Opuscula

The Little Works of Saint Benedict the Abbot. A Sermon of Saint Benedict the Abbot Delivered at the Departure of Saint Maurus and His Companions. If there were cause for sorrow (most beloved Fathers and sons) in such a matter, I would have more reason for grief in this than you, since, for the present, I seem to be deprived of great comforts. But because, as the Apostle says, charity is kind, we must show the kindness of our charity in every way to those whom we know to stand in need of it in any manner; and we must seek not so much our own good as that of others. Therefore, we beseech you, with the solicitude of a father's love, to refrain from tears and grief, because God is able, after the laying aside of this body, to send to this holy congregation men better than we are, by whose merits and examples you may be edified far more excellently than by ours. But we must also take great care that the cunning of the ancient enemy does not, from the very source from which salvation is gained for others, bring upon us the evil of sadness, to our detriment in any way. For those whom the concord of unity has once joined in holy charity, the longest distances of lands shall never separate; since, by the gaze of the inner man, who is renewed according to the image of him who created him, we shall behold one another in time for as long as we live.

After these words, he spoke thus to Dom Maurus and his companions: "But you, most beloved brothers, whom we send to those regions for the building of the Lord's work, act manfully and let your heart be strengthened in holy purpose and religion: knowing without doubt that the more austere things you endure on this journey of the world for the sake of others' salvation, the greater heavenly joys of rewards you will receive from God. And let the dissolution of this little body of ours in no way sadden you: for I will be more present to you once the burden of flesh is laid aside, and I will be your constant co-worker through the grace of God." This sermon cannot be better confirmed than by the testimony of a witness who was both an eyewitness and an earwitness, namely Blessed Faustus, a disciple of Saint Paul, to whom and to three other companions the last words of this sermon were directed: for he came into Gaul together with Blessed Maurus, and after the latter's death, having been summoned to Rome by the brothers, and writing the Life of Saint Maurus by order of the supreme pontiff, he attributes these very words to Saint Benedict. Adrevaldus of Fleury, a most ancient author (for he flourished in the year 890), follows Saint Faustus in book 1, chapter 6, of his Miracles of Saint Benedict. "Saint Faustus," he says, "composed the Life of Blessed Maurus, from which work we too have borrowed what we have written"; and immediately afterward he subjoins this sermon together with a letter sent to Saint Maurus. See Surius, volume 1, and Arnoldus Uvion, Tree of Life, book 1, chapter 1.

Finally, the truth of this discourse seems to be strongly confirmed by those words of Saint Maurus with which he consoles Saint Romanus concerning the death of Saint Benedict, according to the most ancient writer of the Life of Saint Romanus in the Library of Fleury, and also by these verses of Peter Damian, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, where, concerning the praises of Monte Cassino, he speaks thus: If Mount Sinai, which once gave the law, has fallen, I would still not believe that its walls have perished; for the Rule remains, written by sacred fingers, handed down to the blessed disciples Maurus and Placidus. If King Antiochus sold the altar for gold, by the law of labor the Maccabee will rebuild the altar. The giver of the law says: I am more present to you after death than I am now, speaking to those who cry out. Arnold Wion cites this in his martyrology on the day of Saint Maurus. LETTER OF SAINT BENEDICT sent to Saint Maurus. Receive, most beloved one, the final gifts of your teacher, which are to testify to our long affection and to provide you and your fellow soldiers with a perpetual defense against all hindrances of evils. For after the completion of the entire threefold course of twenty years from the time you attained monastic perfection, you are to be led into the joy of your Lord: as the Lord deigned to show to us yesterday, after you departed from us.

I also predict that you will experience delay in your journey, and that you will find a suitable place only with difficulty, on account of those things which will be accomplished by God's ordering, and which the enemy of the human race will stir up against you by the machination of his cunning. Yet the kindness of merciful God will never fail you; but rather, although by delaying, and by testing the desire of your heart at length, He will deign to grant a most fitting settlement elsewhere than we had hoped. And now, may you be happy in your profession, and happier still in your arrival. All the authors cited above in the note on the sermon delivered at the departure of Saint Maurus also bring forward this letter and ascribe it to Saint Benedict: to cite them again seemed superfluous. I add only the testimony of Adrevald of Fleury, from the same book as above, chapter 7, where, speaking of Saints Maurus and his companions, he says thus: And so, setting out from the monastery of Cassino on the days of Epiphany, on the fifth day of the week they come not far from there to an estate of the same monastery on that day: and they were received by two brothers whom the most reverend father had sent from there the day before for this reason: and while they were spending the night there for the sake of rest, two brothers, sent by Saint Benedict with pious gifts, namely a small box of relics and a brief letter, etc., come upon them as they were performing the night office.

That capsule of relics, which is made of ivory, is displayed at Saint-Maur-des-Fossés near Paris: some attest that the letter was buried with Saint Maurus, according to his own desire and will.