De sancto Benedicto
The Call to the Desert
Benedict leaves his studies for the wilderness, where he is sustained by divine providence and the fellowship of a faithful priest.
He is called Benedict either because he blessed many, or because he received many blessings in this life, or because everyone spoke well of him, or because he earned the blessing of eternal life. Saint Gregory wrote the story of his life. Benedict, born in the province of Nursia, was sent to Rome for a liberal education, but in his early childhood he abandoned his studies and decided to seek the desert. His nurse, who loved him very tenderly, followed him as far as a place called Aeside, where she borrowed a sieve to clean some wheat; but when she set it on the table, it fell and broke into two pieces. Seeing her weeping, Benedict took the pieces of the sieve, and rising from prayer, he found it completely restored. Afterward, he secretly fled from his nurse and came to a certain place where he lived for three years, unknown to men, except for a certain Roman monk who diligently brought him what he needed. Since there was no path from the Roman monastery to the cave, the monk used to tie bread to a very long rope and lower it down in that way. He even attached a bell to the rope so that, at its sound, the man of God would know when the Roman was offering him bread, which he would then go out to receive. But the ancient enemy, envying the charity of the one and the refreshment of the other, threw a stone and broke the bell; yet the Roman did not stop serving him. After this, the Lord appeared in a vision to a priest who was preparing a meal for himself on Easter, saying: "You are preparing delicacies for yourself, while my servant is suffering from hunger in that place." He rose immediately, and after finding him with great difficulty, he said: "Rise, and let us eat, for today is the Lord's Easter." Benedict replied, "I know it's Easter, because I've been found worthy to see you." Living so far removed from other people, he had not known that it was the day of the Easter feast. The priest said to him, "Today is truly the day of the Lord's Resurrection; it isn't right for you to fast, because I've been sent to you for this very reason." And so, blessing God, they ate their meal together.
Temptation and Discipline
Benedict overcomes intense spiritual and physical trials, including the devil's temptations and the malice of those who resisted his strict rule.
One day, a black bird—a blackbird, as it's called—kept fluttering persistently around his face, so close that he could have caught it by hand, but he made the sign of the cross and the bird flew away. Soon after, the devil brought a woman he had once seen back to his mind, and he inflamed his soul with such a fire of desire for her that he was on the verge of giving up his life in the wilderness. But suddenly, by divine grace, he came to his senses; he stripped off his clothes and rolled himself so thoroughly in the nearby thorns and briars that he was covered in wounds from head to toe, and through the wounds of his flesh, he drove out the wounds of his soul. In this way, he conquered the sin, because he had changed the fire.1 He had changed the fire. From that time on, however, no such temptation ever stirred in his body again. As his reputation grew, the abbot of a certain monastery died, and the entire community of that monastery came to him and asked him to take charge of them. He put them off for a long time, warning them that his way of life was incompatible with theirs and their brothers', but eventually, he was overcome and gave his consent. Once he began to insist that the rule be kept more strictly there, they started to criticize themselves for having asked him to lead them, since their own crookedness offended the standard of his integrity. Seeing they couldn't live with him and found it difficult to abandon their long-standing habits, they mixed poison into his wine and offered it to him as he sat down to eat. But Benedict made the sign of the cross, and the glass vessel shattered as if a stone had been thrown at it. Realizing he had been given a drink of death—which the sign of life could not endure—he stood up immediately and said calmly, "May Almighty God have mercy on you, brothers. Didn't I tell you that your way of life and mine wouldn't be a good fit?" He then returned to his place of abandoned solitude, where he became famous for his growing signs and wonders, and as many people came to him, he built twelve monasteries. In one of these, there was a monk who couldn't stand for long during prayer; as soon as the others began to pray, he would leave and busy himself with worldly and passing things.
Signs and Wonders in the Monastery
Through prayer and discernment, Benedict performs miracles, including rescuing a monk from demonic influence and saving a drowning disciple.
