Monday, October 30, 2017

Oldest Frescoes of St. Benedict Rediscovered in the Ruins of Norcia Monastery

Newly Discovered Frescoes, St. Benedict of Nursia
(Rome) The heavy earthquakes that shook the birthplace of Benedict of Nursia in the late summer and early autumn of 2016 also brought down the consecrated basilica in Norcia's city center. In the rubble, the oldest fresco of the ba
silica was discovered last month.
It is a representation of the saint who founded the Benedictine order in the 6th century. "Due to the collapse caused by the earthquakes, the image came to light," said the Director of the Heritage Office of Umbria, Marica Mercalli. "At present, the collapse-endangered parts of the wall are being cleared away in the transept."

"A precious sign" from the rubble.

"The fresco is of great importance. It was discovered last March by the prior of the Benedictine monastery of Nursia, who also bears the significant name of Benedict. Now we were able to document it in all its beauty," says Mercalli.
The Benedictines knew nothing of this fresco before the earthquake. It only shone from the rubble of the church. "The discovery is a valuable sign for us," said the Prior.
After Napoleon had expelled the Benedictines from the birthplace of their founding father, the first return of monks took place in Holy Year 2000It is an Old Rite convent that revives the Benedictine tradition in Norcia.
The monastic community lost everything in the earthquake, the monastery and the churchThe basilica had been given to them by the local bishop of Spoleto for pastoral care, but also as convent church. In recent years, the monks gradually took the necessary steps for the celebration in the traditional form of the Roman Rite of restoration, as the basilica was up to the liturgical reform of 1969.
With the reconstruction of the basilica after the earthquake, however, the church was deprived of them again by the new local bishop, because he wants to rebuild the ruined church as "modern." This would be make its further use by the monks impossible anyway. The monks accepted the decision in humility and did not say a word about it. Others speak of an "unfriendly" act of the bishop, especially since the funds for the reconstruction were promised by the Italian Prime Minister.
The monks lived in tents after the earthquake. Meanwhile, they were able to build an emergency monastery and an emergency church made of wood, which were consecrated on the Feast of the Holy Cross.
Text: Gi useppe Nardi 
Image: Nebbie del Tempo (screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG 











16 comments:

JBQ said...

What would Francis say about this? The Church has evolved from a mythological view of life. St. Benedict was a barbarian who in spite of his good intentions continued a biased treatment of society against women and gays.

Anonymous said...

Your comment is disgusting, JBQ....not only historically inaccurate. Saint Benedict and his sister, Saint Scholastica (who became the first Benedictine nun), were born of an ancient noble Roman family. Their great-grandparents could (from research done), have still been pagans. So their family was not Christian for very long. They were both born in the late 5th century, and their family was Roman and very wealthy. They were not barbarians, though by the time they were young adults, most of Italy had been overrun by barbarian tribes called the Lombards and the Visigoths. The Lombards ruled the area where Benedict and Scolastica lived in their monasteries.
Saint Benedict and his sister brought the light of Catholic Faith, and a model of a holy and disciplined monastic life to the Church, which before that had a monastic system where each monastery had its own rule. One monastery might found another monastery, but it could make up its own rule different from its' parent founding house, and the next founded would be different from that, etc. etc. No two were the same in observance. So Benedict and his sister Scholastica did not come form barbarism.
Benedictine convent educated women for centuries, where in general society they probably would have received no education. These convents uplifted women, educated them, and trained them in various crafts and fields so if need be, they could be self-sufficient. Many chose to become Benedicitne nuns themselves. But Benedict and his rule, which was basically the same for nuns, did not perpetuate a bias against women in society. A thousand years ago, Benedicitne convents were practically the only place where women could get an education. These convents were a true benefit for women. As were the monasteries for men.
As for gays, back then, and up until five years ago, the Catholic Church was basically Catholic. It stuck to the teachings of Jesus CHrist and the Gospels regarding homosexuality, homosexual activity, etc. Up until the last 50 years, society attitude on homosexuality and its practice was based on strong Judaeo-Christian teachings and values of the word of God and the teachings of Catholic/Christian belief. It is only withing less than the last 50 years when homosexuals (today known as gays, lesbians, LGBT, transsexuals, transgenders, blah,blah,blah....) are held up as models of proper,upright and virtuous living which should be promoted and accepted and applauded...not condemned as sinful (a belief society in general has discarded save for the Catholic Church up until 5 years ago...upholding the teachings of Christ and the constant tradition of the Catholic Church in this regard). Most recently the great Popes Pius XII, and John Paul II and Benedict XVI upheld and taught this sacred belief.
But now we have a "pope" and his associates who have chosen a different path, a path of acceptance and even blessing and acknowledgement of gays, lesbians, LGBT, transgenders, etc. ad a lifestyle which should be accepted and not frowned upon or subjected to discrimination or judgemental attitudes. The gay orgies now taking place frequently in the Vatican of Pope Francis , and the open acceptance of this is testimony to the rot that has come into the Church since Francis.
Saint Benedict only taught what Jesus Christ and the teachings of the Bible/Gospels/Epistles and Magesterium from earliest times taught about "gays".
The acceptance of such behavior only started in the Church with the current Pope and his people....and the acceptance and adoption of such an attitude today in so much of the Church, where 5 years ago it was the opposite, shows how far the rot and corruption of Francis has spread.
Read about the life of Saint Benedict and his holy sister and the great value they brought to the Catholic Church for centuries , and even now. Read with unbiased eyes, rather than banging your drum in favor of gays, lesbians, lgbt, etc and the supposed bias against women. You'll learn sometning that way.
Damian Malliapalli

