I'm going to read from Psalm 119, starting at verse 161. Princes persecute me without a cause, but my heart stands in awe of your word. I rejoice at your word as one who finds great treasure. I hate and abhor lying, but I love your law. Seven times a day I praise you. because of your righteous judgments. Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing causes them to stumble. Lord, I hope for your salvation, and I do your commandments. My soul keeps your testimonies, and I love them exceedingly. I keep your precepts and your testimonies, for all my ways are before you. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the opportunity again to come before you and to hear some of the history of your doings within the history of the church. We thank you for the many ways that we're able to draw application from these things. And we pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. So this morning, we're looking at Benedict of Nursia. And Benedict's dates are 480 to 547, so 480 to 547. Now, if you'll notice the first date that's on the screen, 480, there is something that happens four years prior to Benedict being born. Does anyone recognize a date that's four years prior to Benedict being born? So 476, the Western Roman Empire falls. So you think about Benedict being born into a time that we've been looking at, and our time from the very beginning of ancient church history has been a time where that discussion of the flourishing of Christianity has been within the context of the Roman Empire and its relationship with the Roman Empire. And then occasionally, like with Armenia or with the Celts, we've gone outside of the empire to see what God is doing in those areas. But so much of our focus has been within the context of a fallen empire or within the empire. But the empire falls in 476. That's just the western part of the empire. The eastern part remains. But Benedict is born into that world. He only knows a fallen empire as a young man and as he grows up. So the fall of Rome in 476, which represents the Western Roman emperor being overthrown and then falling, that is a cause for, or it was caused by mixed internal problems and external attacks onto Rome. So inside of Rome and, you know, very famously many have thought of the fall of the Roman Empire. And some of those situations leading to that were weak leadership within the empire, political chaos within the empire, heavy taxes, and a reliance on soldiers to control the large expanse that the empire had had. And then while all of those things are going and so many of the men out of Rome to take care of the empire, there's attacks from the Visigoths that we mentioned, attacks from the Vandals, and then these things lead to the empire or the Western empire just falling. And again, I want you to understand that that's the world that Benedict enters, the world of the fallen empire. And I want you also to think about the application within our own context, the question or one of the big questions being asked today among those that think about Christianity in relationship to culture is the question, how do I live as a Christian in a post-Christian age? That's a very important question that our young people are going to have to think through even more than my generation or older. has had to think through. And this is the world, in a sense, that Benedict is born into. How do I live as a Christian in a post-Roman Empire world? Because the Empire and Christianity have been so closely linked. And Benedict helps us to think through what that looked like in the history of the church. So I'll give you some background. Benedict of Nursia provides the definitive rule for monasteries in the West. So that's what he's really known for. It's called the Rule of Saint Benedict. The late century, his system gradually superseded other Western monastic rules. Very little is known of him as a person except details that are given in a short biography that was written by Gregory the Great. So what we know of Benedict We know from Gregory who was a disciple of his, Gregory becomes Pope and Benedict becomes very famous because of the writing of Gregory. So in that biography that Gregory writes, he begins by saying this, this is his opening paragraph. He says, there was a man of venerable life, Benedict by name and grace, who from the time of his very childhood carried the heart of an old man. His demeanor indeed surpassed his age. He gave himself no disport or pleasure, but living here upon earth, he despised the world with all the glory thereof at such a time as he might have most freely enjoyed it." So we see that this is a man who's very serious. And even as a young child, he was very serious about his faith and what it meant to live as a Christian. in this world. So what do we know about him? Again, his dates are 480 to 547. He's born in a location of Italy called Umbria. And then he studies in Rome. And as he studies in Rome, he is sent there as a young man. Remember, Rome is that center of education for the whole of the Western world. And he's sent there and as he goes to Rome, he is shocked by the lifestyle of those that live in Rome and very disgusted by the amount of worldliness and rebellion. So what he does is he leaves Rome and he ends up becoming a monk. So he's a monk who goes and he lives that hermit life so that he can study and be with God and pray and be away from the world. And then eventually, as he's thinking and writing and as his popularity grows as a monk, he founds several monasteries. So, he founds these monasteries all within, we'll see his most famous, this is the name of his most famous is Monte Cassino. Between Monte Cassino, which I'll show you in a moment on a map, in Rome, he founds several monasteries