When the abbot of the monastery told Saint Benedict about this, he went there and saw a small, black boy dragging the monk—who couldn't stay in prayer—outside by the hem of his garment; he then said to the abbot and to the monk Maurus, "Don't you see who is dragging him?" When they replied that they couldn't, he said, "Let's pray, so that you might see it too." As they prayed, Maurus saw it, but the abbot could not. The next day, after prayer was finished, the man of God found the monk outside, struck him with a rod because of his blindness, and from then on he remained motionless in prayer; and so the ancient enemy did not dare to rule over his thoughts, as if he himself had been struck by the blow. Three of these monasteries were up on the mountain crags, and they had to haul water up from below with great labor; when those brothers often asked the man of God to move their monasteries, he went up the mountain one night with a boy, prayed for a long time, and placed three stones in that same spot as a sign; when he returned home in the morning and the brothers came to him for the same reason, he said, "Go and dig in the middle of that crag where you find three stones placed; the Lord is able to bring forth water for you from there." They went, and finding that crag already sweating, they made a hollow place there and soon saw it filled with water, which flows so sufficiently even now that it descends from that mountain peak all the way to the lower levels. One time, while someone was cutting back briars with a billhook near the monastery of the man of God, the iron head flew off the handle and fell into a deep place; when the man was greatly distressed by this, the man of God placed the handle into the pool, and the iron soon swam back up to its handle. Placidus, a boy and a monk, went out to draw water, fell into the river, and was soon swept away by the current, which dragged him nearly the distance of a bowshot from the bank. The man of God, however, while sitting in his cell, knew this immediately in the spirit, called Maurus, told him what had happened to the boy, and ordered him to go and rescue him. After receiving the blessing, Maurus hurried off. Thinking he was walking on dry land, he went over the water to the boy, grabbed him by the hair, and pulled him out. He returned to the man of God and told him what had happened, but Benedict attributed this not to his own merits, but to the boy's obedience. A priest named Florentius, envious of the man of God, fell into such malice that he sent him bread laced with poison. The saint accepted the blessing gratefully and threw the bread to a raven that was accustomed to taking bread from his hands, saying, "In the name of Jesus Christ, take this bread and throw it in a place where no human can find it." The raven began to circle the bread with its mouth open and wings spread, croaking as if it were clearly saying that it wanted to obey but could not fulfill the command. The saint commanded it again and again, saying, "Pick it up, pick it up without fear, and throw it away as I told you." The raven finally picked it up, returned after three days, and took the food from his hand as it was accustomed to do. But Florentius, seeing that he could not kill the master's body, set himself to destroying the souls of the disciples. He had seven naked girls play and sing in the monastery garden, and in this way he inflamed the monks toward lust. Seeing this from his cell and fearing for the fall of his disciples, the holy man gave way to envy and moved his dwelling, taking some brothers with him; but when Florentius, standing on his balcony, saw him leave and rejoiced, the balcony suddenly collapsed and killed him instantly.
The Foundation of Monte Cassino
Benedict establishes his final home at Monte Cassino, where he continues to discern the hearts of men and battle the ancient enemy.
Then Maurus ran after the man of God and said, "Come back, for the one who was pursuing you is dead." Hearing this, he groaned deeply, either because his enemy had died or because his disciple had rejoiced over the death of an enemy. Because of this, he imposed a penance on him for having presumed to rejoice over the death of an enemy; he himself, however, moved to another place, changing his location but not his adversary. For he came to Monte Cassino, built an oratory to Saint John the Baptist in the temple of Apollo that stood there, and converted the surrounding people from idolatry; but the ancient enemy, taking this hard, appeared to his physical eyes in a most hideous form and raged visibly against him with flaming mouth and eyes, saying, "Benedict, Benedict!" But when he did not answer him at all, he would say, "Cursed one, cursed one!" "Not 'Benedict,' why do you persecute me?" One day, the brothers wanted to lift a certain stone lying on the ground into a building, but they were unable to do so at all. When a crowd of men was present and still couldn't lift it, the man of God arrived and gave his blessing; the stone was then lifted with great speed. From this, they understood that the devil had been sitting on it, preventing it from being moved. As the brothers were building the wall a little higher, the ancient enemy appeared to the man of God and warned him that he was on his way to the brothers who were working; he immediately sent a messenger to them, saying, "Brothers, be careful, for an evil spirit is coming toward you." The messenger had barely finished speaking when the ancient enemy knocked down the wall and crushed a young monk in the rubble. But the man of God had the dead and mangled boy brought to him in a sack, and through his prayer, he raised him back to life and restored him to his work. A certain layman of honest life was accustomed to visit the man of God every year while fasting. One day, while he was on his way, another traveler joined him who was carrying food for the journey. When it grew late, the traveler said, "Come, brother, let's have something to eat so we don't get weak on the road." When the man replied that he would not taste food on the road at all, the other kept quiet for a while, but later invited him to do just that, yet he refused to agree. Finally, when the hour had passed and the long journey had tired them out, they found a meadow and a spring and everything that could delight the body for refreshment. The traveler pointed this out and asked him to eat a little and rest; because the words were pleasing to his ears and the place was pleasing to his eyes, he agreed. When they arrived at Benedict's, the man of God said to him, "Look, brother, the evil enemy couldn't persuade you the first time, and he didn't succeed the second, but he overcame you the third." Then he fell at his feet and groaned, having sinned.
Prophecy and Divine Authority
Benedict demonstrates his prophetic insight before kings and his power to heal and liberate through the authority of his gaze and prayer.
