The Holy Father celebrates Vespers
during his Pastoral Visit to Monte Cassino
Seeking God in a spiritual rebirth
On Sunday, 24 May, the Holy Father
arrived at the Benedictine Archabbey of Monte Cassino. He was met at the
monastery door by the Abbot, Dom Pietro Vittorelli, who provided the water
to wash his hands as prescribed by St Benedict's Rule.The Pope led a
procession in the afternoon to the Basilica. In the Basilica Abbot Dom
Vittorelli greeted the Pope on behalf of the community and the Holy Father
presided at the celebration of Second Vespers of the Ascension with the
Benedictines. During the celebration the Pope knelt in prayer at the tombs
of St Benedict and St Scholastica situated behind the main altar. The
following is a translation of the Pope's Discourse, which was given in
Italian.
Dear Brothers and Sisters of the great Benedictine
Family,
At the end of my Visit today I am
particularly glad to pause in this sacred place, in this Abbey, four times
destroyed and rebuilt for the last time after the bombing of the Second
World War 65 years ago.
"Succisa virescit":
the words of the new coat of arms clearly convey its history. Monte Cassino,
like the age-old oak planted by St Benedict, "stripped of its leaves" by the
violence of the war, sprang up even more vigorously than before. More than
once I have been able to enjoy the hospitality of the monks and have spent
unforgettable moments of stillness and prayer in this Abbey.
This evening we entered singing the
Laudes regiae in order to celebrate Vespers together on the Solemnity of
the Ascension of Jesus. I express to each one of you the joy of sharing this
moment of prayer, as I greet you all with affection, grateful to you for
your welcome and to all who have accompanied me on this Apostolic
Pilgrimage.
I greet in particular Dom Pietro
Vittorelli, the Abbot, who has expressed your common sentiments. I extend my
greeting to the Abbots, the Abbesses and the Benedictine communities who are
present here.
The liturgy today invites us to
contemplate the mystery of the Lord's Ascension. In the short Reading from
the First Letter of Peter, we were urged to fix our gaze on our Redeemer who
died "for sins once for all", that he might bring us back to God; he "has
gone into Heaven" and is at the right hand of God "with angels, authorities,
and powers subject to him" (cf. 1 Pt 3: 18, 22).
"Carried up into Heaven" and made
invisible to the eyes of his disciples, Jesus nevertheless did not abandon
them. Indeed, "put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit (1 Pt
3: 18), he is now present in a new way, within believers, and in him
salvation is offered to every human being independently of his race,
language or culture.
The First Letter of Peter contains precise
references to fundamental Christological events of the Christian faith. The
Apostle is concerned to shed light on the universal significance of
salvation in Christ. We find a similar incentive in St Paul, the 2,000th
anniversary of whose birth we are celebrating and who wrote to the community
at Corinth: "He (Christ) died for all, that those who live might live no
longer for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised" (2
Cor 5: 15).
To live no longer for ourselves but for
Christ: this is what gives full meaning to the life of those who let
themselves be conquered by him. This is clearly demonstrated by the human
and spiritual life of St Benedict who, having abandoned all things, set out
to follow Jesus Christ faithfully. Embodying the Gospel in his life, he
became the pioneer of a vast movement of spiritual and cultural rebirth in
the West.
I would like here to mention an extraordinary event in his life related by
St Gregory the Great, his biographer, and which is certainly well known to
you.
One might almost say that the holy
Patriarch was also "carried up into Heaven" in an indescribable mystic
experience. On the night of 29 October 540, we read in the biography, while
leaning out of the window, "his eyes fixed on the stars and wrapt in divine
contemplation, the Saint felt that his heart was burning... for him the
starry firmament was like the embroidered curtain that veiled the Holy of
Holies. At a certain point, his soul felt transported to the other side of
the veil, to contemplate unveiled the Face of the One who dwells in
inaccessible brightness" (cf. A.I. Schuster, Storia di san Benedetto e
dei suoi tempi, Ed. Abbazia di Viboldone, Milan, 1965, p. 11 and ff.).
Of course, similarly to what happened for
Paul after he had been taken up into Heaven, for St Benedict too subsequent
to this extraordinary spiritual experience, a new life had to begin. Indeed,
although the vision was but fleeting the effects endured, his features
themselves, the biographers say, were altered by it, his expression always
remained serene and his behaviour angelic and although he lived on earth it
was obvious that his heart was already in Paradise.
St Benedict did not of course receive this
divine gift to satisfy his intellectual curiosity, but rather so that the
charism with which God had endowed him might enable him to reproduce in the
monastery the very life of Heaven ven and to re-establish the harmony of
creation through contemplation and work.
Rightly, therefore, the Church venerates him as an "eminent teacher of
monastic life" and a "doctor of spiritual wisdom in his love of prayer and
work"; a luminous "guide of the peoples to the light of the Gospel" who,
"lifted up to Heaven on a shining path", teaches men and women of all the
epochs to seek God and the eternal riches prepared by him (cf. Preface of
the Saint in the monastic supplement to MR, 1980, 153).
Yes, Benedict was a shining example of
holiness and pointed Christ out to the monks as the one great ideal; he was
a teacher of civilization who, in suggesting a balanced and adequate vision
of the divine requirements and ultimate destiny of the human being, always
also kept clearly in mind the needs and reasons of the heart, to teach and
inspire authentic and constant brotherhood so that in the complex social
relations people would not lose sight of a spiritual unity that would always
be capable of building and fostering peace.
It is not by chance that the word PAX
is used to greet pilgrims and visitors at the entrance of this Abbey,
rebuilt after the dreadful disaster of the Second World War; it rises like a
silent warning to reject every form of violence in order to build peace: in
families, in communities, among peoples and throughout humanity. St Benedict
invites every person who climbs this hill to seek peace and to follow him:
"inquire pacem et sequere eam (Ps 33: 14-15)" (Rule, Prologue,
17).
At his school monasteries down the
centuries became fervent centres of dialogue, encounter and a beneficial
blending of different peoples, unified by the evangelical culture of peace.
Monks have been able to teach the art of peace by word and example, putting
into practice the three "bonds" that Benedict mentions as necessary to
preserve the unity of the Spirit among human beings: the Cross, that is the
very law of Christ; the book, or in other words culture; and the plough that
implies work, the domination of matter and of time.
Thanks to the activity of monasteries that
is structured in accordance with the threefold daily commitment of prayer,
study and work, entire peoples on the European continent have experienced
authentic redemption and a beneficial moral, spiritual and cultural
development, learning the meaning of continuity with the past, practical
action for the common good, openness to God and the transcendent dimension.
Let us pray that Europe may always be able to make the most of this
patrimony of 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). Holiness consists of this, a valid
proposal for every Christian, especially in our time, in which people feel
the need to anchor life and history to sound spiritual references.
For this reason, dear brothers and
sisters, your vocation is more up to date than ever and your mission as
monks and nuns is indispensable.
From this place, where his mortal remains rest, the holy Patron of Europe
continues to invite everyone to pursue his work of evangelization and human
promotion.
In the first place he encourages you, dear
monks, to stay faithful to the spirit of your origins and to be authentic
interpreters of his programme of spiritual and social rebirth. May the Lord
grant you this gift through the intercession of your Holy Founder, of St
Scholastica, his sister, and of the Order's Saints. And may the heavenly
Mother of the Lord, whom we invoke today as "Help of Christians," watch over
you and protect this Abbey and all your monasteries as well as the diocesan
community that has grown up around Monte Cassino. Amen!
