Benedictine timeline 480 AD to present

October 25, 9:31 PMBenedictine Monastic Spirituality ExaminerJohn Bakas

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Google has a timeline feature that creates a timeline for topics. The Benedictine timeline is created from books and references all across the Internet. Leave it to Google to have such a search. And leave it to the monastic Benedictines to have one of the longest timelines.

The Benedictine timeline will be another resource for doing research on Benedictine topics. Or it’s fun to just wander down the years scanning the entries and stopping to open the links that catch the eye like the one for 1590 — the founding of a Benedictine monastery in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, South America. And the monastery is still there.

Visitors and 2016 Olympic fans should see the Monastery of Saint Benedict of Rio de Janeiro.

It was “founded in 1590 by monks from Bahia, the Benedictine Monastery of Rio de Janeiro was built in response to the wishes of the city's early citizens. Nowadays, in the middle of a great metropolis, people still find a place of silence, peace, prayer, and diverse activities directed by the monks. The two principal activities of the monastery are the daily celebration of the Divine Office and the Eucharist with Gregorian chant. The Abbey also houses Saint Benedict College, Lumen Christi Editions, the Theological School of the Brazilian Benedictine Congregation, the Emmaus Retirement House, the Social Department, and more.” Source  Example of the Divine Office. 

The first entry on the Benedictine timeline is 480 AD, the birth of Benedict in Nursia, Italy which is 75 miles northeast of Rome. St. Francis of Assis founder of the Franciscans came from the same area — just 700 years later — helping to put the great antiquity of the Benedictines into perspective. My Examiner article on St. Benedict's life.

The last entry as of this writing is about a Benedictine monk at St. Benedict’s Abbey in Kansas who professed his first vows on August 15, 2009. A great and fitting timeline tribute to what began 1,529 years ago and 5,206 miles away as the western part of the Roman Empire was crumbling under its exterior attacks and internal decay.  The futrue looked bleak for Europe, but it began to chart a timeline of hope. 
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Picture is Hourglass by Patricia E Green and is used subject to the MorgueFile license

For more info on Benedictine Monastic Spirituality you may enjoy: 

Religion 101: Biography of St. Benedict father of western monasticism
Early history of the Benedictines in Florida
Religion 101: How many Benedictines are there in the world?
Religion 101: Mysticism is not a bad word in the Catholic Church
Religion 101: Ancient monastic authors
Religion 101: Why become an oblate?
Religion 101: Example of a Benedictine divine office
Religion 101: First Benedictine book to read — two recommendations
Religion 101: What is a Benedictine oblate?
Religion 101: Overview of Benedictine spirituality
Religion 101: What is St. Leo Abbey in Pasco County, Florida?
The Rule of St. Benedict: stability, fidelity to monastic life, obedience