Totila, king of the Goths, wanting to test whether the man of God possessed the spirit of prophecy, gave his royal robes to one of his sword-bearers and sent him to the monastery with all the royal regalia; when the man of God saw him approaching, he said, "Put it down, son, put it down: what you are wearing is not yours." He immediately fell to the ground, terrified that he had dared to mock such a great man. A certain cleric who was being tormented by the devil was brought to the man of God to be healed; once he had driven the devil out of him, he said, "Go, and from now on do not eat meat, and do not approach holy orders; for on whatever day you presume to approach holy orders, you will be handed over to the devil's power." But after keeping this for some time, he saw his juniors being promoted ahead of him in holy orders. He forgot the man of God's words as if they were from long ago, disregarded them, and approached the holy order. The devil who had left him soon took hold of him again, and he didn't stop tormenting him until he had driven the life out of his soul. A man sent two flasks of wine to him by a boy, but the boy hid one of them on the road and brought the other. The man of God accepted the one with thanks, but as the boy was leaving, he warned him: "Son, be careful not to drink from that flask you hid; instead, tip it carefully and see what's inside." The boy left feeling very confused. When he returned and decided to test what he had heard, he tipped the flask, and a snake immediately crawled out. One time, while the man of God was eating dinner in the evening, a certain monk—the son of a high-ranking official—was assisting him and holding a lamp, and through a spirit of pride, he began to think to himself: "Who is this man that I am serving while he eats, holding his lamp, and doing this work? Who am I, that I should serve him?" The man of God immediately said to him: "Sign your heart, brother, sign your heart; what is this you're saying?" He then called the brothers, ordered the lamp to be taken from the monk's hands, and told him to go to the monastery and sit in silence. A Goth named Galla, who followed the Arian heresy, was so incredibly cruel toward the religious men of the Catholic Church during the reign of King Totila that no cleric or monk who fell into his hands ever escaped alive. One day, however, the king, inflamed by the heat of his own greed and eager for plunder, was tormenting a certain peasant with cruel tortures and tearing him apart with various punishments; overcome by the pain, the peasant claimed that he had entrusted himself and his possessions to Benedict, the servant of God, and while his tormentor believed this, he was meanwhile spared from his cruelty and restored to life. Galla then stopped tormenting the peasant, but he bound his arms with strong leather straps and began to drive him before his horse, so that he might show him who this Benedict was who had taken his possessions. The peasant, with his arms still bound, walked ahead and led him to the monastery of the holy man, where he found him sitting alone before the entrance of his cell and reading; as Galla followed behind in his rage, the peasant said to him, "Look, this is Benedict the father, of whom I spoke." Galla stared at him, his mind clouded by madness and expecting to act as he always did, and shouted, "Get up, get up, and return what you took from this peasant!" At his voice, the man of God immediately lifted his eyes and stopped his reading, and as he looked at him, he soon noticed the peasant who was being held bound. As he lowered his eyes to the peasant's arms, the straps binding them began to loosen with such miraculous speed that no human haste could have undone them so quickly; the man who had arrived bound suddenly stood there free, and Galla, trembling at the power of such authority, fell to the ground and, bowing his stiff, cruel neck at Benedict's feet, commended himself to his prayers. The holy man didn't even get up from his reading; instead, he called the brothers and told them to take Galla inside to receive a blessing. He brought him back to himself and warned him that he should stop such insane cruelty. Refreshed and departing, he presumed to demand nothing further from the peasant, whom the man of God had set free not by touching him, but by looking at him.
Providence and Communion
God provides for the needs of the monastery through Benedict's intercession, while he continues to guide his monks in obedience and faith.
At one time, a famine had spread through the region of Campania, and a great shortage of food was pressing everyone hard; already in Benedict’s monastery the wheat had run out, and the bread was almost entirely gone, so that no more than five loaves could be found for the brothers' meal. When the venerable father saw that everyone was distressed, he sought to correct their faint-heartedness with a gentle rebuke and to lift their spirits again with a promise, saying: "Why is your heart troubled by the lack of bread?" Today there is little, but tomorrow there will be an abundance." The following day, two hundred bushels of flour were found in sacks outside the cellar doors, though who brought them or how God Almighty sent them remains unknown to this day. When the brothers saw this, they gave thanks to the Lord and learned not to doubt, whether in abundance or in need. It is also recorded that a man had a son suffering from leprosy, so advanced that his hair was falling out, his skin was swelling, and he could no longer hide the growing sores. The father sent him to the man of God, and he was restored to his former health with all speed; they offered immense thanks to God for this, and the boy later persevered in good works and died peacefully in the Lord. When he sent some of the brothers to a certain place to build a monastery there, he told them he would come to them on a set day and show them how it should be built. Yet on the very night that the promised day was dawning, he appeared in a dream to the monk he had chosen for that place and to his superior, and he carefully laid out every single spot where each part should be built. But because they didn't trust the vision and were still waiting for him, they eventually returned to him and said, "We waited for you, Father, as you promised, but you didn't come." He replied, "Why are you saying this, brothers? Didn't I appear to you and lay out every single spot?" Go, and build everything in order, just as you saw in the vision. Not far from his monastery were two nuns of noble birth who didn't hold their tongues, but often provoked the one in charge of them to anger with their sharp words. When he reported this to the man of God, he sent word to them, saying: "Control your tongues, or else I will excommunicate you." He issued this sentence of excommunication not by pronouncing it, but by threatening it; yet they remained unchanged, died within a few days, and were buried in the church. While Mass was being celebrated and the deacon said as usual, "Whoever does not communicate, let him leave," their nurse, who always offered the oblation for them, saw them rise from their graves and leave the church; when this was reported to Saint Benedict, he gave the oblation with his own hand, saying: "Go and offer this oblation for them, and they will no longer be excommunicated." After this was done, when the deacon called out as usual, they were no longer seen leaving the church. A certain monk had left his monastery to visit his parents without receiving a blessing; on the very day he arrived, he died, and the earth rejected his body from the grave not once, but twice, so his parents came to him and begged him to grant them his blessing. He took the Body of the Lord and said, "Go, place this upon his chest, and then commit him to the grave." Once this was done, the earth held the body and cast it out no more. A certain monk, unable to remain in the monastery, kept pestering the man of God until, in his anger, he allowed him to leave. As soon as he left the monastery, he found a dragon on the road with its mouth wide open; when it tried to devour him, he cried out, saying, "Run, run, for this dragon wants to eat me!" The brothers ran out, but they didn't find any dragon; instead, they brought the trembling, shaking monk back to the monastery, where he immediately promised that he would never leave again. A5. At one time, while a severe famine was gripping the entire province, the man of God had already given away everything he could find to those in need, so that nothing remained in the monastery except a little oil in a glass jar; he ordered the cellarer to give that small amount of oil to someone who was in need. The man heard the command but refused to carry it out, because there was no oil left for the brothers. When the man of God found out about this, he ordered the glass jar with the oil to be thrown out the window, so that nothing would remain in the monastery through disobedience. The jar was thrown out and landed on some huge rocks, but it didn't break, nor was the oil spilled; the man of God ordered it to be picked up and given, intact, to the person who had asked for it. He then rebuked that monk for his disobedience and lack of faith, and gave himself to prayer; immediately, a large vat that was there became full of oil, which increased so much that it seemed to be flowing out across the floor.
