ST. BENEDICT (JULY 11, 2024) | CELEBRATING THE FEAST OF OUR FOUNDER | DOM LORENZO MARIA, SSCV 🌿

CHALLENGE TO A WORLD ENMESHED BY DIFFICULTIES Today we celebrate the Feast of our Founder St. Benedict the Patron of Europe who exercised the greatest influence on monasticism in the West. The Church has been blessed because of the Benedictine Spirituality which aims at balance and moderation of life. We acknowledge the Benedictine cogregation’s contribution to the liturgy, most especially in its actual celebration, thanks to the long history of abbeys and monasteries around the world. We are grateful to the Benedictines around the world which preserved the genuine tradition of worship in the Church. We thank the Benedictine Confederation from whom the Celestine community adopted St Benedict's Rule which offers a precise life of liturgical prayer, study manual labor and community life. St. Benedict’s contribution to the Church lies in his specific spirituality which is famous for its moderation. The Benedictine sprit has always shown concern for people and communities. The Celestine Community, our Congregation carefully follow St. Benedict’s Rule: Ora et Labora (Prayer and Work). With some modifications we see to it that the Celestine Monk as a Benedictine should have 8 hours sleep, 8 hours time for prayer and 8 hours work daily. St. Benedict wasn’t interested in the praise of men; during his lifetime; he sought only holiness. His struggle with temptations teach us to to put Christ above all and at the center of our lives. He was strong in the face of adversity and faithful to his vision; he knew how to surrender and leave everything in the hands of God. He was ready to start again and again in his struggle until he succeeds in obeying God’s will. His “Rule” continues to be the guide not only for monks but also for ordinary people to achieve ‘holiness’ in moderation and balance of life. The sevety-three chapters of St. Benedict’s Rule encompass both the spiritual and temporal aspects of daily life most especially in the ‘monastic’ style of life even at the center of contemporary settings in cities around the world. Today we honor the great contibution of our Father to the Church as we go back to his humble beginnings and reflect what must be moderated, increased or cut in our life. The world hasn’t changed since the time of Benedict, we are still challenged to discover our own special quiet place alone with God to reflect where we have lost our way or our identity. St Benedict invites us to renounce sin and embrace a life of holiness most especially in the post modern period, once and for all. And when this happens, God can once more change the course of history; do great things for us and transform us and our society beyond our comprehension and expectations. May we follow the example of St. Benedict and commit ourselves to holy daily living and leave it up to God to us as as He will. This is what the world badly needs now. On this feast of the Founder we pray: "St. Benedict, pray that we may always seek out God’s will in our lives, leaving behind the many temptations to sin that we encounter, so that God can use us in ways known only to Him. St. Benedict, pray for us!"