it as a swallows nest [Music] both monasteries are part of one reality nowadays the Benedictine monks of Subiaco number 20 11 of whom are priests and nine are not Don Mauricio is one of the priests and he will be our guide in a journey that will take us to the heart of the Benedictine spirit but before we begin Don Mauricio will explain to us who Saint Benedict of Nursia was and how he arrived to this place son Benedict Bernie nortre he belongs to the very important family Anita was the name of his father his father was a perfect for the old Roman Empire so the young grow with the Christianity and he has been sanded in Rome to undertake or university Benedict burn in the years 480 it's a problem because Roman Empire collapse so imagine the life go on in Rome but it's very critical so Benedict understand that if it would stay in Rome he will lose his fate so he forget Rome he forget his family and alone he arrived in this valley the valley when Benedict arrived here it was a desert valley only a group of monks live in the top of the hill and then it it asked them to be introduced it to the aromatic life so the monks Romana was his name it gave him the possibility to stand in the cave that we will visit in a couple of minutes in the monastic complex of the sacred cave also known as the holy grotto there are two churches one on top of the other and many chapels and caves covered in frescoes dating from the different artistic periods will start from the highest part of the monastery which is also the most recent and here we are in the upper Church the space is divided into two series of arches or sections what is special about this temple is the irregularity you can clearly notice between the artistic and architectural styles of which is composed hence the extraordinary richness of this church not only from an aesthetic point of view but also from a categorical one this Chapel you know this is a Gothic church so gothic means 14th century but you have some rest of the thirteenth century is a Romanesque Church so it meanings to church has been building inside the others and the frescoes here belongs to the 14th century this is a school of siena very famous painter also work here the most important figure of this fresco is Jesus Christ crucified which has been depicted with a helpful devotion and a good knowledge of the truth an example if you can see all Lord is dead the two teeth are in life so oh can I see is there look the color of his skin and that is a good knowledge of the truth the good teeth and the bad teeth the good teeth is comforted by an angel can you see there there is a yes that's the soul of the good teeth who go to paradise on the other side the bad teeth the angel escaped from him and there is a devil who snatch out of his mouth his sound okay but not the cross you can have Mary Magdalene or Lady Mary she collapse and she fall to the arms of the other woman's and near the soldier the castle of the Christ Gambon's but as you know Christ is risen so now we go see the three Mary who goes to the empty Sepulcher and they find the angel who give them the news this or catechism because in the medieval time people they were an alphabet that's why the church helped them to paint on the wall Bibi our power our own the Bible of the poor because you can read with the eyes because the preacher using to go to this pyramid by the takla lighting so not all of them can understand Latin that's why through the images you have you curtisha's if we go in a bit further into the church we get to a second series of arches in this area the frescoes depicting the most important moments in the life of st. Benedict the two most important fresco are those one you can see in one side this little devil this in the medieval time representing the temptation in that case is the laziness that they will take off the monk of this duty he was praying and during the parade the devil the temptation take him off from the church and the brothers give the news to st. Benedict and Sam Benedict with one and he bless him and with the other hand he correct him on the Otto's frescoes you can see Sam Benedict the most important things about Bernadette he introduced a new category in the monastic life the work in England we say Ora et labora work and pray in the same time but in the beginning not all the monks accept those things full of envy they were jealously about the holiness of Saint Benedict they hate him so what they'd done they put poison in these calyx Benedict he doesn't know that is poison so what he done during the dinner he as the table and his benediction broke there malediction I mean his blessing shatters the calyx into pieces and stick around after the break we'll be back with more on this special episode of vaticano [Music] the next step in our journey leads us to the lower church to get to it you need to walk down a staircase located to the right of the transept in the upper Church we are now in the lower Church so the shrine has been building from down to up and there are two churches lower church and our church the most important fresco they are Byzantine style beginning of the 13th century their four evangelists but the difference between 13 and 16 here they are no prospective and here the body is together with a symbol you can see the body is a human the wings represent the ordinance and the symbolize is together with the body Sam Matthew is the angel or Lord is symbolized with the land holy Lamb here on you upstairs right side you can have say Luke is a bull and here mark [Music] you solve before Frisco for the beginning of the 13th century these frescoes are half of the 13th century so between this fresco and the other fresco there are 1517 years difference so you can see straight away the colors look for example the characters the wings of these characters all Lords here is not representing anymore as a