JULY 11th, 2015: THE FEAST OF OUR HOLY FATHER ST BENEDICT

Venerable Benedict of Nursia

The Order of St Benedict (O.S.B)
The Benedictine Order is not an “order” in the usual sense of the word.    There is a confederation of congregations and monasteries that remain autonomous in relation to the central authorities of the confederation.   There are also orders, congregations, and individual monasteries that are not members of the confederation but with every right to call themselves “Benedictines”.   There are even Orthodox monasteries that follow the Rule of St Benedict; and, although they don’t sign themselves “OSB”, they have a perfect right to do so, and some wear the Benedictine habit.  There are also Anglican monasteries of monks and nuns, whose Benedictine identity no one disputes and who appear in the (Catholic) Benedictine Yearbook.   There are also several Lutheran Benedictine monasteries.
   
Oblates (click or contact individual monasteries)     An Oblate is a lay or clerical, single or married, person formally associated to a particular monastery. The Oblate seeks to live a life in harmony with the spirit of Saint Benedict as revealed in the Rule of Saint Benedict and its contemporary expression.)

English Benedictine Congregation
The English Benedictine Congregation (EBC) was first formed in 1216, but lapsed (or just faded away) at the Dissolution of the monasteries in 1535-40. It was revived and restored by Rome (1607-33) when numbers of Englishmen had become monks in Italian or Spanish monasteries and were coming to England as Missioners. It has been active ever since, and its General Chapter has met every four years (almost exactly so) up to the present.
Belmont Abbey, Hereford, UK
Founded as a common novciate and cathedral for Wales; it was the first post-reformation cathedral in Britain to sing the full office; it was the first place in Britain since the Reformation  to sing Gregorian chant ; it is one of the more flourishing monasteries in Britain, and it is the mother house of our foundation in Pachacamac, Lima, Peru.

Pachacamac Monastery, Lima, Peru.
This is the only monastery of cloistered monks in Peru; and, for this reason, it has no outside work.   At present, there is one English monk from Belmont and seven Peruvians.   Two are priests and all but two are in solemn vows.  The monks do their own domestic work – we have no regular employees – and we have a very active guest house, and direct many retreats.  People also come for spiritual direction, for confession, and to be anointed with the Sacrament of the Sick.   However, we have not yet discovered a means to cover all our costs.

The community of Pachacamac sends its blessings and promises of prayers to all our readers, as we celebrate the Feast of St Benedict, July 11th.  First Vespers begins in exactly one hour and a half, at 5.30pm.