Editorial

Benedictines witness to prayer and work

On July 11, our Church celebrates the memorial of St. Benedict. Born in 480 in Norcia, Italy, Benedict lived the monastic life seeking God in community.

He is known for his Rule that serves as a practical guide for the prayer and work of monks and religious sisters. The many women and men who have followed Benedict’s Rule during the past 1,500-plus years have made significant contributions to the development of culture in western Europe and beyond.

Historically, Benedictine monastic life has influenced culture in three major ways: 1) Education: monasteries taught literacy, the liberal arts, theology and the sciences. 2) Medicine: St. Benedict’s Rule institutionalized care for the sick as a sacred duty, helping monasteries become early centers of health care. 3) Manuscript preservation: monks copied and translated manuscripts, safeguarding classical and Christian texts through several periods of cultural upheaval.

By their missionary efforts, Benedictine men and women have contributed spiritual depth, order and peace to the Church and to the communities they served throughout the world. They have also given witness to the virtue of hospitality by welcoming all who come to them as they would welcome Christ himself.

Here in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, we have been blessed with the monastic witness of Benedictines at Our Lady of Grace Monastery in Beech Grove and Saint Meinrad Archabbey in St. Meinrad. The mission statement for Our Lady of Grace, found on their website (benedictine.com), spells out simply and clearly the sisters’ commitment to living the Benedictine Rule: “Seeking God in everyone and everything, we, Sisters of St. Benedict of Our Lady of Grace Monastery, live in community founded on prayer, work and hospitality.”

True to their charism, the sisters, who just moved into a new energy-efficient monastery, contribute to the Beech Grove neighborhood, to the greater Indianapolis metropolitan area and to the Church in central and southern Indiana by their witness of prayer and work.

Prayer and the daily celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours are the sisters’ primary ministry. Their life revolves around the times that they gather as a community for prayer and they carefully plan and prepare their monastic liturgies.

“We Benedictines often say that liturgy is our life,” the sisters state on their website. “Celebrating the Liturgy of the Hours and the Liturgy of the Eucharist together is central to our life of seeking God and is the essential core to living our monastic life together. When we come together at different times throughout the day, we represent the Church at prayer, with Christ present among us. We pray for the Church, for the world, and for those who request our prayers as Christ continues his work of redemption.”

The Benedictine tradition first came to the Midwest United States in 1854, when the Swiss Abbey of Einsiedeln sent two monks to Indiana to start a new Benedictine monastery. Today, the monks of Saint Meinrad Archabbey are a thriving community of priests and brothers who pray, work and live together.

Almost since its founding, Saint Meinrad has operated a school to form men for the priesthood. Today that work continues, as Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology serves dioceses and religious communities in the U.S. and abroad. In addition, Saint Meinrad provides graduate education in theology for lay students, formation for permanent deacons, continuing formation for priests, and a variety of additional services, including retreats, Abbey Caskets and CareNotes.

Its Center for Youth and Young Adult Evangelization is the home of programs for young adults and those who minister to them. Each summer, Saint Meinrad hosts its One Bread, One Cup liturgical leadership conferences for high school teens and their adult ministers. Other programs include the College Ministerial Internship Program, the Young Adult Initiative and the Office of Hispanic and Latino Ministry.

Saint Meinrad’s monks strongly agree that the work they do must be fully integrated with their prayer, the thread that weaves together the fabric of the monks’ day. Prayer remains their unchanging habit in a changing world. As their website, saintmeinrad.org, notes, “On good days and on bad days,” the monks say, “we gather in the Archabbey Church for the Liturgy of the Hours and to celebrate the Eucharist. Regardless of the weather, our personal moods and concerns, or the news of the day, we follow our tradition of praying for the Church and its needs.”

As we remember St. Benedict on his July 11 feast day and beyond, let’s give thanks for the women and men who follow Rule here in central and southern Indiana and in all regions of the world.

—Daniel Conway