It is here that the monastic adventure of Christian Europe begins. At Monte Cassino (Monte Cassino, in Italian), 516 meters above sea level, in the Lazio region. The model abbey, cradle and torch of the Benedictine order, today takes the form of an irregular quadrilateral of 20,000m2, which undoubtedly bears little resemblance to the monastery erected in 529 by Benedict of Nursia (480-547), the future Saint Benedict, the one who is called "
the patriarch of the monks of the West
".
However, this eminent character did not invent cenobitism: two centuries earlier, Pacôme or Basile had already practiced it.
His notoriety, he owes it to the second book of the
Dialogues
of Saint Gregory, biography – or rather hagiography – commissioned after his death by Gregory the Great, a pope anxious to give an example and a landmark to a Christianity in the grip of barbaric chaos.
Above all, an outstanding organizer, Benoît de Nursie had the brilliant idea of codifying the life of the monks by writing his own…
This article is for subscribers only.
You have 92% left to discover.
Freedom has no borders, like your curiosity.
Keep reading your article for 1€ the first month
I ENJOY IT
Already subscribed?
Login