www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West St Benedict and St Basil

Apparently St Benedict drew from St Basil's monastic formulation for inspiration. St Benedict himself mentions this in his Rule:

Chapter 73:
On the other hand, he that hasteneth on to the perfection of the religious life, hath at hand the teachings of the holy Fathers, the observance of which leadeth a man to the height of perfection. For what page or what utterance of the divinely inspired books of the Old and the New Testament is not a most exact rule of human life? Or, what book of the holy Catholic Fathers doth not loudly proclaim how we may go straight to our Creator? So, too, the collations of the Fathers, and their institutes and lives, and the rule of our holy Father, Basil -- what are they but the monuments of the virtues of exemplary and obedient monks?

I guess this shows that Benedictine spirituality, as well as Carthusian and Carmelite monasticism are fundamentally Eastern in inspiration.

yours in Christ,
Marshall

Dear Marshall,

Certainly, it would have been impossible for St Benedict not to have drawn on St Basil for the Rule of his monastics.

In fact, St Basil's "Asketicon" was never intended to be a "Rule" in the sense that St Benedict's Rule was and is.

St Benedict also drew on St John Cassian's works on the monastics of the Thebaid, works that influenced the Celtic monasteries of Britain and Ireland, as you know, and that, in turn, had a great liturgical and monastic influence on Benedictine spirituality.

Benedict's Rule was much more practical and "legalistic" in its presentation, the mark of the West in fact.

The Rules of St Pachomius and St Basil formulated monastic existence in the East.

Others like St. Joseph of Volotsk and St Nilus Sorsky in Russia added their own inspirations to monastic life, as did St Paissy Velichkovsky who summed up his "rule" in 18 propositions.

Alex

Dear Alex,

Very interesting. Thank you.

One short question. I have noticed that many Eastern Christians on this board refer to us westerners as "legalistic". Personally I find this offensive, but that may be because I have a Protestant background. Do you and other Eastern Christians use "legalistic" in a polemical sense or as a matter of fact? There is no secret that the Latin west has worked out the deposit of faith using a legal framework. Are you referring to this fact or do mean that westerners tend to be legalistic in a Pharisaical way?

I intend no offense or judgment against anyone by these questions. Often I feel attacked (not by you Alex!) when these issues come up and I want to state up front that I mean no offense to either the West or East. If anything I say can be taken in two different ways and one meaning is offensive, I meant the other way.

eram pacificus,
Marshall

Dear Marshall,

Yes, you raise an important and fascinating point.

I certainly don't use "legalistic" in a demeaning way.

In fact, I think we Easterners would be better off if we adopted some of the precision and orderliness of Western theology within specific contexts.

We underline "Mystery" a lot, but sometimes people wonder if that isn't a "cover" for a lack of precision etc.

One can certainly see the precision and orderliness of the Western mind in things like the study of saints where, in Western calendars, you will find such specific details as the actual street and address in a city where a martyr was killed!

In the debates on Arianism, it was Rome's soteriological system that won the day where the Divinity of Christ was an "absolute" in order to "effect" salvation - God became Man to satisfy to God for the offense of sin and because Christ is God, His one Sacrifice made atonement for all of humanity.

Certainly, legalism and orderliness can be taken to extremes, as can the East's emphasis on "mystery."

There are those who certainly do use "legalism" as a pejorative term for the West.

Unfortunately, when they do that, they expose their own ignorance of Church history and how the West's particular perspectives were used by God for the good of the entire Body of Christ.

Alex

Dear Alex,

You are so knowledgable! You always impress me. Thank you.

Back to St Benedict. Are there Orthodox Benedictines? If so, where? That sounds cool. Likewise, are there any Roman Catholic Basilians?

yours in Christ,
Marshall

Dear Marshall,

Thank you for the compliment, but I'm really an idiot!

There are Roman Catholic Basilians and my Catholic high school was in the care of the Latin Basilian teaching Order, founded in the 19th century.

Their monastic heraldic emblem bears the Greek Cross as a symbol of the Eastern monastic tradition of St Basil the Great.

My Latin teacher, Fr. Anthony Kelly, CSB, died on the Latin feast of St Michael, September 29th last year. I remember how strict he was about saying the entire Divine Office daily, nomatter what his teaching responsibilities.

I met him in a wheelchair on the street and he complimented me on an article I wrote for our local Catholic newspaper on another priest-teacher who had reposed in the Lord.

"I hope you do as good an article for me when my time comes, Alex" he smiled.

I told the people with him that he was the very best of teachers.

"Ah, Alex!" he said. "Still talking nonsense, I see . . ."

The only Orthodox Benedictines that I'm aware of belong to "independent" congregations.

I once knew one such Benedictine Superior of the Western Rite who had, within his community, no less than five Western liturgical Rites, including the Anglican Rite.

He even asked me what a proper name for the Anglican tradition within Orthodoxy should be.

I told him my suggestion - "Anglican Orthodox Catholic."

He agreed . . .

There is a Ukrainian CAtholic Benedictine community in the eparchy of Chicago that makes jams and marmalades.

I was in a Cistercian monastery for a while where they make cheese and chocolate.

There is a wonderful sense of ordered peace about the Benedictine tradition.

I once shared some Eastern liturgical services to St Benedict with a RC Benedictine nun - who got her community to use some of them in their daily services!

Is that cool or what?

Pax,

Alex

Greetings,

As a former Son of Benedict, I would like to weigh in here.

The Byzantine tradition has a Benedictine Monastery in Butler, PA. I do not think they have a website, but tey do exist. They wearthe same habit (sp?) that the rest of the Bendictines in the world wear.

Peter

Dear Brother Peter, The monks of Holy Trinity Monastery in Butler now wear the traditional Eastern monastic garb. Vito

Greetings Marshall, et al,

There are some third order Benedictines at St. Elizabeth's in Mesquite, TX, a parish of the Antiochian Vicariate of the Western Rite. Not the same as a community of course, but they do have plans to establish a monastery there in Mesquite attached to the shrine to Our Lady of Walsingham. Years away, perhaps, but exciting.

Peace,

David

Dear Brothers,

Thanks for the enlightening conversation on Eastern and Benedictine expressions of Christianity. I believe the renowned Armenian Congregation, the Mekhitarists, are also Benedictine.

In Christ's Light,

Wm. Der-Ghazarian

a couple of links on the Mekhitarists:

http://www.mekhitarist.org/

http://www-writing.montaigne.u-bordeaux.fr/univ/sanlazzaro.htm