Anonymous said...

Sorry, but just another comment about this:
"What would Francis say about this?
First off, who gives a F? He's not a Catholic.
Second, that sounds like some brain-washed nutjob who can't see wrong/immoral/heretical teaching coming from someone whose job is to uphold and promote the teachings and traditions of the Catholic Faith, not to re-invent them to suit his own agenda.
This kind of statement reminds me of a book I read recently, where a group of Polish Benedictine nuns were sheltering Jews in their cloister. Apparently a lay worker at the convent questioned one of the nuns saying "what would the authorities(Hitler) think of this? The lay worker reported the nuns, they were rounded up by the Germans, shipped to Auschwitz where they were gassed along with the 30 Jews they were hiding and caring for.
I can imagine your comment coming from the mouth of others too, who saw a violation of the ideology being imposed by a tyrant and his thugs. "What would Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot,Kim Jung Un say about this?"
Sorry to sound angry, but I just read where 20 young Catholics were thrown out of the Cathedral in Brussels, Belgium, for getting down on their knees and reciting the Rosary during a huge commemoration of the Protestant Reformation/Luther in a Catholic Cathedral. The brave young men who were kneeling together with locked arms reciting the Rosary interrupted the Francis style commemoration of the Reformation, and were rounded up by the police.
Lastly, the Vatican just issued a postage stamp glorifying both Luther and another founding figure of the Protestant Reformation. Sickening. I know for a fact from reading that in 2012, when Benedict XVI was still Pope with no hint of his resignation, the Vatican stated that there would be no commemoration or participation in events celebrating the Reformation by them. Now 5 years later we have the opposite.
Go look at the website "Rorate Caeli" and see it for yourself.
No wonder why so many millions of faithful Catholics have come to hate Pope Francis!
Damian Malliapalli

JBQ said...

With all due respect, you need to read what I said. I wrote that this was the view of Francis and neither mine nor reality.

JBQ said...

In order to develop a strategy to counteract an enemy, you have to first understand their mindset.

Tancred said...

I was going to say. :D

M. Prodigal said...

How sad for the monks and for Norcia to be saddled with a modernist bishop but that has happened all over the world so the monks and what faithful are left must seek other avenues or make the best of it.

Anonymous said...

ok, then sorry. I took it as something the same as what I heard a Catholic liberal say to criticize a faithful Catholic. He was saying that homosexuality should not be accepted in the Church, and she countered "That's not what Francis said. What does Francis say?".....so she wasn't caring about what the Church always taught....just "what does Francis say/think. Which is what I thought you were doing too.
Sorry.
Damian Malliapalli

philipjohnson said...

Damian.Brilliant piece of writing!My very own thoughts on recent events .Those young Catholics thrown out for reciting The Rosary by Francis Thugs doesn't surprise me when Bergoglio ,and the rest ,are thrashing everything Catholic in sight.Please Lord rid us of Francis pestilence soon.

