When one of my sons was applying to colleges ten years ago, we visited the campus of Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. I well remember a remark of a monk of the Abbey during a classroom meeting for visitors. He stated in a matter-of-fact way that the Benedictines had been teaching young people for about 1,500 years. No other institution now on the planet, he continued, could say anything similar. It was an astounding claim, and it was true.
The memory comes to mind because March 21 was the anniversary of the death of St. Benedict in the year 547. Before the Catholic Church reorganized its calendar of saints 40+ years ago, this was Benedict’s feast. (It is now July 11.) The Rule of St. Benedict governed monastic life in Western Europe for hundreds of years. Continuing into today, the monasteries of the Benedictines, Cistercians, and Trappists claim Benedict as their founder and venerate his Rule. Benedict was not only founder and abbot of monasteries; he was also a teacher of young men from surrounding communities, and the sons of St. Benedict have continued this teaching tradition (among many others) ever since.
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