and ends up his last monastery being Monte Cassino, which was founded in the year 529. So here's a map, the top is Monte Cassino, Rome is marked, you see where Rome is and then, We have Umbria, which is in the L of Italy, and then Nursia. So this is really his world. And if you think about the world that we've looked at and some of the men that we've studied so far and the movements that we've studied so far, some of these men traveled great distances throughout the empire, going between the East and the West, some going between Rome and Syria. Some going north, some going south into North Africa. But this world of Benedict is a very small world compared to some of the other thinkers. And yet the influence is going to go much beyond Italy. So Benedict is a native of the village of Nursia in northern central Italy. And as a young man, as I said, his parents sent him to Rome. But the heavenly-minded student fled in horror from its corrupt city life and became a hermit living in Sibiaco, east of Rome. And here he battled with his demons and terrible temptations to sexual impurity which he cured by rolling about naked on thorns and nettles. Not recommended, by the way. Once he had mastered his passions, he emerged from his solitude like a new Antony, an awesomely holy Man. So he becomes famous in sort of being one who was like Antony that we read about or that we learned about earlier in this class and his fame spreads even through the former Western Empire. Now, I mentioned Gregory the Great. Gregory is probably the reason why Benedict is even known. You know, you think about all of the famous men or all men and women who have had influence in Christianity, whether it's on children that grow up and do something or whether it's through their prayer life or things that we don't even know about. So many of God's people go unknown through the history of Christianity. And that's just the reality. That's just the way it is. But there are very few who are known and their names live on. And Benedict is one of them. And as I mentioned, it's because Gregory the Great writes this book called The Life of Our Most Holy Father, Saint Benedict. So Gregory writes a series of short biographies that are intended to help Christians to meditate on the way in which they are to live. And this is one of those books. This is an early medieval manuscript of the book that is on the life of Saint Benedict. Now the way that this book is written is that it's written as a dialogue between Gregory and a young convert named Peter. And the way that it's written is that Peter asks questions and Gregory answers the questions. And it's written in this way that really helps the reader to come to know the subject of the book. And Peter provides what some historians call the emotional and intellectual responses of the reader. So he sort of helps us to think, what should we be thinking? What should we be feeling when we hear this sort of thing? And questions are asked and it's in this sort of inquisitive dialogue. Now, this is a very early way of writing Christian tracts and treatises and biographies. If you remember a long time ago when we talked about Justin Martyr, Justin Martyr wrote a defense of Christianity that was a dialogue between Justin or the pastor and a man named Trifo the Jew. And that dialogue was written to help you to be able to digest deep spiritual truth and theological knowledge, but in a way that's accessible for those that would be able to hear. And this is a style of writing that was popularized by other Christians and even came into the medieval period and then some into modernity. Origen writes one called Contra Calcium where it's a discussion between Origen and Calcium. Gregory of Nyssa writes one where there is a dialogue on the resurrection between him and a woman named Marcina. De Trinitae written by Augustine is written in dialogue form to help us to understand the doctrine of the trinity. And the most famous of medieval dialogue writings is Anselm, he writes cur deus homo or on the god man. And in Courdeus Homo, there's a very famous dialogue between Anselm and somebody who's a skeptic about the nature of Jesus Christ. And that book is so famous that The one that is questioning or the one that's a skeptic, his name comes into English as something that we all probably know. Does anyone know the name of who Anselm is having a conversation with? It's Bozo. So Bozo is a name that comes in through these sorts of dialogues and the one that's a skeptic, that's doubting Christianity is Bozo. in Anselm's book. But anyway, so Gregory writes this in a way to help us to know who Benedict is and it's a discussion between Peter, a young convert, and Gregory introducing him to the life of Benedict. So, We're told about his upbringing, his life in Rome as a student, his draw to a life as a hermit, and eventually that overcoming of temptation that we mentioned, and then going on to be the founder of several monasteries, and then eventually this monastery that is on the screen, Monte Cassino in Italy. And from Monte Cassino, from this Benedictine monastery that is the last one that he founds and the one that he puts his time and energy into, this post-fallen Roman Empire world changes under Benedict through the ministry of Benedict. So Monte Cassino, this was founded in 529. This is in Italy. And from Monte Cassino, you see that people came to learn from the monks, so it became a center of education. It became a place where cultural connection was able to continue. So you remember you look around like if you're living in the Roman Empire at this time and you're thinking who's in charge of this place and you have these Germanic tribes, the Goths and the Visigoths and they're the ones that are in