What we know of Saint Benedict is told to us by Pope St. Gregory the Great in the second book of his Dialogues. This is a four-part series of which the second volume is dedicated solely to one person, St. Benedict. In these works, Pope Gregory is concerned to show that there are holy people in the Italy of his time. His style of writing a life reflects this. While he has sources, Pope Gregory does not write with our sense of what actually happened. For him the lives of holy men and women were based on biblical models. A holy person would reflect the richness of the lives of biblical persons. Recounting miracles was popular and there was precedent for them in Scripture. They can be abundant because they indicate the holiness of the person and their closeness to God. They are usually at the service of someone or a situation.

The Beginnings

Pope Gregory introduces Benedict very simply: “There was a man of venerable life, who was Blessed (Benedictus) in both grace and name.” This echoes the biblical introduction of John the Baptist in John’s Gospel or the Old Testament Job. He then immediately describes Benedict as someone who had “the heart of an elder” even while he was boy. This is another way of saying that he was wise from an early age. A blessed person is someone who is aware of how they have been graced; a blessed person has been graced with a knowledge and wisdom from God. That wisdom will be seen in the choice Benedict makes to leave behind the glory of the world, described by St. Gregory as a “faded bloom.” In this way St. Gregory alerts us that the early story of his life is about leaving the world to serve God alone.

We are given only a few details of his origins. Traditionally the date of his birth is 480 C.E. He was born around Nursia, today Norcia in southeastern Umbria. His parents are described as free born. They were no doubt property owners and of means as they sent Benedict to Rome for a classical education. This would have involved tuition of some sort. He did not go alone but with a housekeeper who looked after him. Towards the end of his book and the life of St. Benedict, St. Gregory introduces us to his sister St. Scholastica who is a nun. There Gregory describes a wonderful meeting of brother and sister shortly before she dies. In fact, he has her body brought to his monastery and eventually he is buried next to her. That both brother and sister sought the religious life indicates that their parents were also Christians with a deep faith. Tradition later added names to his parents as well as his housekeeper to fill out gaps left in the Dialogues.

The Departure from the World

Pope Gregory does not focus on Benedict’s education in Rome, merely saying that he was getting a liberal arts education. His concern is to tell us of Benedict’s reaction to the world that was Rome. Benedict witnessed the behavior of his classmates as they were plunging into vice and sensual pleasure. He realized that he stood at the edge of this world of shady living and made the decision to withdraw from it. This knowledge of the world was not he what was looking for. This was not the wisdom with which God was blessing him. At this point St. Gregory tells us that he abandoned his literary studies. But he adds that at the same time he left his family home and his inheritance. In this way Benedict follows the example of the disciples of Jesus who left everything to follow the Lord. Gregory says that Benedict left everything “seeking to please God alone.” This is Benedict’s call story in a nutshell. Benedict is graced with a wisdom that directs him beyond the distractions of city life with its own knowledge to another kind of knowledge that will lie in God. Apparently, Benedict was aware that monastic life was the path to this knowledge that would satisfy his inner longings. In this way he left Rome, St. Gregory tell us, “Learnedly ignorant and wisely uninstructed.”

The Quest for a Remote Place

Benedict left Rome “looking for the monastic habit.” Monastic life was well known in the Italy of Benedict’s day. There were monks practicing the hermit life, living in wilderness areas. There were also monasteries of monks. But Benedict’s decision was first for the life of a hermit. He was determined about this. The first step in looking for a remote place was the village of Effide, today Affile, about 35 miles east of Rome. The early life of Benedict focused on the solitary life of a hermit. Forming communities of monks would come later.

The First Miracle

The only person to follow Benedict was the woman who looked after him. When they came to Effide, they were warmly received by the local Christians who invited them to live at the church. One day his housekeeper borrowed a sieve to clean some wheat. She placed it carelessly on the table and it fell and broke into two. She began to weep bitterly because the sieve had been borrowed.

Benedict, being kind and generous, felt compassion for her. He took up the two pieces with him and began to pray with tears. When he rose from prayer, he found the sieve intact with no signs of a break. He consoled his housekeeper by giving it back to her in one piece. Now everyone in the village became aware of what happened. They took the sieve and hung it up over the church door. Everyone could see what Benedict had done. We might think of the Cana story where it was the mother of Jesus who provoked him to do his first miracle by making wine where there was none, restoring the joy of the wedding. And don’t forget that both Elija and Elisha showed kindness to the women who offered him hospitality in his journeys. But we see how Benedict joined the tears of his housekeeper with his own in prayer. The prayer of a holy person can transform a bad thing into good.

