St. Benedict And His Two Feast Days

Two feast days for one saint? In just a few cases, yes.

Saints with Two Feast Days

We are blessed to be able to show honor to Our Lady with a myriad of feast days throughout the year. We honor the Blessed Virgin Mary with some sort of celebration during each month of the year. And rightly so, for she is the Mother of Our Lord.

The Church recognizes Mary’s Most Chaste Spouse, St. Joseph, with a couple of feast days during the year–March 19th and May 1st. And St. John the Baptist’s birthday and passion both are recognized by the Church. The former falls on June 24th, and the latter on August 29th. 

With two feast days of his own, St. Benedict of Nursia is in some impressive company.

St. Benedict

St. Benedict is known as the Father of Western Monasticism and honored as the Patron of Europe. He lived between 480 and 547 AD, born with his sister, St. Scholastica, into a Christian family in Nursia (now known as Norcia), Italy. Fed up with the immoral, corrupt life of Rome while at school there, he headed out for an eremitical life at Subiaco. Thereafter, he went on to found his order, with monastic communities at Subiaco, Terracina and Montecassino.

The Benedictine Legacy

St. Benedict’s order truly has changed the world. Because of these monks, virtually every ancient text that survived to the eighth century has survived to date. They were pioneers in agricultural methods, including improving cattle breeding by other than random means.

We can thank them for Ireland’s salmon fisheries and for Parma, Italy’s cheese-making. Benedictines fostered the production of wine, beer and honey. A monk at St. Peter’s Abbey in France developed the use of the little wire basket used to hold champagne corks in place. His name? Dom Perignon!

The Benedictines were known as thinkers and philosophers of the day. In fact, they laid the foundation for the university. As well, many cities in Europe can trace their origin to these monks.

Essentially, the monks saved Western civilization, spreading the Good News to what at the time was a woefully chaotic, pagan Europe.  We have good reason to be grateful to St. Benedict. All of this resulted from his desire to avoid the secular corruption of Rome and live a sanctifying life. 

Benedictines Now

Today about 7,000 monks, residing in about 400 monasteries, comprise the worldwide membership of the order, not counting Benedictine nuns (some 12,000 to 13,000), or Oblates. These monks and nuns live out their Benedictine spirituality following St. Benedict’s famous Rule for monasteries, which continues in use not only by Benedictines but also by Cistercians and other religious orders. 

Benedictine monks and nuns profess vows of conversatio morum, obedience and stability. Conversatio morum refers to a continual turning to God and away from things not of God; poverty and chastity are part of conversatio morum. Obedience, as you might imagine, includes listening to God’s voice in His word and in one’s superiors. And by making the vow of stability, the monk is binding himself in body and spirit to the community where he professed his vows.

Oblates of St. Benedict are lay people, men and women who do not profess vows but strive to live according to the spirit of the Rule of St. Benedict in their lay state of life. St. Benedict developed his Rule 1,500 years ago to govern life in the cloister. Today, the Rule continues to provide principles lay people can use for their spiritual growth.

Two Feast Days: March 21 and July 11

St. Benedict served as the first abbot of Montecassino until his death, traditionally thought to have occurred on March 21, 547. Thus, March 21 becomes one feast day for St. Benedict–one that Benedictines continue to celebrate annually.

The other feast day–a Memorial in the United States–occurs on July 11^th. An interesting story lies behind this date. Benedictine tradition holds that relics of St. Benedict were transferred to a French monastery in 672. This event is celebrated on July 11^th.

However, the monks at Montecassino disputed the purported relic transfer, having found the tombs of St. Benedict and St. Scholastica in the rubble during the reconstruction of the Abbey after World War II bombing destroyed it. In any event, Pope Pius XII named St. Benedict the “Father of Europe” in 1947. Pope St. Paul VI declared St. Benedict the “Patron of Europe” in 1964, and the Church celebrates this on July 11^th. But, whether you have Benedictine ties or not, why not celebrate both of these dates?

Celebrating St. Benedict’s Feast Days

It’s worth your time to schedule a visit to a monastery and pray with some good, holy orthodox monks or nuns near you. It’s always a great time to disconnect and get closer to God in the monastic silence. This is true no matter when you choose to spend time there.

Benedictine spirituality includes chanting the Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours) multiple times a day in choir, together with time for Mass and for individual mental prayer (“Lectio Divina”). What you’ll find when you visit the monastery is a certain daily rhythm resulting from these practices. This monastic rhythm allows one to stay better recollected in the presence of God, within and outside of prayer.

If you can’t get to an Abbey, contact an Abbey to make a Mass offering and request a Mass for a special intention. Or, consider praying the Liturgy of the Hours using the app, Divinum Officium, using the “monastic” option, in lieu of the Roman breviary you may now be using. Take a look at the food, beverage and other offerings some Benedictine monasteries offer to support their communities. Whether your interests trend toward peanut butter, beer, hot sauce, publications or more, you’re in for a monastic treat.

“If we wish to reach eternal life…then–while there is still time…we must run and do now what will profit us forever.” (RB Prologue: 42-44)