charge. And you're saying, I don't have any cultural connection to what's going on around me anymore because of all of these invaders from tribes from far away. You go to a place like Monte Cassino and you're able to rest and relax among those that share the same cultural values that you have. And it's also a place of spiritual growth, a place where you could go and you could learn about spiritual things and you could grow in what the scriptures say. So it really becomes this refuge for a fallen empire. And as monasteries grow throughout the Western Empire, they take on this sort of form. They take on this sort of embassy for a culture that's gone. And people are able to go and to be. part of this. Now, some of you who are World War II fans or people that read about World War II, you may recognize the name Monte Cassino because on February 15, 1944, Monte Cassino was bombed. So something established in 529 is bombed in 1944 and it's bombed by the Allies, that's the good guys, The Allies bomb it because it was noted that Germans were using it as a center point for their operations. And they thought, here's a cultural monument that the Allies will leave alone and we will work out of here. Now, it was bombed. It was very controversial, the bombing of Monte Cassino. the ruins of this become battleground and German forces continue to use this for defensive purposes. You can Google this, but you can find a letter from Eisenhower responding to the outrage of Monte Cassino being destroyed. where he essentially says, if we have to choose between the life of our troops and a very famous building, we're choosing the life of our troops. So, you know, this is part of the reality of what's there. This Monte Casino, if we went, if we go back, Monte Casino was rebuilt in 1964 using the exact same plans that it was originally built on. So you can go and you can see it and it looks like it did before 1944. and it remains there. So this is the monastery that Benedict founds. Now, let's look at his rule. This is what he's most known for. This is the book where he says, this is the way you organize a monastery. These are some of the things that are important as these post-Western empire monasteries begin to develop. Now, there are some that say that Benedict's rule owes a great deal to other rules, especially one that is similarly dated. And that's called the regular magistrate or the rule of the master. And the rule of the master is very similar in layout to the rule of St. Benedict. But what Benedict does that is brilliant is he takes some of that very harsh monastic requirements for what it means to live as a monk. and he humanizes that. So, he takes away some of the very strict discipline that monks were known for and he focuses instead on things that were more humane and able to be done by regular Christians. So, the rule of Saint Benedict has two activities that it focuses on, prayer and work. So, the individual monk had to show high moral character And Benedict insisted that the monk should remain in the same monastery where he had taken his vows. The abbot is the spiritual head of the monastery and he exercises all normal discipline. The monastery's stable, well-ordered communities with their emphasis on worship greatly helped to keep up the spiritual standards during these centuries. Perhaps thanks to the influence of the Benedictine monasteries, they also became centers of learning. So as we think about Benedict here and the way that he establishes monasteries under what's called the rule of Benedict, the highest officer in the monastery is called the abbot. And the abbot is only accountable to the Bishop of Rome. So there's nobody between the abbot and the bishop of Rome. They skip bishops in cities, they skip the metropolitans, they skip cardinals, and they go straight to Rome. And that's the establishment of it. So you think about as monasteries are growing and as the bishop in Rome has to put his stamp of approval on certain types of monasteries that are growing throughout the late ancient world, Which ones do you think he's going to approve more than others? He's going to approve the ones where he has a direct say in how they operate rather than one that has a whole bureaucratic level between the Bishop of Rome and the monastery itself. But Benedict focuses on prayer and work, so worship and work as the two activities of the monastery. And he also thought in his rule that it was something that had value for those beyond those who would live as monks, but for those who also decided to take on Christianity as their life. So he called it a little rule for beginners. So if you think about if somebody is newly converted to Christianity, and they say, what does the life of a Christian look like? What does the discipline of a Christian look like? You would have been able to hand them the rule of Benedict and it's it's pretty short. It's 73 chapters But it's basically like one or two or three paragraphs per chapter. It's not super long And this little rule is something that you could give people and you could say think through this This is a way to order your work. This is a way to order your your spiritual life now Go ahead Early Yeah, it is like a catechism, but it's not just theological. It's mostly practical. It's not a catechism in the sense that it's giving you what we believe about the faith. It's saying this is how you can live this out. This is how you can think through these things. Now, in one of the reasons that this becomes so important is that it helps with a culture shift. So the Western Empire has fallen. Benedictine. or Benedict is born into that world. He's thinking through what it looks like to live in that world. We've moved to the late part of antiquity and right