The Blessings and Example of St. Benedict, by Sandra Miesel

The father of monasticism in the West is a model for treating the ills of modern society.

By Sandra Miesel, Catholic World Report, July 9, 2023

(Editor’s note: This essay was originally posted on August 18, 2011.)

Sandra Miesel is an American medievalist and writer. She is the author of hundreds of articles on history and art, among other subjects, and has written several books, including The Da Vinci Hoax: Exposing the Errors in The Da Vinci Code, which she co-authored with Carl E. Olson, and is co-editor with Paul E. Kerry of Light Beyond All Shadow: Religious Experience in Tolkien’s Work (Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2011).

Western civilization is “waiting for another Benedict,” according to philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre. But why single out St. Benedict of Nursia (480-547) as a model for treating the ills of modern society?

As the father of monasticism in the West, St. Benedict is the spiritual patriarch of European culture and all cultures stemming from it. St. Benedict’s identity challenges the contemporary erosion of fatherhood and even masculinity itself. For 15 centuries, his fruitful celibacy has proclaimed that paternity is not confined to semen donation. …

Continue reading >>>>