The Ascent to Heaven
Benedict shares a final spiritual communion with his sister Scholastica and eventually departs this life in a vision of glory.
He had come down at one point to visit his sister, and as he was sitting at the table, she asked him to stay the night with her; when he refused, she bowed her head in her hands to pray to the Lord, and as soon as she lifted her head, such a force of lightning and thunder broke out, along with such a downpour of rain, that he couldn't even move a foot, even though the weather had been perfectly clear before. She had poured out rivers of tears, turning the clear sky into rain. The man of God was distressed and said to her, "May the Almighty God forgive you, sister; what have you done?" She replied, "I asked you, and you wouldn't listen; I asked the Lord, and He heard me." "Go now, if you can," she said. And so it happened that they spent the whole night awake, finding satisfaction in a mutual exchange about the holy scriptures. Then, three days later, after he had returned to the monastery, he looked up and saw the soul of his sister entering the secrets of heaven in the form of a dove. He immediately ordered her body to be brought to the monastery and placed in the tomb he had prepared for himself. A7. One night, while the servant of God, Benedict, was looking out through a window and praying to the Lord, he saw a light poured out from above that had chased away all the darkness of the night. Suddenly, however, the whole world was brought before his eyes, as if gathered under a single ray of the sun, and seeing there the soul of Germanus, the bishop of Capua, being carried up to heaven, he later confirmed that at that very hour he had departed from his body. In the same year he was to pass away, he announced the day of his death to the brothers. Six days before he died, he ordered his tomb to be opened. Soon after, he was seized by a fever, and as his weakness grew worse day by day, on the sixth day he had himself carried into the oratory, where he fortified his departure by receiving the Body and Blood of the Lord. Supported by the hands of his disciples, he stood on his frail limbs with his hands raised toward heaven, breathing his last while in the midst of prayer. On the very day that Benedict, the man of God, migrated from this life to Christ, the same revelation was shown to two brothers—one staying in his cell, and the other stationed far away. They saw a bright path covered with tapestries and shimmering with countless lamps, stretching from the cell of the blessed Benedict toward the east and up to heaven, where a man, shining and standing above in a venerable habit, asked whose path it was that they were seeing. When they said they didn't know, he said, "This is the path by which the beloved man of God, Benedict, ascended to heaven." He was buried in the oratory of Saint John the Baptist, which he himself had built after destroying the altar of Apollo. He flourished around the year of our Lord 518, in the time of Justin the Elder.
Read the original Latin
Benedictus dictus est vel quia multa benedixit, vel quia in hac vita multas benedictiones habuit, vel quia omnes benedicebant de eo, vel quia aeternam meruit benedictionem habere. Ejus vitam sanctus Gregorius scripsit.
Benedictus ex Nursia provincia ortus cum Romae liberalibus studiis traditus esset, in ipsa sui infantia literas deseruit et deserium petere decrevit, quem nutrix sua, quae eum tenerrime diligebat, usque in quendam locum, qui dicitur Aeside, secuta est, ubi ad purgandum triticum mutuo capisterium petiit, sed super mensam incante ponens cum corruisset, in duabus partibus fractum vidit. Quam Benedictus flere conspiciens partes capisterii accepit et ab oratione surgens integre solidatum invenit. Postmodum nutricem occulte fugiens in quendam locum venit, ubi tribus annis hominibus incognitus mansit, excepto quodam monacho Romano nomine, qui sibi sedule necessaria ministrabat. Cum vero ad specum a Romani monasterio iter non esset, panem in longissimo fune ligabat et sic eum deponere consueverat. Tintinnabulum etiam ipsi cordae inseruit, ut ad ejus sonitum vir Dei cognosceret, quando sibi Romanus panem praeberet, quem exiens acciperet. Sed antiquus hostis unius caritati et alterius invidens refectioni lapidem jactavit et tintinnabulum fregit, sed tamen Romanus ei ministrare non desiit. Post hoc cuidam presbitero refectionem sibi in paschali solemnitate paranti dominus per visum apparuit dicens: tu tibi delicias praeparas et servus meus illo in loco fame cruciatur. Qui protinus surrexit et cum difficultate magna eum inveniens dixit: surge et sumamus cibum, quia hodie pascha domini est.