But Benedict was not looking for praise and recognition. He did not want flattery but to work for God. So, he made the decision to leave. “He quietly slipped away from his housekeeper.” This must have been painful for her. Gregory tells us that “she loved him very tenderly.” In fact Benedict decision was the final step of leaving his past. In leaving her, he was leaving his privileged status in society and leaving his family for good. It was the final step toward leaving the world and the first step into the world of monastic life. He left Enfide and headed north alone for about six miles.

Subiaco

Benedict went to Subiaco, a wilderness area, in classical monastic terms, a desert. The River Anio cuts through the Abruzzi Mountains with a deep ravine. Here there was water and high up a cave with an overhang. It is a very picturesque area even today. On his way there he met a local monk called Romanus who asked him where he was going. He kept Benedict’s plan to himself and said he would help him. Most significantly, Romanus gave him the holy habit. This would be a sign that he would engage in the monastic way of life. He remained in his cave for three years, known only by Romanus.

Romanus lived in a monastery not far away. He kept his promise to help Benedict. He would steal some time away from the monastery and take some of his own food from the table and bring it to Benedict. There was no path to the cave so Romanus would lower the food on a rope from above. He attached a bell to it so that the man of God, as Pope Gregory refers to Benedict, would hear it and know Romanus had brought food. In some way Romanus becomes a father to Benedict and feeds him. This kind and generous monk looks after the new hermit and so encourages him.

The Old Enemy

The solitary is not as alone as one might think. Benedict may have left the world and any link to his former way of life to seek God alone. But in fact, it is another monk who cares for him from his monastery. A community looks after the solitary. But even in his eremitical life Benedict will not be left alone for long. Such a way of life attracts the attention of the Enemy or the Devil. Living close to God all alone is not on the horizon for the Evil One. It challenges his own authority to take over the thoughts and plans of one pursuing a holy life. So Benedict soon encounters the Enemy. At first it is harmless enough and is annoying more than anything else.

The Old Enemy becomes jealous. He was jealous of the charity of Romanus who was looking after a fellow monk and jealous that he was giving him bread. So he decided to disturb this link of love. So one day when Romanus was lowering the bread, he threw a rock and boke the bell. This way Benedict inside his cave would not be aware that his food had arrived. But this did not stop Romanus from caring for the man of God. He simply found another way around this. Charity would win out.

A Strange Easter

Benedict’s life in the cave, a life of prayer, of abstinence of food, of living in cold damp quarters, of living in isolation was now going to change. Gregory simply says that God enters into the picture directly. This makes sense as Benedict is a man of God. His life is living for him alone. God has decided that Benedict must be an example to the world. Gregory quotes the gospel saying that he would give light to all in the house like a lamp placed on a lamp stand. That is the reason for God moving Benedict along.

God decided very kindly that Romanus needs a rest from his labor of love. So he appears in a vision to a priest living some distance away. He is preparing to eat his festive meal on Easter Day. But the Lord tells him he has a servant who is hungry in a certain place. The priest packs up his Easter dinner and heads out looking for Benedict. When he finds him, they have a friendly talk, he lays out the food, blesses it and invites Benedict to eat because it is Easter! Benedict says, oh yes, it is Easter because you came to visit me. He thinks that the priest’s visit and sharing food is as sign of believing in the risen Lord. The priest insists that this is really the day of the Lord’s resurrection and so Benedict should not be fasting but eat the gifts the Lord has sent through the priest-visitor. So they enjoy the meal and afterwards the priests returned to his church.

The Discovery

Around the same time as the priest visited Benedict, some shepherds discovered his cave. When they first saw him dressed in animal skins, they thought they were seeing an animal. When they discovered it was the servant of God, a lot converted from their old mentality to a life of holiness. In this way he came to be known to everyone in the neighborhood. Of course, the result was that he had lots of visitors. This should not be surprising. Even the hermits old in the deserts of Egypt had visitors. Holiness and goodness in a person attract. Benedict received food from his visitors and they in turn took away in their hearts the food for the soul that he was teaching them.