lamb is a crease punk-rock ratico the pilgrims supposed to come here pray in the cave by knees down these stairs and when they arrived here they received the benediction of all Lords and then through the benediction they could pray easy to the cave then they use it to go to the upper Church and receive the mass that was the pilgrimage of the medieval time in the lower Church there are three distinct areas and the holy steps on both sides of these steps a series of frescoes walk the pilgrim all the way down and remind him of an objective reality in his life death that's all his tears as I told you in the beginning in the medieval time pilgrims arrived only for pray in the shrine so by knees they go to the cave and then they go to the Opera and they received the mess okay all these tears they paint a very strange frescoes the title of this fresco is the three roof of the Dead so you can see at the Dead arrived fast so fast in that time meaning horse she has two weapons those people are dead those people are dying but look those people they are talking their shoes mantle the oak let me say hi society of the 13th 14th century banette the holes you can have the low society the pilgrims as I told you they were poor so you can see the old look the way they were and they are ready to died so what happened the death doesn't care about them and they ask you see they talk this style in Italian we call Fumito if I translate from a tome in cartoon so why do you kill young and rich people we are all then poor take me let in please the other did that answer I prefer to take those people they are not afraid from me this fresco goes to the other side of the wall on the other side you have the preacher he's still talking to the young and rich people and especially talk to those people you know and he tell him look oh you are today you are beautiful you are rich you are very important but remember that one day you will be like that so that's the three stages of the dead so what's the message of this frescoes it was painting 700 years ago but today still not in change because they all see there is only one reality in the world I mean for work for Christian see also the resurrection right but not all of people in the world believe to the resurrection but all the people in the world have to believe to the dead so no matter who you are young old witch who remember the one day [Music] once we get to the second series of arches it's the beating hearts of the monastery st. Benedict's cave also known as the cave of Prayer this the place what we call Sakura speaker wali came because Baga did leave three years in the deep pray and meditation in the beginning he was alone because eremitic means desert means alone but you know many people know him and they bring him food and his knowledge was so high that people for example Shepherd they using to come inside the cave to get take some fresh in the summertime they also bring him some food and bannard it he thanks them he had noted to give him back and he tell them about Christ he educated the shepherds and the Sherpas they were so happy that always they cross this mountain they came to talk and pray with Benedict and so the Sherpas give the news to the nearby towns and many people arrived here and in the end in the hand of the three years that's a time bandit extended escape he understood that many people had to be educated that's why I write the rule this start is very important because has been made by a great artist the name was Antonio Raji and let me say it was a great disciple of Bernini don't let me say this is a Bernini style Benedict is representing very young he has a silver feet because you know during the permanent benefit here till today imagine millions and millions pilgrims arrived here to pray by knees that why they consume silver the rock you know yeah so many thing representing with harm crossing in his breast adoration adoration the cross and the basket is a symbol of people who bring in food before we end our journey on Maui geo leads us to the third area of the lower Church from here by way of a spiral staircase you gain access to sink Gregory's chapel where treasure of great historical importance is kept the most important for schools here is the portrait of San Franciso facility so Frances offices here reveal in the years 1223 to pray in the cave as you know Francis will receive the stigmata in the years 24 and he died 26 so when he arrived here he didn't have the stigmata so what happened that the abbot of that time is so Francis and he says to the monk it was a Cronus right in the chronic that Francis arrived here and he called a painter from Subiaco to make him the portrait and the fresco you can see inside a protecting glass and a camera watching 24 hours because it's very important in the world is only one time a fresco representing Francis in life so in these frescoes you can see another kind of Francis frescoes he doesn't have the stigmata he doesn't have the yellow and on his hand is a World parks week doubly piece in this place he came here to pray in the cave so it was important Francis because we talk about the Francis three years before he died everybody knows even in Europe about Saint Francis so always he goes somewhere people know him straight away and they want to touch him or to talk him and their body recognizes him he says straight away to the monks right on the chronics to remember the other people that we receive Francis in this monastery oh that's why I call also the painter because this is only important I've been painting in life in this fresco Cardinals Pope's but Francis it was Cardinal it wasn't Pope's he was Francis the fact of coming across a fresco or see Francis in the first Benedictine monastery is certainly not by chance the lighter had a great devotion to st. Benedict his padre ignacio a spanish monk who has been living