on the cusp of the early medieval world. Now we know that the medieval world is so much different than the ancient world. And part of that reason is because of Benedict. And Benedict decides that in his quest for Detachment from all that's worldly remember he hated Rome as a kid. He hated that worldly education He wanted to go and focus on spiritual things For Benedict the monasteries that were established and Monte Cassino being the center of those They became places where the monks told learners that God was calling them to detach from worldly studies and secular literature. Now that's important because in the shift, the culture shifts that happen going towards the medieval world, the medieval world moves away from what we saw in the ancients where they're studying Plato and they're studying Aristotle and they're studying the old mathematicians and they're also studying theology and they're studying the languages and for the, as we're directing towards the medieval world, the Western Empire begins to divide in their minds worldly or secular learning from spiritual or theological learning. And it's not placing them in order but it's a rejecting of one at the expense of the other. And that, like all ideas, has consequences. and the consequences will be felt in the medieval world. So let's get back to the rule. Benedict held to the principles of moderation, prudence, and humanity rather than extreme self-denial. His monks were forbidden to move to another monastery. They lived their entire lives in the same house where they took their vows. They were committed to chastity, common ownership of goods, and obedience to the discipline of the abbot. But they were also allowed benefits such as wine in moderation. So there's this balance or this attempt for balance within their monasteries. Now, the rule deals with all aspects of life in the community. And we'll look at the chapter titles. So times of prayer, which Psalms are to be sung at what time of the day, how the government. government of the community works, what it's like if somebody moves into the monastery, how to correct faults, how monks are to sleep, the arrangement of their sleeping, how to eat, how to drink, how to dress, how to work, how to show hospitality, how to care for the sick, and how to practice the virtues that are the Christian life. So really, all things practical attempting to be understood through the rule. Now, this copy that you see on the screen is the copy, the oldest copy that is owned by the Library of Congress. So this USA, we own this. This is a 787, that's from the year 787 and it's a Bavarian copy that was commissioned by Charlemagne. So that's a very cool thing that is there in the Library of Congress. So let's look at the rule and the chapter titles and I'll just comment on them as we work our way through them. So I put them in categories because it's not always easy to see how, how the chapters develop or at least the way they're organized is different from the way I think. So, like for example, leadership, leadership, there's discussions in chapter 2 and 3 but there's also discussions in 21, 27, 64 and 65. So, he talks about leadership and then he comes back to it and then he comes back to it again. The second category is spiritual life and prayer. There's a big section, it's chapters 8 through 18, and that deals with the canonical orders, which we'll talk about, but that's the way that you organize your prayer life and your psalm singing and your meditation and your scripture reading throughout the day. And then of interest to us, chapter 17 and 18 deal specifically with psalm singing and the way that we're supposed to sing psalms. Virtue and discipline, a couple that are of interest. Chapter 6 deals with silence. I read this paragraph several times in my home this week, just reminding people of the value of silence in the home. Chapter 7 deals with humility. Chapter 72 deals with zeal, how we're to be zealous as believers and the things that we are to deal with. Formal discipline is discussed. Chapters 23 through 26 deal with excommunication. If somebody is found to be sinning and they're excommunicated from the monastery, what's that look like? And then, there's also a chapter on the correction of boys. So, you think about monasteries being places where eventually as this grows, parents die and what do you do with their children? A lot of the boys would end up going to monasteries and they would be raised by the monks. So, I don't mean to lighten this at all because you think of things like the, or the native schools in Canada and some of the controversies around that. But in the correction of boys, Benedict says that young boys are not able to understand the intellectual disciplines that are given to the other monks that would be like excommunication and those sorts of things. So he says that you basically need to beat the boys in order for them to understand discipline. Older monks are given discipline that's intellectual and verbal and the younger boys are beaten as a way to be disciplined. He deals with living arrangements, so how the monks sleep. He said it's much better for all the monks to sleep in one big room. And if you can't all be in one big room, then rooms that are dormitories that are 10 to 20 monks per dormitory, that's the way to go. There is discussion on what's called the seller or the one that's in charge of different foods and the wine and those sorts of things. There's discussion on how to take care of your tools. So if a monk borrows tools from the toolbox, he better put them back and he's supposed to clean the tools before he puts them away. Just very practical things that we think about, how many of you dads have went to look for a tool and it's in your yard