Our Patron
The Most Holy Mary Theotokos
Where could we find a better model?
The Mother of God, glory of mankind, first in line, first deified woman, pride and model of women—perfectly accomplished, in herself, the union of masculine and feminine, of the earth and heaven, and of the divine and the human.
Summarizing in her person the qualities of the quintessential woman, which are interiority, gentleness and the merciful love of a mother, the Virgin Mary shows in her person how femininity finds its fulfillment in holiness. Her major work was to welcome the Spirit, something that Seraphim of Sarov says is the goal of Christian life.
Humility, which the Virgin Mary exemplifies, constitutes the best antidote to the temptation of power that poisons human relationships and impedes problem solving in the Church and secular society. Where could we find a better model for today's woman who is searching for her place in society and the Church?
Father Michel Quenot,
Excerpt from the book La Mère de Dieu, Joyau terrestre, Icône de l’humanité nouvelle, (The Mother of God, Earthy Jewel, Icon of the New Humanity), Éd. Saint-Augustin, Saint-Maurice CH, 2006.
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As a Catholic faith religious order, we have great devotion to Mary the Mother of God. It is important to note, however, that we do not worship Mary. Veneration of the saints, including Mary, is not worship. We worship God alone.
Non-Catholics often find this difficult to understand or accept as scripture continuously tells us to pray to the Father through Jesus Christ. But Jesus, on the cross, gave us all over to the care of His mother when he said: "Woman, behold your son!" Then He said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" He gave to us His Mother to be the mother of the whole world.
Scripture confirms the significance of Mary from the very first book of the Bible to the very last. In Genesis we read of the Promised Redeemer:
"I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel." Gen 3:15
And in Saint John's Apocrypha, or Book of Revelations, we are told of his vision of the Woman and the Dragon:
"And a great sign appeared in heaven a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon was under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars." Rev: 12:1
As the Mother of God, Mary is our Mother too and, like any mother, is there for us as an advocate to Her Divine Son and our Heavenly Father with the Holy Spirit as our guide. The minute Mary said Yes to the Archangel Gabriel to become the Mother of God, the Tabernacle for Jesus, She became our Co-redemptrix. Christ was our Redeemer, Mary His Mother made it possible for God to allow the God-Man to come to earth for our sins. She became mediator on our behalf. So then, Mary is co-redemptrix, mediatrix, and advocate.
The Order of the Most Holy Mary Theotokos is dedicated to promoting devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary under her special Orthodox title:
Theotokos
Thee-ott-oh-kos (As pronounced in the West)
Thee-owe-/-toke-oss (As pronounced in the East)
We honor Mary under that title and seek to live her example of openness to the will of Almighty God and the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
Theotokos (Greek: Θεοτόκος, translit. Theotókos) is a title of Mary, the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches. Its literal English translations include God-bearer and the one who gives birth to God. Less literal translations include Mother of God. It is transliterated in English as Theotocus. The Council of Ephesus decreed in 431, that Mary is Theotokos because her son Jesus is one person who is both God and man, divine and human.
Theotokos specifically excludes the understanding of Mary as Mother of God in the eternal sense. Christians believe that God is the cause of all, with neither origin nor source, and is therefore "without a mother." This stands in contrast to classical Greco-Roman religion in particular, where a number of divine female figures appear as "mothers" of other divinities, demi-gods, or heroes. For example, Juno was revered as the mother of Vulcan Aphrodite, as the mother of Aeneas.
On the other hand, Christians believe God the Son is begotten of God the Father "from all eternity", but is born "in time" of Mary. Theotokos thus refers to the Incarnation, when the Second Person of the Holy Trinity took on human nature in addition to his pre-existing divine nature, this being made possible through the cooperation of Mary.
Since mainstream Christians understand Jesus Christ as both fully God and fully human, they call Mary Theotokos to affirm the fullness of God's incarnation. The Council of Ephesus decreed, in opposition to those who denied Mary the title Theotokos ("the one who gives birth to God") but called her Christotokos ("the one who gives birth to Christ"), that Mary is Theotokos because her son Jesus is one person who is both God and man, divine and human. As Cyril of Alexandria wrote, "I am amazed that there are some who are entirely in doubt as to whether the holy Virgin should be called Theotokos or not. For if our Lord Jesus Christ is God, how is the holy Virgin who gave [Him] birth, not [Theotokos]?" (Epistle 1, to the monks of Egypt PG 77:13B). Thus the significance of Theotokos lies more in what it says about Jesus than any declaration about Mary.
Within the Orthodox doctrinal teaching on the economy of salvation, Mary's identity, role, and status as Theotokos is acknowledged as indispensable, and is for this reason formally defined as official dogma. The only other Mariological teaching so defined is that of her virginity. Both of these teachings have a bearing on the identity of Jesus Christ. By contrast, certain other Marian beliefs which do not bear directly on the doctrine concerning the person of Jesus (for example, her sinlessness, the circumstances surrounding her conception and birth, her Presentation in the Temple, her continuing virginity following the birth of Jesus, and her death), which are taught and believed by the Orthodox Church (being expressed in the Church's liturgy and patristic writings), are nonetheless not formally defined by the Church, and belief in them is not a precondition for baptism.
The earliest known Marian prayer is the Sub tuum praesidium, or Beneath Thy Protection, dating from late 2nd century. A papyrus dated to c. 250 containing the prayer in Greek was discovered in Egypt in 1917, and is the earliest known reference to the title Theotokos, confirmed by the Council of Ephesus in 431:
Beneath your compassion, We take refuge, O Mother of God: do not despise our petitions in time of trouble: but rescue us from dangers, only pure, only blessed one.