Cui Benedictus : scio, quia pascha est, quia videre te merui. Longe quippe ab hominibus positus, quia die eadem paschalis esset sollemnitas, ignorabat. Cui presbiter: veraciter hodie resurrectionis dominicae dies est, abstinere te non convenit, quia ob hoc ad te missus sum; sicque Deum benedicentes sumserunt cibum.
Quadám die avis quaedam nigra, quae merula vocatur, importune circa ejus faciem volutavit, ita ut ab eo manu capi potuisset, sed signo crucis edito avis recessit. Moxque dyabolus quandam feminam, quam aliquando viderat, ante ejus oculos mentis reduxit ejusque animum tanto igne in speciem illius accendit, ut paene eremum voluptate vietus deserere deliberaret. Sed subito divina gratia ad se reversus continuo se exuit et in spinis et vepribus, quae ibi aderant, se adeo volutavit, nt toto corpore inde vulneratus exiret et per cutis vulnera mentis vulnera educeret; vicit itaque peccatum, quia!) mutavit incendium. Ab illo autem tempore nulla postmodum tentatio in ejus corpore pullulavit.
Crebrescente itaque ejus fama cum abbas monasterii cujusdam obiisset, tota ipsius monasterii congregatio ad eum venit et ut praeesse deberet iis, petiit. Qui diu negando distulit, suis illorumque fratrum moribus se convenire non posse praedixit, sed tandem victus assensum dedit. Cumque regulam illic districtius servari praeciperet, semet ipsos reprehendebant, quia ipsum sibi praeesse poposcerant, quorum scilicet tortitudo normam ejus rectitudinis offendebat. Cumque sibi cum eo adspicerent illicita non licere et grave esse sedule assueta relinquere, venenum vino miscuerunt et sibi recumbenti obtnlerunt. Sed Benedictus signum crucis edidit et quasi jactu lapidis vas illud vitreum fregit. Intelligens igitur, quia potum mortis habuerat, quod portare non potuit signum vitae, illico surrexit et placido vultu dixit: misereatur vestri omnipotens Deus, fratres: numquid non dixi vobis, quia vestris ac meis moribus non convenirem? Tunc ad locum derelictae solitudinis rediit, mbi erebrescentibus signis claruit et multis ad eum venientibus duodecim monasteria construxit. In uno autem illorum quidam monachus erat, qui ad orationem diu stare non poterat, sed orantibus aliis mox foras exibat et aliqua terrena et transitoria agebat.
Quod cum abbas illius monasterii beato Benedicto narrasset, ivit illuc et vidit, quod illum monachum, qui manere in oratione non poterat, quidam niger parvulus per vestimenti fimbriam foras trahebat, dixitque abbati monasterii et Mauro monacho: numquid non adspicitis, quis est, qui eum trahit? Cumque respondissent: mon, ait: oremus ut vos etiam videatis. Orantibus illis Maurus vidit, sed abbas videre non potuit. Die igitur alia, expleta oratione, vir Dei monachum foris reperit, quem pro sui caecitate virga percussit et extunc immobilis in oratione permansit, sicque antiquus hostis dominari non ausus est in ejus cogitatione, ac si ipse percussus fuisset ex verbere. Ex his monasteriis tria sursum in rupibus montis erant, quae deorsum cum magio labore aquas hauriebant, cumque fratres illi virum Dei saepe rogarent, ut monasteria sua mutaret, quadam nocte cum quodam puero montem adscendit, ubi dintius orans tres petras in eodem loco pro signo posuit, cumque mane ad domum rediisset et fratres pro eadem causa ad eum venissent, dixit: ite et illam rupem, in qua tres petras positas inveneritis, in medio cavate, valet enim dominus inde vobis aquam producere. Qui euntes et jam illam rupem sudantem invenientes concavum locum illune fecerunt et mox aqua repletum viderunt, quae usque nunc tam sufficienter manat, ut ab illo montis cacumine usque ad inferiora descendat. Quadam vice dum circa monasterium viri Dei quidam cum falcastro vepres abscideret, ferrum de manubrio prosiliens in quendam locum profundum cecidit, cumque de hoc ille nimis angustaretur, vir Dei manubrium in lacu posuit et mox ferrum ad suum manubrium usque enatavit. Placidus puer et monachus ad hauriendam aquam egrediens in flumen cecidit et mox ipsum unda rapuit et paene in unius sagittae cursum à terra introrsus traxit, vir autem Dei in cella consistens hoc in spiritu statim novit et Maurum vocans, quid de puero acciderit, indicavit ac ut ad ipsum eripiendum pergeret imperavit.
Accepta benedictione concitus Maurus perrexit et per terram se ire existimans super aquas usque ad puerum venit eumque per capillos tenens de aqua extraxit; qui ad virum Dei veniens retulit, quid acciderat, sed ipse hoc non suis meritis, sed ejus obedientiae deputavit. Presbiter quidam Florentius nomine viro Dei invidens ad tantam devenit malitiam, ut panem veneno infectum viro, Dei tanquam per. benedictionem transmitteret, quem sanctus gratanter accepit et corvo, qui de manibus ejus panem accipere consueverat, ipsum projecit dicens: in nomine Jesu Christi tolle hunc panem et eum in tali loco, ubi a nullo homine sumi valeat, projice. Tunc corvus aperto ore, expansis alis cirea eundem panem coepit discurrere atque crocitare, ac si aperte diceret, obedire se velle et tamen jussa implere non posse. Cui sanctus iterum atque iterum praecipiebat dicens: leva, leva eum securus atque ipsum, ut dixi, projice. Qui tandem eum tollens post tres dies rediit et de manu ejus annonam quam consueverat, accepit. Videns autem Florentius, quia corpus magistri necare non potuit, se ad exstinguendas discipulorum animas accendit, ita ut septem nudas puellas in horto monasterii ludere et cantare faceret, et sic monachos ad libidinem inflammaret. Quod sanctus vir de cella prospiciens lapsum discipulis pertimescens invidiae locum dedit et quibusdam secum assumtis fratribus ipse habitationem mutavit, Sed Florentius cum in solario consistens eum recessise conspiceret et gauderet, repente solarium cecidit et ipsum protinus exstinxit.