and it's rusting. You know, this is something that Benedict is writing about. He talks about communal ownership that sort of communistic approach to the monasteries that was popular in this time. And then he has a couple of sections on hospitality. So the way that guests are to be If you think about the, like if we had visitors that came through our door, we would want monks that were able, or not monks because we're not monks, people that are able to have conversations and make people feel welcome. We would want them to be the ones that greet. You don't want necessarily the greeter to be the oddest one in the bunch. And that's something that's dealt with. there is a section under hospitality on the abbot's table. So, the abbot sits separately at the meals from the other monks. And if there are guests that have been welcomed, they are to sit with the abbot and they're to have conversation with the abbot during those times. There are sections on If people send letters or if people send gifts, what do you do with those? You know, all of these monks take a vow of poverty and some of them come from very wealthy families. What if somebody sends chocolates or what if somebody sends some extra cash for when they're going in town and how to work through these things? There's a section on work and activities. a portion dealing with the kitchen and how there's to be a rotation of those that have control of the kitchen and serve in the kitchen so that we're not only used to the worst cook in the room and we're not only used to the best cook in the room. So there's a rotation through those things. How to care for the sick, how to care for the elderly, how to care for children, The weekly reader, who is the one that is the public reader and that also rotates among the monks. What time you eat dinner? How much to drink? How much food is too much food? And then division of manual labor. There's a section on structure and property. How to take care of the clothing? What the ones who have artisan skills are to be doing? Who are the porters? There's discussion on admission and formation of the monastery. How do you bring in a new member if somebody wants to join the monastery? If nobles offer their children to the monastery, what do you do? And a discussion that's different, what do you do when the poor offer their children? There's two different ways in the wisdom of Benedict that you handle that. Noble's children and the children of the poor may come for very different reasons. There's a section on priests that might want to live at the monastery. So that's interesting because none of these monks are ordained. This is something for not the clergy, but it's for those that are of the church but do not have ordination. And then what do you do with monks that visit, but they're strangers, they're unknown. How do you receive them? What are the ways we think through interaction with them? And then there's a whole variety of specific situations that are discussed as well. How to properly observe Lent, how to work at a distance from the monastery. Like say you have a job that's you know, a day's way, a day's travel away from the monastery. How much are you required to be there if you're a member of it? If you are commanded to do an impossible task, how do you handle that? Who do you talk to about that impossible task? No one is required to defend another. And then chapter 70. is no one dare strikes another. So, there's a way to interact and violence is not the way of the monastery. And then, the conclusion is great or that was under or there's mutual relationship, so silence, tardiness at work, you know, what do you do with the guys that are always late? Those that, what do you do with those that make mistakes when they're reading the scriptures publicly? I read that a couple times. Those who offend in matters, how to best reconcile those that have offended and then what's obedience look like? And then the conclusion, I think the conclusion is just really beautiful. Like you think about all of these different things and these different rules and you look at that and you're like, Benedict, if I keep all of these things, will I be a godly man? If I do everything right, if I clean my tools and put them away, and if I do my work in the kitchen, and if I go and I visit the poor, and if I take care of these young men that no longer have parents, and if I don't bother people in the sleeping arrangements, and I never hit another monk, is this going to make me a godly Christian? And he ends with this statement. And it's a little archaic. Whosoever therefore thou art, who dost hasten to the heavenly country. If you, if you're, if you're on your way to heaven, that's all that that means. Fully carry out Christ helping you this most elementary rule that we have written out. And then at last you shall come God protecting you. to the loftier heights of doctrine and virtue, which we have mentioned above." So he says, with the help of Christ, you are able to live the Christian life, but realize there are loftier things. There's loftier doctrine and there's virtue that's not even mentioned here. So essentially he's saying, this is only a beginning. And we think about that, we think about that in relationship to our Christian life, and we're very far removed from this world, right? Like nobody's giving you the manual that says this is how you live as a Christian in 21st century America, and this is how you do everything that you could possibly do. But we realize that as we pursue heaven, and as we pursue Christ, and as we pursue virtue, We sometimes fall off the horse on the side that says, if I do these things, then God will love me. And then some of us fall off the horse on the side that just says, I can't ever