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Our Patriarch
Saint Benedict
"The Father of Western Monasticism"
Few saints have left such a palpable impact on the world as Saint Benedict, the monk whose Rule set the standard for the Western monastic tradition. His balance of work and prayer, his validation of community life, and his regulation of monastic discipline set the pattern for religious life for centuries.
We celebrate Saint Benedict as our Patriarch - Patriarch of Western Monasticism.
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THE LIFE OF SAINT BENEDICT
After founding twelve communities of monks at Subiaco, Italy, Benedict of Norcia (480 AD - 21 March 547) traveled to Montecassino where he established a monastery and wrote "The Rule." This simple set of guidelines for how the life of a monk should be lived has become one of the most influential works in all of Western Christendom.
EARLY LIFE — NORCIA
Saint Benedict was born at Norcia around 480 AD. That historical time frame, a mere four years before the Western Roman Empire formally fell by the deposition of the last Emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was quite difficult. The only authentic life of Saint Benedict is that which is contained in the second book of the Pope Saint Gregory’s Dialogues, probably written between 593-594 AD.
After attending primary schools in Norcia, Benedict went to Rome to broaden his knowledge of literature and law. However, since he was probably disgusted by the dissolute lifestyle of his peers and by Rome’s difficult political situation, he retired to Affile with a group of priests, taking his old nurse with him as a servant.
At Affile, Saint Benedict worked his first miracle, restoring to perfect condition an earthenware wheat sifter which his man-servant had accidentally broken. The notoriety which this miracle brought drove Benedict to withdraw further from social life. He took shelter in a cave in the ruins of Nero’s village, near Subiaco, where he began to live as a hermit. Immersed in loneliness, his only contact with the outside world was with a monk called Romanus, whose monastery was nearby. He gave Saint Benedict a monk’s habit and provided for his spiritual and material needs. Three solitary years followed. Some shepherds befriended Benedict. They began to follow his teachings and the pastoral and apostolic principles of the Benedictine Order took root.
FOUNDING MONASTERIES — SUBIACO
After resisting a strong temptation against chastity, Benedict prepared to live through a new experience, following the example of the ancient Fathers of Christian Monasticism. At first, the community of Vicovaro wanted him as its Abbot, but the failed attempt of a monk to poison him forced Benedict to return to his solitude. Afterwards, he founded twelve monasteries and assigned twelve monks to each of them. In addition, he founded a thirteenth monastery for novices and those needing education. Benedict’s fame spread so rapidly, even in Rome, that two illustrious men, Equizius and the nobleman Tertullus, entrusted him with their two sons, Maurus and Placidus. They were to become the first two gems of the Benedictine family.
During his life, Saint Benedict performed many miracles. He found water on a desolate mountaintop to quench the thirst of his monks. He retrieved a bill hook’s iron from the bottom of a lake and rejoined its handle. He prevented a monk from leading a dissolute life through intervention. In addition, he made Maurus walk on water to save the young Placidus from drowning.
Unfortunately, a priest called Florentius was envious of Benedict’s popularity and his envy forced the Saint to depart in spite of insistence from his disciples. After leaving Subiaco, Benedict went towards Cassino. In the period between 525 and 529 AD he founded the Abbey of Montecassino. It would become the most famous abbey in continental Europe. Under Benedict’s direction, the old acropolis-sanctuary towering above the declined Roman municipium of Casinum was turned into a monastery that was much bigger than those built at Subiaco. On the remains of the altar of Apollo he built a chapel dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, while the temple of Apollo itself was turned into an oratory for the monks which was dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours.
MONASTIC LIFE TAKES ROOT — MONTECASSINO
At Montecassino Saint Benedict displayed prodigious activity. He supervised the building of the monastery, established a monastic order and performed many miracles. He brought back from death a youngster, miraculously supplied the monastery with flour and oil in its time of need and displayed the gift of prophecy. In autumn of 542 AD, while the Goth King Totila was passing through Cassino en route to Naples to attack it, he decided to test Saint Benedict because he had already heard of his gifts and charisms. As a consequence, Totila sent his squire dressed as a king to greet the monk but Saint Benedict soon unmasked him. When he finally met Totila, he warned him with a dire prediction: “You have hurt many and you continue to do it, now stop behaving badly! You will enter Rome, you will cross the vast sea, you will reign for nine years however in the tenth year, you will die.” And that is exactly what happened. Saint Benedict showed the same virtue as he cried bitterly when confronted wiht the vision of the first destruction of his monastery. Notwithstanding, he received from God the grace to save all the monks.
Saint Benedict devoted himself to evangelizing the local population who practiced pagan worship. Shortly before he died, Saint Benedict saw the soul of his sister Saint Scholastica rising to heaven in the form of a dove. This vision happened a few days after their last talk together at the foot of Montecassino. In a vision, Benedict saw the soul of Bishop Germanus of Capua taken by angels in a fire globe. These visions, for Pope Saint Gregory the Great, showed a close union between Benedict and God, a union so intense that the Saint was given the share of an even more magnificent vision, the whole of creation as gathered in a sunbeam.
In the end, a life so noble was justifiably followed by a much-glorified death. According to tradition, Saint Benedict died on March 21, 547 AD. He foresaw his coming death, informing his close and faraway disciples that the end was near. Six days before dying, he had the grave which he was to share with his deceased sister Saint Scholastica, opened. Then, completely exhausted, he asked to be taken into his oratory where, after taking his last Holy Communion, he died supported by his monks.
To view a video on the "Life of Saint Benedict from "Catholic Online" click here.
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