inside the walls of this monastery for 40 years reminds us san francisco a Benoit key st. Francis came here two years before he died he spent some time in this monastery and as a result part of the Franciscan rule was adopted by the Benedictines many Franciscans and many branches of the Franciscan Order actually come here to worship and see this fresco yeah stick around after the break we'll be back with more lucky cannibal [Music] st. Benedict of Nursia is considered the great patriarch of monastic life and west originally he had intended to retire to a life of prayer silence and poverty and never thought of founding mortar but over the course of the years God asked him for more and he founded the Benedictine Order l la ruta en la gruta said ad Cara a la oración no in the cave Benedict was focusing on his prayers but in that area there were also some Shepherds and actually there's another cave under this cave and we call it the Shepherd's cave they saw that something or somebody went out of the cave where the saint lived at first st. Gregory says the Shepherd's mistook him for an animal and they saw that he was a hermit and started calling him all day they started joining him to listen to him and then rich people also joined them and these letters started bringing their kids with that lethea among them we can find his first two disciples Saint Mary's and st. platters Caritas pre-made or Disney pure freedom shall model assemblee Thea thanks to the foundation of this order the saint from Lucia made it possible for European civilization and culture to rise again from the ruins of the Roman Empire and it was precisely for this reason that Pope Paul the sixth proclaimed him the patron saint of all Europe her father Ignacio of the essence of the Benedictine spirit is rooted in the holy rule written by the saint himself it is a text from the fifth century AD and well the times have drastically changed this collection of rules is still valid with his rule the saint of Nursia organized monastic life around three pillars communal prayer personal prayer and meditation and work a collection of rules which gives each monk the right tools to face any temptation in this way the rule gives balance to every monastic vocation which is a very demanding Colley Lorena's la misma pero la interpretación de la Rey de las casas - Theo neighs son dear Sirs the most important things in the rule it's spirit have all been kept the things that don't have so much importance well those have been left aside a bit like those about the kind of food in the times of Prayer etc we need to take into account the world we live in the society we live in and thus change what's not important today for example I devote myself to confessions and things like that when a person enters monastic life you will go through difficult moments the moments when he will be tempted tempted to leave the monastery and just get out but well God helps you and takes you to the next step I'm myself over the last 40 years that I've lived in the monastery have thought many times that at best this was not my life but I found that it is my life that it is what makes me happy that it is what I want that it is hard because at times you would like to be part of the world but at the end of the day you know that God called you for this life you can be happy about a life like this even though it means that you have to give up many other things like having a family and girlfriend many things but what you need to do is be honest with your choice you've chosen God and this is exactly what I say to the mini priests who have come here to confess I tell them that they have made a choice and that they need to be honest with this choice hello that holiness getting any negative conversation is evil I said show una elección say honest token is telling another important aspect of the Benedictine charisma is its welcoming culture which opens its arms to all people as father Ignacio explains I give you an offender get over being offended many different kinds of people come here people with faith expecting a miracle there are tourists that come to see the fresco so you can see them right away for example many times while I'm celebrating Mass tourists come in to see the frescoes they don't care about the mass there are people who come in dressed in casual clothes to walk around or just to get to know the site so we can say that many people have many different sorts come here and I think it's important to respect all those who come and welcome them we are tourists sports people faithful or atheists there are people who come simply looking for solace for somebody who can listen to them instead of going to a psychologist they come here I think it's important to welcome them well and I think we can do them so much good I think God uses moments like these and people like us so the people who don't believe we don't have a clear idea of what faith is we can change them and you can actually change it's very important to welcome these people regardless of whether they believe or not as Saint Benedict said in these people you welcome Christ [Music] st. Benedict was a man of Prayer discipline and work a revolutionary in love with Christ he died on the 21st of March the Year 543 during the celebration of Holy Thursday he attended Mass and after praying with his brothers he died standing in the chapel his hands raised to the sky his last words were I have this immense desire to go to heaven [Music] [Music] you

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Keywords: eva, ytsync-en, eva11393, benedict, catholic, holiness, monks, monasticism, retreat, prayer, fasting, christianity, europe, friar, middle ages, scholasticism, ancient rome, medieval, monastery, italy, monte cassino, cassino

Id: PQpyfOU8EDI

Length: 25min 17sec (1517 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 04 2019