do enough. Therefore, I'm not going to do anything. Benedict says, live this way and realize that there are other things that you can pursue. And this is only a beginning. It's only a starting. in the Christian life. So that's the rule of St. Benedict. I thought I'd mention the canonical hours as well. So the primary emphasis was on worship structured around seven canonical hours, a system that had been adopted by other monasteries who took their cue from the psalm that we read in Psalm 119, seven times a day, I praise you. So here's the division of the canonical hours. The first, and there's two different names, so maitens or vigils. So that's early morning. So this is before before dawn. So before the sun comes up, you are to arise. This is you as a monk. You are to rise and you are to extend prayer and you are to reflect and you are to read the scriptures and you're to read some also from the fathers. And this is to prepare you for the day ahead. It's to prepare you for your spiritual life during the day. The next is Lauds. and Lodz meeting praise, and this is done at dawn. So you've already spent some time in prayer, and then it's dawn, and you begin to celebrate the light of Christ at dawn. And this coincides with the start of the day. This is a time for you to be singing psalms and prayer, and in your time of prayer, as the sunlight begins to rise, or as the sun comes to its fullness, Your prayers are to focus on praise and thanksgiving. And then the next time is prime. So prime time. That's the first hour of the day. It's about 6 a.m. So you've already prayed twice. And your purpose is to make the beginning for your daily work and to pray for guidance throughout the day. So whatever you've been assigned to for the day, you're to pray and you're to ask God to help you to work through those tasks and to meet those tasks for the day. Terce is the third hour of the day. This is at 9 a.m. And then at 9 a.m., all the monks commemorate the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. And the reason they do that is that they're reminding themselves of the Spirit of God being present in the life of the church and the Spirit of God being the one that equips us for the things that we are called to do in our vocations. The next is sext, so that's the sixth hour. That's around noon. And this is a time to pause and to pray and to reflect in the middle of the day, asking God for strength and perseverance for the things that you still have to do. Nun is the ninth hour. This is around 3 PM. And the purpose here is to pray for resilience and As you continue the day and then vespers that's evening around sunset. That's a time of reflection and Peaceful Thanksgiving for the blessings of the day and then comp line is at bedtime And that's to examine your conscience and to ask forgiveness and to entrust the night to the care of God so these are the two things that that Benedict provides a for the ancient church as it makes its way towards the medieval world. In his death, we read that Benedict, this is in the year 547, he's aware that his time had come. He gathered his disciples and he partook of the sacrament. Standing up in prayer, supported by his monks, he offered his soul to God. And this is what he said. On the day of his departure, this is Gregory the Great, he caused himself to be carried to the oratory where he armed himself with the body and blood of the Lord. Then supported by the arms of his disciples, he stood with hands raised to heaven and breathed out his spirit amidst words of prayer. So he dies, and then we pause, and we have one minute to think through the lasting influences of Benedict and the Benedictine order and the whole series of monasteries that end up being founded through the Western world. So the first, as I mentioned, that Gregory the Great is a disciple of Benedict. So Gregory, which we'll see later, Gregory has a huge influence on the church, especially in the church's doctrine of worship and the way that worship is practiced. Secondly, There is a Western identity in a fallen empire. This is something very much needed for a fallen empire, that cultural identity and Benedict through Monte Cassino and other like monasteries provides that Western identity as Germanic tribes, Gauls and Visigoths come down and Vandals and continue in the empire. He helped with the organizing of monasteries under a common order. So it really begins to solidify. This is what it looks like to be a monk. It's not going to be so much for a while. It's not going to be there's this type of monk and this type of monk and this type of monk. They're all sort of going to look alike. And then later in the medieval period, there's going to be other orders that develop. The seeds of the cathedral school, which becomes the university system, is started in Monte Cassino. So you can think about some of the oldest universities in the Western world, like the English ones. Think of like Oxford and Cambridge. They would have started in monasteries. And from those schools, the university system comes. So, university education, that's something Christian. We did that. We started that, okay? University of Paris, that comes from Notre Dame and Thomas Aquinas being the most famous of the ones who was in charge of that cathedral school. So, all of this system comes through these places where people come to learn in the monasteries. And then lastly, maintaining spiritual disciplines in a time of backsliding. The church is going in one direction but Benedict and the monasteries are staying with an order. They're saying this is how you organize your life when all things are falling apart around us. So this is some of the lasting influence of Benedict on Christianity in the late ancient period.