{"id":4185,"date":"2018-07-11T01:13:30","date_gmt":"2018-07-11T05:13:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stevencwelsh.info\/faith-central\/catholic-news\/?p=4185"},"modified":"2018-07-11T01:17:03","modified_gmt":"2018-07-11T05:17:03","slug":"catholic-faithwatch-saint-benedict-of-norcia-pope-benedict-xvi-general-audience-of-9-april-2008-vaticanva","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevencwelsh.info\/faith-central\/catholic-news\/catholic-faithwatch-saint-benedict-of-norcia-pope-benedict-xvi-general-audience-of-9-april-2008-vaticanva\/","title":{"rendered":"CATHOLIC FAITHWATCH: &#8220;Saint Benedict of Norcia&#8221; &#8211; Pope Benedict XVI General Audience of 9 April 2008\/VaticanVa"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p>&#8220;&#8230; St Benedict&#8217;s life was steeped in an atmosphere of prayer, the foundation of his existence. Without prayer there is no experience of God. Yet Benedict&#8217;s spirituality was not an interiority removed from reality. In the anxiety and confusion of his day, he lived under God&#8217;s gaze and in this very way never lost sight of the duties of daily life and of man with his practical needs. Seeing God, he understood the reality of man and his mission. In his Rule he describes monastic life as &#8220;a school for the service of the Lord&#8221; (Prol. 45) and advises his monks, &#8220;let nothing be preferred to the Work of God&#8221; [that is, the <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1328\" src=\"http:\/\/stevencwelsh.info\/faith-central\/catholic-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Cross-desert-justice-gov-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Cross Atop Rocky Cliff\" width=\"250\" height=\"188\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stevencwelsh.info\/faith-central\/catholic-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Cross-desert-justice-gov-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stevencwelsh.info\/faith-central\/catholic-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Cross-desert-justice-gov.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/>Divine Office or the Liturgy of the Hours] (43, 3). However, Benedict states that in the first place prayer is an act of listening (Prol. 9-11), which must then be expressed in action. &#8220;The Lord is waiting every day for us to respond to his holy admonitions by our deeds&#8221; (Prol. 35). Thus, the monk&#8217;s life becomes a fruitful symbiosis between action and contemplation, &#8220;so that God may be glorified in all things&#8221; (57, 9). In contrast with a facile and egocentric self-fulfilment, today often exalted, the first and indispensable commitment of a disciple of St Benedict is the sincere search for God (58, 7) on the path mapped out by the humble and obedient Christ (5, 13), whose love he must put before all else (4, 21; 72, 11), and in this way, in the service of the other, he becomes a man of service and peace. In the exercise of obedience practised by faith inspired by love (5, 2), the monk achieves humility (5, 1), to which the Rule dedicates an entire chapter (7). In this way, man conforms ever more to Christ and attains true self-fulfilment as a creature in the image and likeness of God. &#8230;&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3><a href=\"http:\/\/w2.vatican.va\/content\/benedict-xvi\/en\/audiences\/2008\/documents\/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20080409.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Click here for: &#8220;Saint Benedict of Norcia&#8221; &#8211; Pope Benedict XVI General Audience of 9 April 2008\/VaticanVa<\/em><\/a><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"js_gv\" class=\"_5pbx userContent _3576\" data-ft=\"{&quot;tn&quot;:&quot;K&quot;}\">\n<div id=\"id_5b458fc2631d34757849020\" class=\"text_exposed_root text_exposed\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"_3x-2\" data-ft=\"{&quot;tn&quot;:&quot;H&quot;}\">\n<div data-ft=\"{&quot;tn&quot;:&quot;H&quot;}\">\n<div class=\"mtm\">\n<div id=\"u_1w_2\" class=\"_6m2 _1zpr clearfix _dcs _4_w4 _5cwb _23bq _2bf7 _64lx _3eqz _20pq _3eqw _2rk1\" data-ft=\"{&quot;tn&quot;:&quot;H&quot;}\">\n<div class=\"clearfix _2r3x\">\n<div class=\"lfloat _ohe\">\n<div class=\"_6ks\">\n<div class=\"_6l- __c_\">\n<div class=\"uiScaledImageContainer _6m5 fbStoryAttachmentImage\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"scaledImageFitWidth img\" src=\"https:\/\/external-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net\/safe_image.php?d=AQDiJ1viZ3Z2EYfn&amp;w=160&amp;h=160&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fw2.vatican.va%2Fetc%2Fdesigns%2Fvatican%2Flibrary%2Fimages%2Flogo-vatican.png&amp;cfs=1&amp;upscale=1&amp;fallback=news_d_placeholder_publisher&amp;_nc_hash=AQAy4NkMWbykJD4r\" alt=\"\" width=\"158\" height=\"158\" aria-label=\"Texto alt autom\u00e1tico indispon\u00edvel.