Benedict did not turn away visitors but instead met their hunger by sharing what he had learned in his years of solitude. His hidden life was coming to an end. Later followers of Benedict would see in this story the foundation for their own mission of evangelization. Historically Benedictines have spread around the world carrying with them the lamp of the Rule and a way of life in common.

Temptation in the Wilderness

The Tempter comes to Benedict in the form of a blackbird that is annoyingly fluttering about his face. He sends it away with the sign of the cross. But the fluttering bird is a sign of the fluttering thoughts he has brought. And so Benedict experiences a temptation like nothing before.  A woman whom he had once seen is brought to his thoughts by the Evil spirit. Sensual lust flares up and he nearly leaves his hermitage because of it.

Touched by grace he comes to his senses. He sees a thicket of briars and thorns nearby, strips himself naked and throws himself into the thorns. He rolls around in them until he is scratched all over. In this way he exchanges the fire of sensual pleasure for that of pain. He later tells one of his disciples that the temptation to lust is so quieted that he is not bothered by it again. But another result is that having dealt with this vice he shows that he is a master of virtue. Being able to handle the temptations of the principal vices enables such people to so integrate their lives that they can assist others in the journey of a holy life.

St. Gregory tells us that this is what begins to happen. Many men began to leave the world and come to him to be taught how to live a life of virtue. The narrator tells us that his life became a fertile ground, the briars and thorns were gone and good fruit was borne. Going through the temptation and experiencing the pain of disciplining the thoughts and feelings was necessary in order for Benedict to enter into the next phase of his life. Now he could begin to be a father to those who wished to live together in community. Eventually the fruit would be in his Rule, written after years of experience and leadership.

7월 5일  † 한국 성직자들의 수호자 성 김대건 안드레아 사제 순교자 대축일

성 안드레아 김대건 사제의 편지에서

(제23신의 발췌, 옥 안에서, 1846년 8월 26일: 이원순, 허인 편저, 1975년, 정음사)

그들은 저를 잡아 가지고 상륙한 뒤에, 옷을 벗기고 다시 마구 때리며 온갖 능욕을 가하다가 관가로 압송했는데, 거기에는 많은 사람들이 모여 있었습니다. 관장이 제게 묻기를 “네가 천주교인이냐?” – “그렇소. 나는 천주교인이오.”라고 대답하였더니, “어찌하여 네가 임금의 명을 거역하여 그 교를 행하느냐? 배교하여라.” 하길래, “나는 천주교가 참된 종교이므로 받듭니다. 천주교는 내게 천주 공경하기를 가르치고, 또 나를 영원한 행복으로 인도합니다. 내게 배교하라는 것은 쓸데없는 말입니다.”라고 대답했더니, 이런 대답을 하였다고 주리를 틀고서, 관장이 또 말하기를 “네가 배교하지 않으면 때려 죽이겠다.” 하기에, “마음대로 하십시오. 그러나, 결코 나는 우리 천주를 배반할 수 없습니다. 우리 교의 진리를 알려거든 들어 보십시오. 내가 공경하는 천주는 천지와 사람과 만물을 조성하신 이요, 착한 이를 상 주시고 악한 자를 벌하시는 분입니다. 그래서 누구나 다 그를 공경하여야 합니다. 관장께서 내가 천주를 사랑하기 때문에 이런 형벌을 당하게 해주시니 관장께 감사합니다. 그리고 우리 천주님이 이런 은공을 갚고자 당신을 더 높은 관직에 올려 주시기를 바랍니다.”라고 말하자, 이 말을 듣고는 관장과 모든 사람이 비웃었습니다.

그 후에 여덟 자나 되는 긴 칼을 가져오기에, 제가 즉시 그 칼을 잡아 제 손으로 제 목에 대니, 둘러섰던 모든 사람이 또한 다 크게 웃었습니다. 그리고는 이미 배교한 두 사람과 함께 옥에 가두는데, 저의 손, 발, 목, 허리를 어떻게나 몹시 결박하였던지, 걸을 수도 없고 앉을 수도 없고 누울 수도 없었습니다. 또한 구경꾼들이 둘러쌌기에 매우 괴로웠습니다. 저는 밤이 이슥토록 저들에게 교회의 도리를 설명하였더니, 그들은 흥미 있게 듣고 나서, 나라에서 금하지만 않으면 자기들도 봉행하겠다고 말했습니다.

