The Dialogues. Book Two. Saint Benedict

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SA IN T B E N E D IC T

The Library of Liberal Arts

In the courtyard of the Abbey of Monte Cassino, the priest Florentius offers the poisoned bread to Benedict (see p. 15). From Gregorius I, Dialogorum lib e j 11, Vita S. B enedicti, Paduan manu­ script of the middle 15th Century. Reproduced by permission of The Pierpont Morgan Library.

T H E D IA LO G U ES OF Gregory the Great BOOK TW O

S A IN T B E N E D I C T

T R A N S L A T E D , W I T H A N IN T R O D U C T IO N AN D N O TES, B Y M Y R A L . U H L F E L D E R BRYN M AW R CO LLEG E

The Library of Liberal Arts published by

TH E BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY, INC. Indianapolis and New York

Saint Benedict: ca. a .d . 480-550 Gregory the Great: ca. a .d . 540-604

© 1967 T H E BO BBS-M ERRILL COMPANY, INC. Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 66-3061 First Printing copyright

C O N TEN TS INTRO D UCTIO N, ix B IB LIO G R A P H IC A L N O TE, X X u i N O TE ON T H E T E X T , X X ÌV

SAINT

BENEDICT

I* How a Broken Cleaning-Vessel Was Repaired ii* How Benedict Overcame the Temptation of the Flesh in* How a Glass Vessel Was Broken by the Sign of the Cross

4 6 8

iv* How a Monk Who Could Not Concentrate Was Restored to Soundness

11

v* How Water Was Produced from a Rock on the Mountain Top by Benedict’s Prayer

12

vi* How an Iron Tool Came Up from the Bottom of the Water and Returned to Its Handle vu • How His Disciple, Maurus, Walked on Water v

13 14

CONTENTS

vin* How Some Poisoned Bread Was Thrown Away by a Raven

15

ix* How a Huge Rock Was Raised by the Prayer of the Man of God

18

x* An Imaginary Fire in the Kitchen

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xi • How a Young Monk, Gravely Injured by the Collapse of a Wall, Was Healed by His Prayer xii* The Monks Who Had Eaten Outside the Monastery

19 20

xiii* The Man of God Realizes That the Brother of the Monk Valentinian Had Eaten Along the Way

21

xiv • How King Totila’s Deception Was Discovered

22

xv* How a Prophecy Was Given to King Totila and to the Priest of Canosa

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xvi* How a Cleric Was Temporarily Freed from a Demon xvii* How the Man of God Predicted the Destruction of His Monastery xviii • How a Plidden Flask Was Discovered by the Man of God Through the Holy Spirit

24 27 28

xix* How Benedict Found Out About the Acceptance of the Handkerchieves

28

xx* How the Man of God Was Aware of a Monk’s Proud Thought *

29

xxi • How Two Hundred Measures of Meal

CONTENTS

Were Found in Front of Benedict’s Monastery at a T ime of Famine

xxii• How the Architectural Plan for a Monastery at Terracina Was Drawn Up in a Dream X X II I»

X X IV »

30

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How Some Nuns Who Had Died Were Restored to the Communion of the Church Through His Offering

33

About the Young Monk Cast Out by the Earth After Burial

34

xxv • About a Monk Who Left the Monastery and Found a Serpent on the Way XXVI»

V il

How a Servant Was Cured of Leprosy

35 36

xxvii • How Pieces of Gold Were Miraculously Given to a Debtor

36

xxviii • How a Glass Vessel Was Thrown upon Some Rocks and Not Broken

37

X X IX »

How an Empty Jar Was Filled with Oil

38

XXX»

How a Monk Was Freed from a Demon

38

XXXI»

How a Bound Peasant Was Freed When the Man of God Merely Looked at Him

39

How Benedict Revived a Corpse

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The Miracle of His Sister Scholastica

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XXXII» X XXIII» XXXIV»

How Benedict Saw the Departure of His Sister’s Soul from Her Body

xxxv • About the Way That the World Was Gathered Up Before Benedict’s Eyes and About the Soul of Germanus, Bishop of Capua

44

44

V ili

xxxvi* That Benedict Had Written a Rule for Monks

CONTENTS

46

xxxvii • How the Prophecy of His Death Was Reported to the Brothers

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xxxviii • How a Madwoman Was Restored to Health in His Cave

