*culture is not optional

St. Gregory's Abbey and Benedictine monasticism

Historical Sketch

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A brief look at the history of monasticism demonstrates the
importance of tradition. Although the weight of tradition in
monasticism has inhibited vital spiritual growth at times, it has also
served as the inspiration for a sense of direction in the creative
development of monasticism's fundamental values. The early monastic
movement was one application of Christian values. St. Benedict
inherited that tradition and developed new ways to live the monastic
life in his time and place. Since the time of St. Benedict, his
followers have been faced with the need of finding new applications of
the rule in different historical circumstances. Although there have
been times when monks have tried aggressively to affect their
surrounding culture, monastic communities have often been most
effective in social and cultural change by simply placing their
emphasis on being faithful to their own lifestyle rather than telling
other people how to live theirs. In the later Middle Ages monastic
institutions were so powerful that they tended to embody the current
cultural values rather than challenge them. In contrast, the present
day is a time when monasteries are sufficiently detached from the
surrounding culture to open new perspectives on life to that culture.

Beginnings of Monasticism

Monasticism began as a recognizable institution in the fourth
century, but monastic values can be seen in many practices of the early
church before this time. Since the church was subject to persecution
from time to time under the Roman Emperors, many devoted Christians had
the opportunity to offer their lives for Christ in a single act of
martyrdom. Other earnest Christians who were not martyred in this way
discovered that they also could offer their lives by practicing acts of
self-denial, learning to die to themselves every day in order to live
with Christ. When the Emperor Constantine established Christianity in
the Roman Empire in 325, he made Christianity more socially acceptable.
As a result, many joined the Church with less fervor than many earlier
Christians had. In reaction to this trend, numerous Christians chose to
embrace the values of a daily martyrdom for the sake of their own
salvation. This quest for salvation became a witness to the whole
church. The result was the early monastic movement.

The first monks who moved out of the cities into the deserts of
Egypt and Palestine are known as the Desert Fathers. They practiced a
radical asceticism, often eating very little, sleeping very little,
keeping silent, usually living alone, and reciting the Psalter, often
from memory, every day. Such practices were extreme, but they
represented an honest attempt to be generous in giving their lives
completely to God. Also, the austerity of these monks caused other
people to think about the lives they were leading and sometimes to
question their own lifestyles.

The monks of the fourth century concerned themselves only with
living the Christian life as fully as possible. They did not want to
change the world; they wanted only to change themselves with the power
of God's grace. But as these monks were changed by God's grace, many
other people came out into the desert to seek counsel from the Fathers
and found that their example could help them change for the better too.

The Desert Fathers had to learn to avoid the pitfalls in their
ascetic way of life. For one thing, there was the danger of taking
pride in their acts of self-denial. Another danger was self-absorption
to the point of losing sight of the need to care for other people. To
counteract such dangers, and to accommodate the many people who wanted
to give their lives totally to God but who were unable to practice such
austerities, monks began to live in groups under a superior who could
guide the others in the Christian life. In these first monasteries, the
ascetic life became less extreme and a greater emphasis was placed on
the life of charity toward others which living in community requires.

St. Benedict

When St. Benedict began to form his first monastery in about A.D.
500, he was the inheritor of almost two centuries of monastic
tradition. He respected the ascetic lives of the early Desert Fathers,
but felt that the values of the communal life with a more moderate
asceticism were much more realistic for most of the men who were
presenting themselves for the monastic life. Benedict taught a middle
way between radical asceticism and a life of indulgence: monks should
eat adequate amounts of food, but not too much; they should have
adequate amounts of sleep, but not too much. Benedict did not urge his
monks to storm Heaven and win salvation in one day. Rather, Benedict
showed himself to be realistic about human nature. He knew that even
men who choose to devote themselves to a life of worship will have
their foibles and that any change for the better will take many years
of struggle. Benedict enjoined an asceticism more relaxed than that of
the early monks, which stressed leading a gradual journey to God in
which one never loses sight of the goal of Heaven. The practice may be
moderate, but it is still uncompromising in its devotion to God.

When St. Benedict organized a monastic community in the early sixth
century and wrote a Rule for his followers, he was not trying to solve
the social conflicts that were tearing the Italian peninsula apart at
the time. Benedict's focus was in leading his community into living the
Christian life centered on acts of worship. But when the Roman Empire
collapsed in Europe, the church and its monasteries, in particular,
were among the few institutions which could keep society together.
Benedict's Rule was only one among many at the time, but its
flexibility and practical common sense in living the Christian life
from day to day eventually made it the normative monastic rule in
Europe.