포졸들이 저의 봇짐에서 중국 물건을 찾아내더니 이튿날 관장이 제게 중국인이냐고 물었습니다. 저는 “아니오, 나는 조선 사람이오.”라고 대답하였더니, 그는 저의 말을 믿지 않고 또 말하기를, “중국 어느 곳에서 사느냐?”라고 묻기에 “나는 중국 광동현 마카오에서 공부하였소. 나는 교우이므로 구경도 하고 또한 교회의 도리를 전할 마음으로 여기까지 오게 되었소.”라고 대답했습니다. 그러자 다시 저를 하옥하라고 명령했습니다.

서울에 도착하자 도적을 가두는 옥에 수감되었고 아전들은 저의 말하는 것을 들어 보고는 분명히 조선 사람이라고 단언했습니다. 이튿날 저를 관장 앞에 대령시켜 놓고 관장이 네가 누구냐고 문초하기에, “나는 조선 사람으로서, 공부를 하기는 중국 가서 하였소.”라고 대답하자 중국말을 하는 통역을 불러 저와 이야기를 시켜 보았습니다. 1839년 박해 때 배교자는 조선 소년 세 명이 서양말을 배우러 마카오로 떠났음을 고발하였을 뿐 아니라, 저와 함께 잡힌 교우들이 벌써 제가 누구라는 것을 실토하였으므로, 오랫동안 저의 신분을 감출 수 없음을 짐작하고, 관장에게 “나는 그 소년 셋 중의 하나인 김 안드레아”라고 자백하는 동시에, 고국에 다시 들어오려고 고생하였던 것을 모두 이야기했습니다. 이 말을 듣던 관장과 구경꾼들도 “가련한 소년, 어려서부터 허다한 고생을 많이 당하였구나.” 하고 이야기 했습니다.

그 후로는 임금의 명령에 의하여 배교하기를 독촉하기에 “임금 위에 또 천주께서 계시어 당신을 공경하라는 명령을 내리시니, 그를 배반함은 큰 죄악이라, 임금의 명령이라도 옳은 일이 될 수 없습니다.”고 대답하였습니다. 다시 교우들을 대라고 위협하기에, 우리에게는 애덕의 의무도 있고 천주께서 사람을 사랑하라는 명령을 내리신 까닭에 말할 수 없다고 답변했습니다.

그들은 다시 교회의 도리를 묻기에, 저는 장황한 설명을 시작하여 천주의 존재, 만물의 조성, 영혼의 불멸, 지옥과 천당, 조물주를 숭배할 의무, 외교의 헛되고 거짓됨을 말하여 주었습니다. 관장들은 대답하기를 “너의 교도 좋거니와 우리 유교도 좋으니 우리는 유교를 한다.” 하기에 “당신들의 의견이 그러하다면 우리를 편히 지내도록 할 것이고 우리와 서로 화목해야 하지 않겠소. 그런데 그렇기는 고사하고 당신들은 우리를 박해하고, 우리를 가장 극악한 죄인과 같이 혹평을 하니, 우리 교를 옳고 좋은 교라고 인정하는 당신들로서 마치 극악한 교와 같이 박해하는 것은 당신들 자체에 모순이 있는 것입니다.”라고 반박하였더니, 이 말을 들은 그네들은 다만 어리석은 웃음을 띄울 뿐이었습니다.

관장은 제게 영어로 된 지구 전도를 번역하라고 분부하기에, 여러 가지 채색으로 두 장을 그렸는데, 한 장은 임금께 드릴 것이며, 지금은 대신들의 부탁으로 간단한 지리서를 편술하기에 분주한 날을 보내고 있습니다. 그들은 저를 위대한 학자로 인정합니다. 가련한 인생들, 저는 감히 주교 각하께 저의 어머니 우르술라를 부탁 드리옵니다. 저의 어머니는 10년 동안 못 본 아들을 불과 며칠 동안 만나 보았을 뿐 또다시 홀연 잃고 말았으니, 각하께 간절히 바라건대, 슬픔에 잠긴 저의 어머니를 잘 위로하여 주십시오. 이제 저는 진심으로 각하의 발 아래 엎디어, 저희 사랑하올 부친이요 공경하올 주교님께 마지막 하직의 인사를 드리는 바입니다. 그리고 베시 주교님과 안 신부님에게도 공손히 하직을 고하옵니다. 이후 천당에서 만나 뵙겠습니다.

예수를 위하여 옥에 갇힌 탁덕 김 안드레아.