T. Velazquez said...

Getting back to the original article. Thank you for sharing this discovery. It is beautiful, colorful, and seems to have been drawn as a portrait. God willing, let it be appropriately preserved by worthy caretakers... like the beloved Benedictines.

Anonymous said...

Typical Communist comment who is destroying the Catholic Church.

Who needs Earthquakes when JBQ wants Sodomite Marriage in the Church !

Anonymous said...

I've enjoyed commenting on this awesome Catholic website. There are only two that I know of which searches for Catholic news of major importance, as those likewise important events and stories which, for whatever reason are never covered by other mainstream Catholic websites. To them the Church is in great shape...blossoming in the New Springtime of Vatican II, everyone is working for the New Evangelization, and the Church is governed by our present Holy Father, Francis (who is really god in disguise).(small g).
I have tried to contribute, offer my spin on things, and offered historical backrounds of various topics if I think it will interest people. I also express my religious convictions and opinions (increasingly angry these days), and for that have made some enemies and gotten some insults (even racially motivated ones because as some know, I am part Indian, and look alittle more Indian than I do the Irish side of my family ( the Driscolls, Quigleys, and O'Briens) :)
But I always shrugged off the insults, because they came from people ho mostly were supporters (or closet supporters), of this person who presently calls himself Pope Francis.
Like everyone else, I'm offered my opinions about Francis, calling him a heretic but hoping I am wrong. After today, I know I'm not. He is a heretic. He is a radicall dissenter, and he IS bent on destroying the Catholic Faith and the Church.
Today, Bergoglio(alias Pope Francis), put on the table for the coming Synod of Bishops for Latin America, a suggestion that priests in Brazil be allowed to marry to counter the severe shortage of priests there. As everyone who has a brain who has been following Francis, we know that this suggestion was made originally a few years ago (right after Francis was elected), by Claudio Cardinal Hummes,OFM of Brazil....one of the most radical liberals in the Church....and one of the men who orchestrated the election of Bergoglio. News reports out today say that millions of conservative Catholics(faithful), will be outraged. Justifiably so, because only an idiot would think that this "request for married priest in Brazil", is not going to be extended to the entire Church.
This, plus the immediate firing of Fr.Thomas Weinandy , yesterday by the USCCB for standing up to Pope Francis and sending him in which he truthfully and courageously called Francis exactly what he is, makes he think that there is really, finally, no hope for the Catholic Church. It has become the Cult of the Pope, and the Cult of Francis the Dictator. He is our Furher. Whatever he commands is done. All the brave faithful who stand up to him are silenced, exiled, shamed, insulted, shunned (and even excommunicated....Catholic Faith, tradition, belief doesn't matter. Francis is god who must be obeyed. And he has a thought police to make sure people do. (Insane and sick).
So, although I've liked posting here, and found the reports are articles both here and at Rorate Caeli the best there is on the web...I going to stop contributing and even reading it. Just makes me to angry, to sad, to depressed about the Church I grew up in. And this bullshit about married priests for Brazil, and the immediate firing of a good man like Fr. Father Thomas Weinandy by the USCCB is cowardly bullshit too. The bishops should stand up to Francis too in the face of his error, but they are brainwashed by papolatry and would rather follow him than Jesus Christ.
So I'm gonna place my faith with the the remnant Catholic Faith....the SSPX, But I'd rather save my soul with the True Church, than loos it with the new Church of Pope Francis (Bergoglianism).
To everyone I enjoyed chatting with, I say "A plus Tard", "Arreviderci", "Vidimo de Kasnije" "Ta leme argo Tera", "Baad mein milate Hain". and "Ja Matane"... or in other words, "See U later"
Hopefully (maybe when we have a Pope who is a Catholic) ;)
Damian M. Malliapalli

Unknown said...

The Orthodox still take a strong stand against homosexuality and abortion.

Tancred said...

The Orthodox don't do anything about abortion, but they are happy to allow birth control.

Meanwhile, Catholic organizations are active throughout the western world, taking a strong stand against sodomy and abortion.

I've noticed you don't like sticking to the topics here.

Athelstane said...

What? "Women and gays?" Based on what?

susan said...

ummmm......pretty sure JBQ was postulating bergoglio's tactical response.