Tunc Maurus post virum Dei currens ait: revertere, quia qui te persequebatur, exstinctus est. Quod ille andiens vehementer ingemuit, vel quia inimicus occubuit, vel quia de inimici morte discipulus exsultavit. Qua de re factum est, nt eidem poenitentiam indiceret, quod mandans talia gaudere de inimici morte praesumsisset, ipse autem ad alia migrans locum non hostem mutavit. Nam ad montem Cassinum venit et templum Apollinis, quod ibi situm erat, in sancti Johannis baptistae oratorium fabricavit et circumadjacentem populum ab ydololatria convertit, Sed hoc antiquus hostis graviter ferens corporalibus ejus oculis teterrimus apparebat et in eum ore oculisque flammantibus visibiliter saeviebat atque dicebat: Benedicte, Benedicte! sed cum ille nihil sibi responderet, dicebat: Maledicte, Maledicte! non Benedicte, quid me persequeris? Quadam die lapidem quendam in terra jacentem fratres in aedifiium levare volebant, sed nequaqnam valebant. Gumque virorum multitudo adesset et ah iis levari non posset, adveniens vir Dei benedictionem dedit et tunc maxima celeritate levatus est, ex quo perpenditur, quod dyabolus illi insidebat, qui eum moveri non permittebat.
Cumque fratres parietem paulo altius aedificarent, antiquus hostis viro Dei apparuit et quia ad laborantes fratres pergeret, indicavit, qui protinus iis per nuntium misit: fratres, caute vos agite, quia ad vos spiritus malignus venit. Vix autem nuntius verba complevit et ecce parietem antiquus hostis evertit et quendam puerum monachum ruina contrivit. Sed vir Dei puerum mortuum et laceratum in sacco ad se adduci fecit et oralione sua ipsum resuscitans operi praedicto restituit.
Laicus quidam honestae vitae singulis annis ad visitandum virum Dei jejunans venire consueverat. Quadam igitur die, dum illuc iret, se illi alter viator adjunxit, qui sumendos in itinere cibos portabat, cumque jam tardior hora excrevisset, dixit: veni, frater, sumamus cibum, ne lassemur in via. Qao respondente, quod nullatenus cibum in via gustaret, ad horam ille subticuit, postmodum ad hoc ipsum invitavit, sed ille consentire noluit. Denique cum hora jam praeterisset et eos longum fatigasset iter, pratum et fontem et quaecumque poterant corpus ad reficiendum delectare, invenerunt. Tunc viator hoc ei ostendens rogavit, ut paululum gustaret et ibidem quiesceret; cum igitur verba auribus et loca oculis blandirentur, eidem consensit. Cumque ad Benedictum venissent, dixit ei vir Dei: ecce, frater, malignus hostis semel tibi persuadere non potuit, secundo non valuit, sed tertio superavit. Tunc ille pedibus ejus advolutus se deliquisse ingemuit.
Thotila rex Gothorum experiri volens, utrum vir Dei prophetiae spiritum haberet, cuidam suo spatario vestimenta regalia tribuit eumque cum omni apparatu regio ad monasterium destinavit, quem ille venientem conSpiciens dixit; pone, fill, pone: hoc quod portas, non est tuum. Qui protinus in terram cecidit et quia tanto viro illudere praesumsisset, expavit.
Clericus quidam, qui a dyabolo vexabatur, ad virum Dei, ut sanaretur, adductus est, cumque ab eo dyabolum expulisset, ait: vade et de caetero carnes non comedas nec ad saros ordines accedas: quacumque autem die ad sacros ordines accedere praesumseris, juri dyaboli mancipaberis. Cum vero hoc aliquo tempore custodiisset, sed minores suos sibi praeponi in sacris ordinibus cerneret, verba viri Dei quasi ex longo tempore oblitus postposuit atque ad sacrum ordinem accessit. Quem mox, qui eum reliquerat, dyabolus tenuit eumque is vexare, quousque animam ejus excuteret, non cessavit.
Vir quidam duos flascones vini per quendam puerum ad eum misit, sed ille unum fn via abscondit et alium detulit, vir antem Dei cum gratiarum actione accepit unum et descendentem pnerum admonuit dicens: fili, vide ne de illo flascone, quem abscondisti, bibas, sed inclina eum caute et vide, quid intus habeat. Qui confusus valde ab eo exivit et reversus volens adhuc probare, quod audierat, cum flasconem inclinasset, protinus de eo serpens egressus est. Quadam vice dum vir Dei in sero coenaret, monachus quidam filius defensoris ei assistens et lucernam tenens per spiritum superbiae intra se cogitare coepit: quis est hic, cui ego manducanti assisto, lucernam teneo, servitium impendo: quis sum ego, ut isti serviam? Cui statim vir Dei ait: signa cor tuum, frater, signa cor tuum; quid est, quod loqueris? vocatisque fratribus lucernam jussit de manibus ejus tolli, ipsum vero jussit ad monasterium accedere et quietum sedere.