\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"_42ef\">\n<div class=\"_3ekx _29_4\">\n<div class=\"_6m3 _--6\">\n<div class=\"_59tj _2iau\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"_6lz _6mb _1t62 ellipsis\">w2.vatican.va<\/div>\n<div class=\"\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"_3n1k\">\n<h3 class=\"mbs _6m6 _2cnj _5s6c\"><a href=\"https:\/\/l.facebook.com\/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fw2.vatican.va%2Fcontent%2Fbenedict-xvi%2Fen%2Faudiences%2F2008%2Fdocuments%2Fhf_ben-xvi_aud_20080409.html&amp;h=AT0ZW2k38TLqk0diqo9i6R8TD_RdRau_b2ScPz-u71PS4AMiCSVdMpv7-vZaH8LnqjogrAVnyF_8NMY3B9DbVk5emV121sBEUSGlMZGyxMFCyMLXxF9CtP1d-fJLC9xgEx0QBWWtDA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-lynx-mode=\"asynclazy\">General Audience of 9 April 2008: Saint Benedict of Norcia | BENEDICT XVI<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"_6m7 _3bt9\"><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-408 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/stevencwelsh.info\/faith-central\/catholic-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/vatican-river-1000-cropped-e1485755660653.jpg\" alt=\"View of St. Peter's Basilica at Vatican from River\" width=\"100%\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stevencwelsh.info\/faith-central\/catholic-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/vatican-river-1000-cropped-e1485755660653.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/stevencwelsh.info\/faith-central\/catholic-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/vatican-river-1000-cropped-e1485755660653-300x137.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stevencwelsh.info\/faith-central\/catholic-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/vatican-river-1000-cropped-e1485755660653-768x351.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&amp;nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;&#8230; St Benedict&#8217;s life was steeped in an atmosphere of prayer, the foundation of his existence. Without prayer there is no experience of God. Yet Benedict&#8217;s spirituality was not an interiority removed from reality. In the anxiety and confusion of his day, he lived under God&#8217;s gaze and in this very way never lost sight of the duties of daily<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":408,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3,4,305,133,73,46],"tags":[10,11,223,66,166,641,640,188,643,642,47],"class_list":["post-4185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-catholic","category-catholic-faith","category-christian-life","category-faithwatch","category-feature-article","category-saints","tag-catholic","tag-catholic-faith","tag-catholic-saints","tag-christian","tag-faith-watch","tag-monasticism","tag-monks","tag-pope-benedict-xvi","tag-religious-orders","tag-saint-benedict","tag-saints"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stevencwelsh.info\/faith-central\/catholic-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/vatican-river-1000-cropped-e1485755660653.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevencwelsh.info\/faith-central\/catholic-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevencwelsh.info\/faith-central\/catholic-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevencwelsh.info\/faith-central\/catholic-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevencwelsh.info\/faith-central\/catholic-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevencwelsh.info\/faith-central\/catholic-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4185"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/stevencwelsh.info\/faith-central\/catholic-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4188,"href":"https:\/\/stevencwelsh.info\/faith-central\/catholic-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4185\/revisions\/4188"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevencwelsh.info\/faith-central\/catholic-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevencwelsh.info\/faith-central\/catholic-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevencwelsh.info\/faith-central\/catholic-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevencwelsh.info\/faith-central\/catholic-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}