St. Benedict Archives ~ Page 2 of 2 ~ The Imaginative Conservative

Benedict of Nursia (c. 480 – 543 or 547 AD) is a Christian saint and the patron saint of Europe. His “Rule of Saint Benedict,” containing precepts for his monks, became one of the most influential religious rules in Western Christendom. For this reason, Benedict is often called the founder of Western monasticism.

Opting for Saint Benedict in an Ordinary Parish

By Dwight Longenecker|2021-12-06T13:08:33-06:00August 4th, 2018|Categories: Catholicism, Christianity, Dwight Longenecker, St. Benedict|

Like Saint Benedict we’re not trying to change the whole world. We’re simply doing what we can with what we have where we are. I first encountered Saint Benedict while I was a student at Oxford. I had enrolled to train as a priest in the Church of England, but a Catholic woman in the [...]

Rebuilding Western Civilization: A Tale of Two Monasteries

By Dwight Longenecker|2021-12-06T11:29:30-06:00July 7th, 2018|Categories: Catholicism, Christianity, Community, Dwight Longenecker, England, John Senior, St. Benedict, Tradition|

The three vows of the Benedictine monk are obedience, stability, and conversion of life. In our own ways, we can follow this example, making it real by paying attention to prayer, cracking the books in solid study, and rolling up our sleeves in the honest, hard work of rebuilding what has fallen into despair and [...]

A Sonnet for St. Benedict

By Malcolm Guite|2023-07-10T21:46:26-05:00July 11th, 2017|Categories: Audio/Video, Malcolm Guite, Poetry, St. Benedict|

On July the 11th the Church celebrates the feast of St. Benedict of Nursia, the gentle founder of the Benedictine order and by extension the father of Monasticism. A moderate and modest man he would have been astonished to learn that his ‘simple school for prayer, ’his ‘modest rule for beginners’ led to the foundation of communities [...]

The Benedict Option & the Barbarians at the Gate

By John Horvat|2022-07-11T07:56:18-05:00June 25th, 2017|Categories: Christianity, Community, Culture, John Horvat, St. Benedict, Timeless Essays|

If we truly desire the Benedict Option, then let us not withdraw from modernity, for strategic retreats easily turn into routs. Let us rather engage our neo-barbarian culture by both cultivating our Benedictine identity while also projecting Saint Boniface’s strength. It is the only option. Scratch the soul of many a conservative and beneath you [...]

The Dangers of the Benedict Option

By John Horvat|2021-12-06T12:25:15-06:00May 15th, 2017|Categories: Books, Catholicism, Community, Culture, Featured, John Horvat, St. Benedict|

If there was someone who did not exercise the Benedict Option, it was Saint Benedict himself. The problem with the Benedict Option is that it does not have the substance, unity, and goal of the Benedictine ideal that set the world on fire with the love of God. No one disputes the attractiveness of living [...]

When the Benedict Option Is the Only Option

By Dwight Longenecker|2022-07-10T16:59:38-05:00May 5th, 2017|Categories: Christianity, Culture War, Dwight Longenecker, St. Benedict|

The Benedict Option is more about a change of heart and mind than growing a beard, getting some chickens, and building a utopian religious community in the woods. The Benedict Option means coming to the realization that the time for dialogue and debate is over and the time for quiet action has begun. Much has [...]

Benedict Means Business

By Dwight Longenecker|2023-07-10T21:47:49-05:00November 15th, 2015|Categories: Character, Christianity, Culture, Dwight Longenecker, Sainthood, St. Benedict|

St. Benedict is rightly named the patron of Europe and the father of Western civilization. As we turn to him to learn how to live together, we draw deep from the wells of Western wisdom, and our businesses and our lives will be nurtured and grow not only prosperous but peaceful. It seems a far [...]

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