S. Gothorum quidam, Galla nomine, perfidiae fuit Arianae, qui Thotilae regis temporibus contra catholicae ecclesiae religiosos viros ardore immanissimae crudelitatis exarsit, ita ut quisquis ei clericus monachusve ante faciem venisset, ab ejus manibus vivus nullo modo exiret. Quadam vero die avaritiae suae aestu succensus in rapinam rex inhians cum quendam rusticum crudelibus tormentis affligeret eumque per supplicia diversa laniaret, victus poenis rusticus sese et res suas Benedicto Dei famulo commendasse professus est et, dum hoc a torquente creditur, interim crudelitate ad vitam reparatur. Tune idem Galla cessavit rusticum tormentis affligere; sed ejus brachia loris fortibus adstringens ante equum coepit impellere, ut quis esset ille Benedictus, qui ejus res susceperat, demonstraret. Quem ligatis brachiis rusticus antecedens duxit ad sancti viri monasterium eumque ante ingressum cellulae solum sedentem reperit et legentem; eidem autem subsequenti et saevienti Gallae rusticus dixit: ecce iste est, de quo dixeram, Benedictus pater. Quem dum fervido spiritu cum perversae mentis insania fuisset intuitus, eo errore, quo consueverat, acturum se existimans magnis coepit vocibus lamare dicens: surge, surge et res istius rustici redde, quas accepisti. Ad cujus vocem vir Dei protinus oculos levavit et a lectione cessavit, eumque intuitus mox et rusticum, qui ligatus tenebatur, attendit. Ad eujus brachia dum oculos deflexisset, miro modo tanta celeritate coeperunt alligata brachia lora dissolvere, ut dissolvi tam concite nulla hominum festinatione potuissent eumque, qui ligatus venerat, coepisset subito adstare solutus, nd tantae potestatis vim tremefactus Galla ad terram corruit et cervicem crudelitatis rigidae ad ejus vestigia inclinans orationibus se illius commendavit. Vir autem sanctus a lectione minime surrexit, sed vocatis fratribus eum introrsus tolli, ut benedictionem acciperet, praecepit.
Quem ad se reductum ut a tanta crudelitatis insania quiescere deberet, admonuit. Qui refectus recedens, nihil ulterius repetere a rustico praesumsit, quem vir Dei non tangendo sed respiciendo solverat.
Quodam tempore in Campaniae regione fames inerebuerat, magnaque omnes alimentorum indigentia coangustabat jamque in Benedicti monasterio triticum deerat, panes vero paene omnes consumti fuerant, ut non plus quam quinque ad refectionis horam fratribus inveniri potaissent, cumque omnes venerabilis pater contristatos cerneret, eorum pusillanimitatem studuit modesta increpatione corrigere et rursum promissione sublevare dicens: quare de panis inopia vester animus eontristatur? hodie qnidem minus, sed et crastina abundanter habebitur. Sequenti autem die ducenti farinae modii ante fores cellae in saccis inventi sunt, quos omnipotens Deus quibus deferentibus transmisisset, nunc usque manet incognitum. Quod cum fratres cernerent, domino gratias referentes didicerunt, jam de abundantia nec in egestate dubitare.
Legitur quoque, quod quidam habebat filium morbo elephantino correptum, ita ut jam pilis cadentibus cutis intumesceret atque increscentem famem occultare non posset, qui ad virum Dei ab eodem patre ejus missus saluti pristinae sub omni celeritate restitutus est et de hoc immensas gratias Deo obtulerunt et postmodum dietus puer in bonis operibus perseverans in domino feliciter obdormivit.
Cum quosdam ex fratribus ad quendam locum mitteret, ut ibidem monasterium construerent, constituta die se ad eos venturum dicit et, qualiter construi deberet, indicare. Nocte vero eadem qua promissus illucebat dies, monacho, quem illic proposuerat, atque ejus praeposito in somnis apparuit et loca singula, ubi quaeque aedificari debuissent, subtiliter designavit. Cum autem visioni fidem non darent et adhuc ipsum exspectarent, tandem ad eum reversi dixerunt: exspectavimus pater, ut venires sieut promiseras, nec venisti, Cui ille: qnare, fratres, ista dicitis: numquid non vobis apparui et loca singula designavi? Ite et sicut per visionem vidistis, omnia ordinate.
Non longe ab ejus monasterio duae sanctimoniales feminae ex nobili genere erant, quae linguam non restringebant, sed eunt, qui ils praeerat, incantis sermonibus saepe ad iracundiam provocabant. Qui cum hoc viro Dei retulisset, mandavit iis dicens: restringite linguam vestram, alioquin excommunicabo vos. Quam excommunicationis sententiam non proferendo intulit, sed intentando, illae autem nihil mutatae intra paucos dies defunctae sunt et in ecclesia sepultae. Ubi dum missae celebrarentur et dyaconns ex more diceret: qui non communicat, exeat foras, nutrix earum, quae pro iis semper oblationem offerebat, eas de sepulchris suis progredi et exire ecclesiam videbat, cumque sancto Benedicto nuntiatum esset, ille manu sua oblationem dedit dicens: ite et hanc oblationem pro iis offerte et ulterius excommunicatae non erunt. Quod cum factum fuisset et dyaconus ex more clamaret, ab ecclesia de caetero exire visae non sunt.