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Introduction

For a student of the post-classical period, Book II of Gregory’s Dialogues is significant first of all because it is our main author­ ity for the life of St. Benedict. Its value as a virtually unique source is enhanced by the fact that it was written in 593-594, less than fifty years after Benedict’s death. At a time so close to the saint’s life, oral tradition was readily available to supplement written records; and in fact, Gregory, in citing his sources, often mentions personal conversations. From the Dialogues, we learn that Benedict was born (ca. 480) in the Umbrian province of Nursia, and that in his early youth he decided to relinquish his chances of worldly success and to dedicate himself to his religious vocation. After a period of solitary retirement in a cave near Lake Subiaco, he made an unsuccessful attempt to reform the wayward monks of Vicovaro. Then he established his own first monastic communities at Su­ biaco. In 528 he moved to Monte Cassino, where he built his famous monastery, composed his Rule, and spent the rest of his life (d. ca. 550). In 627 his remains were taken to France to the Abbey of Fleury, which adopted the name Saint-Benoit-surLoire. The importance of St. Benedict in the history of Western Civilization is inextricably related to the deep and widespread influence of monasticism, especially upon the Middle Ages, for monasticism was the quintessence of mediaeval spirituality.1 Later periods too, even the most secular of them, have been indebted to the monks who preserved the literature of the past 1 For excellent discussions of the monastic spirit and its achievements, see Jean Leclercq, The Love of Learning and the Desire for God, tr. Catha­ rine Misrahi (Mentor Omega Book M T432) and Claude J. Peifer, Monastic Spirituality (New York, 1966). IX

X

INTRODUCTION

by copying manuscripts.2 Since European monasticism is very largely Benedictine, the impact of Benedict's life and work becomes evident.3 One reason for the extraordinary popularity of the Dialogues, from the date of its composition (593-594) to our own day, is the identity of its author, Pope Gregory the Great (ca. 540-604).4 Gregory was a prolific if not a highly original writer. In addi­ tion to the Dialogues, his works include the Liber Regulae Pastoralis (or Liber Pastoralis Curae) on the duties of a bishop, the Magna Moralia, which is a commentary on Job, Homilies on the Gospel, and Homilies on Ezekiel. The massive body of Gregory’s Epistles provides an invaluable primary source for the historian of the period from the pen of one of its most influential figures. Gregory’s literary works were intended to be, and are, at once products and instruments of his monastic and his pontifical vocations. Extensive as these writings are, they are surpassed in importance by Gregory’s success as a devoted and talented ad2 Benedictine monasticism in later periods developed regular practices perhaps not envisioned, and certainly not specified, by St. Benedict himself in the R u le, among them the copying of manuscripts. For a recent general description and survey of the evolution of the Order and for current bib­ liography, see Lowrie J. Daly, Benedictine Monasticism, Its Formation and Development through the 12th Century (New York, 1965). Father Daly acknowledges his indebtedness especially to the works of Dom David Knowles (T he Monastic Order in England [Cambridge, 1950]) and of Dom Philibert Schmitz (Histoire de l'Ordre de Saint-Benoît, 2nd ed., 7 vols. [Les Éditions de Maredsous, 1948-1956]). 3 T h e Irish monks who were such active missionaries on the continent found it necessary to mitigate the rigor of Celtic monasticism by adopting the practices of the more moderate Benedictines. Benedictine monasticism stresses work, prayer, absolute obedience, and simple devoutness. It is prac­ tical and humane in the sense that it aims at reducing harmful and unnec­ essary temptations, and does not foster the development of a “ spiritual athlete” who constantly looks for higher obstacles to surmount and aspires to prodigious feats of asceticism. 4 For a general survey of the life, times, and work of Gregory, see F. Homes Dudden, Gregory the Great, His Place in History and Thought, 2 vols. (London, 1905); and Louis Bréhier and René Aigrain, Grégoire le Grand, Vol. V of Histoire de l'Église, ed. A. Fliche and V. Martin (Paris,

1947>-

INTRODUCTION

XI

ministrator at a time when his abilities were sorely needed. As a spiritual man of action Gregory made such a great con­ tribution that he is sometimes regarded as the founder of the mediaeval papacy. Although he was a Roman of good family, Gregory in his youth voluntarily gave up his chances for worldly advancement, used his patrimony to found monasteries in Sicily and in Rome, and himself retired from the world to his Roman monastery on the Caelian Hill. His illustrious career in the Church was im­ posed upon him against his will. After serving as seventh deacon in Rome and as papal representative (