The following first appeared on our monastery website on Friday, April 30, 2004 which was Father Lawrence’s 97th birthday.
The Seeds of Saint Benedict
by Father Lawrence Swartz, OCSO
July 11, 1988
The idea of this talks was suggested by an insignificant incident—watching a stone thrown into a small pond. As the stone hit the water there was a splash, then a perfectly formed ring, circle, or wavelet kept receding until it reached the bank on all sides.
The stone hitting the water and the subsequent rings receding to the shore or banks is a symbol of what happens when one casts a prayer and good deed into the mystical body of Christ, the Church. It causes a chain reaction that may reach the shores of eternity. Such was the case with a then obscure hermit named Benedict cast a good deed into the mystical body of Christ. He planted a tiny seed in a cave near Subiaco (Italy) which grew into a mighty tree. After 15 centuries Benedict’s deeds and prayers continue to send rings or wavelets toward the shores of eternity.
The seed or stone in question was a work of one hermit Benedict to whom came disciples. This grew into the different branches of sons and daughters of Saint Benedict—including the Cistercians—dotting the face of the earth. The encyclopedia says there were 2,000 Benedictine monasteries in Europe at one time. One can hardly write the history of Europe without including the sons and daughters of Benedict.
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Planting seeds through his prayers and work, Father Lawrence prays Midday Prayers on his 97th birthday. |
Benedictine monasteries often had schools to educate, civilize and Christianize Europe. These monasteries gave popes, bishops, and missionaries to the Church. Best of all, the orders that claim Saint Benedict as their father, gave heaven thousands upon thousands of saints canonized and uncanonized. All this and a lot more known to God alone is the result of a tiny stone cast into the mystical body or a tiny seed planted in a cave by an obscure hermit near Subiaco.
When we compare our efforts with the mighty accomplishment of our Father Benedict, must we go about with head hanging in shame? Not necessarily if we do our reasonable best. There never will be but one Benedict, one Bernard, one Newman, one Bishop Sheen. Everyone is different. There will never be another exactly like you or me. [I know someone might exclaim, “Thank God.”]
The Creator put each of us here for a purpose. Each of us can say, “I have a mission—being myself.” There is a Talmudic saying that every child is born with a message to deliver to the human race. Maybe it is bench to be built, a sermon to be preached, or like Saint Benedict, an religious order to be founded. Each of us can deliver a message by keeping the old values alive: faith, hope, charity, humor, courage. Because you smile, another smiles and another, and soon you have miles and miles of smiles. These are some small pebbles one can throw into the mystical body of Christ that can spread ringlets unto the shores of eternity.
Groups visiting the monastery often ask the question: “Why did you become a monk? What is this monastery doing for the world? Did Saint Benedict hate the world by putting an enclosure wall around?” These are very natural questions. Practical Westerners wish to see results. (To be here in the monastery and not teaching, not preaching, not running a hospital is often too much for them.)
Two recent visitors expressed the thoughts of many monks when they said, “What an act of faith is an institute like this!” For them the monastery was a sermon in concrete. It can be a more powerful sermon than many a one from a pulpit. Like the centuries-old cathedrals in Europe with tall towers, steeples like giant fingers pointing heavenward, monks in silence and solitude witness to the reality of God who deserves praise, honor, glory and worship. Thus, a monastery serves as a beacon light for countless souls by its very presence.