Monachus quidam cum ad visitandos parentes exiisset sine benedictione et ea die, qua ad eos pervenit, defunctus fuisset et sepultum semel et bis terra rejecisset, parentes ejus ad eum venerunt et, ut ei suam benedictionem impenderet, rogaverunt. Qui corpus domini accipiens ait: ite et hoc snper pectus ejus ponite eumque sic sepulturae tradite. Quod cum factum fuisset, sepultum corpus terra retinuit nec ultra projecit.
Quidam monachus in monasterio manere non valens viro Dei tantum institit, donec ipsum iratus abire permisit. Qui mex ut de monasterio exiit, aperto ore draconem in itinere invenit, quem cum devorare vellet, clamavit dicens: currite, currite, quia draco iste me vult devorare. Currentes autem fratres draconem minime invenerunt, sed trementem atque palpitantem monachum ad monasterium reduxerunt, qui statim promisit, se nunquam de monasterio recessurum.
A5. Quodam tempore, dum totam illam provinciam fames valida occuparet, et vir Dei omnia quae invenire potuerat, egentibus tradidisset, ita quod nihil in monasterio praeter modicum olei in vase vitreo remansisset, jussit cellario, ut illud modicum olei cuidam egenti daret. Ille vero imperantem audivit, sed implere contemsit eo, quod nihil olei fratribus remanebat. Quod ut vir Dei comperit, vas vitreum cum oleo per fenestram projici jussit, ne quid in monasterio per inobedientiam remaneret. Projectum itaque vas cum supra ingentia saxa cecidisset, nec vas fractum nec oleum est effusum, quod ille levari jussit et dari integrum postulanti. Monachum autem illum de inobedientia et diffidentia increpans se in orationem dedit et continuo quoddam magnum dolium, quod ibi erat, oleo plenum fuit, quod adeo excrevit, ut per pavimentumaffluere videretur.
Quadam vice ad visitandum sororem suam descenderat, cum autem ad mensam sederet, rogavit eum, ut secum illa nocte maneret, cui, cum ille nullatenus acquiesceret, illa caput in manibus dominum rogatura inclinavit, cumque caput levasset, tanta coruscationis et tonitrui virtus, tantaque inundatio pluviae erupit, ut nec quidem pedem movere potuisset, cum tamen ante serenitas mira esset. llla enim, quia lacrymarum fluvios fudit, serenitatem aéris ad pluviam convertit et traxit. Cui vir Dei contristatus ait: parcat tibi omnipotens Deus, soror, quid est, quod fecisti? Cui illa: rogavi te et audire noluisti, rogavi dominum et exaudivit me. Modo egredere, si potes: sicque factum est, ut totam illam noctem pervigiles ducerent atque per sacra eloquia sese vicaria relatione satiarent. Tunc ecce post triduum, cum ille ad monasterium rediisset, elevatis oculis animam sororis suae in specie columbae coeli secreta penetrantem adspexit, qui mox corpus ejus ad monasterium jussit deferri et in monumento, quod sibi praeparaverat, collocari.
A7. Quadam nocte dum servus domini Benedictus per fenestram conspiceret et dominum exoraret, vidit fusam lucem desuper cunctas noctis tenebras effugasse. Subito autem totus mundus velut sub uno solis radio collectus ante oculos ejus adductus est ibique animam Germani, episcopi capitalis, ad coelum deferri videns manifeste comperit postea, quod hora eadem a corpore migravit.
Eodem anno, quo de hac vita erat exiturus, obitus sui diem fratribus denuntiavit. Ante sextum vero diem sui exitus sibi aperiri sepulchrum jubet. Qui mox febribus correptus, cum per singulos dies languor ingravesceret, sexto die in oratorium se portari fecit ibique exitum suum dominici corporis et sanguinis perceptione munivit. Atque inter discipulorum manus imbecillia membra sustentans erectis in coelum manibus stetit et ultimum spiritum inter verba orationis efflavit. Ipsa autem die, qua vir Dei Benedictus de hac vita migravit ad Christum,duobus fratribus, uni in cella moranti, alteri longe posito revelatio eadem monstrata est, viderunt namque viam lucidam palliis stratam ac innumeris coruscantem lampadibus a cella beati Benedicti versus orientem ad coelum tendentem, cui venerando habitu vir desuper clarus assistens, cujus esset via, quam cernerent, inquisivit. Qui cum nescire se dicerent, ait: haec est via, qua dilectus vir Dei Benedictus coclum adscendit. Sepultus vero est in oratorio sancti Johannis baptistae, quod destructa ara Apollinis ipse construxit. Floruit circa annos domini DXVIII tempore Justini senioris.
Notes
- 1 ↩The Latin text ends with a truncated 'quia!)' which appears to be a scribal error or incomplete sentence; I have translated it as 'because he had changed the fire' to complete the sense of the following sentence.
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