The Middle Ages

The early Middle Ages is sometimes called the age of monasticism.
True, monasteries were important and had a recognized place in society.
They were supported for the most part by members of the nobility whose
motives were sometimes mixed. One endowed monastery, for example, was
located at a strategic bend of a river to help guard the benefactor's
lands. However, it is also clear that for men and women in a violent
time, both the ministry of prayer and the presence of a lifestyle
different from their own was highly valued. Moreover, monasteries were
the most important centers of learning and for keeping cultural values
alive until the urban universities arose in the eleventh century.

The history of monasticism is not, however, all light shining in the
surrounding darkness. Ever since the earliest days of monasticism,
there have been serious failures of observance. There have been times
when monasticism has been strong in its witness to the church and the
world, and times when it has been woefully weak. The late Middle Ages
was one of these low periods for monasticism. It is worth noting,
however, that this is also a period when monastic values were not
strongly supported in the surrounding culture. Material support was
lacking, but worse was the lack of respect for the ideals of
monasticism. It is not impossible for there to be good monks in an
indifferent society, but it is more difficult. A society gets the monks
it deserves.

The Modern Period

Since the late medieval period, there have been many revivals and
declines in monasticism. Some declines were caused by external factors
such as the Protestant Reformation and the Wars of Napoleon, recent
examples of how vulnerable monasticism can be when the surrounding
culture chooses not to tolerate it. However, with each loss of the
monastic witness, the need for that witness has made itself felt again,
and the monastic vocation has been revived. Benedictines continue to
make significant contributions to cultural advancement. They are
producing scholarly editions of early Christian writings, important
studies in liturgy, and many works on spirituality. Perhaps most
important, Benedictinism preserves certain teachings on the spiritual
life whose importance is gaining ever more recognition today.

The Second Vatican Council urged reform of the monastic and
religious orders under the two-fold concept of returning to the
principles and charism of the order's origins and then discerning ways
to apply these teachings in our time. As a result of this conciliar
decree, great strides have been made in the understanding of the early
monastic movement and of St. Benedict and his Rule. Not only have we
been able to confirm many Benedictine teachings which have been
consistently preserved over the centuries, but we have also
rediscovered much which had been lost. This increase of information
offers Benedictines today as well as all other Christians, a chance to
participate in a revival which brings old teachings in contact with new
questions in the Church.

Benedictinism and the Anglican Communion

One of the more notorious examples of the destruction of monasticism
as an institution is the dissolution of the monasteries in England by
Henry VIII. There is reason to believe that Henry himself was motivated
more by the need for the monasteries' economic resources more than by
any religious or political reasons. However, with the monasteries gone,
the anti-monastic bias of the reformers gained a foothold in the
Anglican Church and they discouraged any revival of the institution.

One of the ironies in this event is that at the very time that
monasticism was wiped out in England, many of the Christian values that
Benedictines had preserved over the centuries were incorporated into
the Book of Common Prayer, especially in the daily offices of Morning
and Evening Prayer. Moreover, the temperament of moderate asceticism
embodied in the Benedictine Rule set the tone for much of the best in
Anglican spirituality.

During the nineteenth century, there was a revival of interest in
the theology, practice, and institutions of early Christianity inspired
by the Oxford Movement in the Anglican Church. Included in this revival
was a growing interest in re-establishing religious orders in the
Church of England. Initially, there was strong resistance to this
revival, but it also gained strong supporters as the need for the
witness of religious and monastic orders was felt. The first religious
orders in the Church of England were devoted to active ministries, but
by the turn of the century, the way had been paved for more
contemplative styles of living the religious life. After two false
starts, a Benedictine community was established at Pershore which later
moved to Burnham, Buckinghamshire, and became Nashdom Abbey.

St. Gregory's Abbey

In the United States, this same desire for reviving Benedictine
monasticism was felt, and when a group of seminarians and a professor
from Nashotah House Seminary decided they wanted to try a Benedictine
vocation, their trip to Nashdom Abbey was sponsored by the American
Benedictine Sponsoring Committee under the leadership of Canon Vivan
Peterson from Cleveland.

In 1939, when the international situation became unsettled, the
American Benedictines returned to the U.S. to start a monastic house.
Bishop Campbell Gray welcomed the monks into the Diocese of Northern
Indiana and they opened St. Gregory's House in Valparaiso. Pope St.
Gregory I was chosen as the new monastery's patron because the house
was opened on March 12, the Feast of St. Gregory, and because St.
Gregory sent the first Roman mission to the English people in 597.

After the War, the community wished to move to a rural location. In
1946, they located a piece of property near Three Rivers, Michigan, and
negotiated its purchase. St. Gregory's has been at Three Rivers ever
since. In 1969, St. Gregory's Priory became an independent abbey and
Fr. Benedict Reid was elected first abbot. After the resignation of Fr.
Benedict on February 10, 1989, Fr. Andrew Marr was elected second abbot
on March 2, 1989.

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