Section 03: Monte Cassino

The Monte Cassino years: the great foundation of Benedict’s maturity, where he built the abbey that gave the Rule to the world and where, in Gregory’s narrative, his gifts of prophecy and discernment reach their fullest display. The two files cover, first, the move to the mountain (traditionally c. 529), the destruction of the pagan cult of Apollo still surviving on the summit, and the building of the monastery — and, second, the prophetic episodes of the Cassino period, above all the celebrated confrontation with the Ostrogothic king Totila (Dialogues II.14–15), pinned to their chapters in Gregory.

Tradition: Pre-Schism Western (Latin) / Orthodox reception

Contents

File Topic
The Mountain Monastery The move to Monte Cassino (traditionally c. 529); the pagan grove and altar of Apollo still in use on the summit; the smashing of the idol and the burning of the grove; the temple turned into oratories of St Martin and St John the Baptist; the assaults of the devil during the building; the raising of the crushed boy (Dialogues II.8, 11)
Totila and the Prophecies The Cassino-period gift of prophecy and reading hearts: the discovery of Totila’s deception by the disguised servant, the prophecy of the king’s reign and death (Dialogues II.14–15); the foretelling of the destruction of Monte Cassino (Dialogues II.17); the discernment of hidden faults; the vision of the soul of Germanus of Capua and the whole world in one ray of light (Dialogues II.35)

How to Use

  • Read The Mountain Monastery for the founding of the abbey and the famous overthrow of paganism on the summit — the act by which the Dialogues present Benedict as the conqueror of the old gods.
  • Read Totila and the Prophecies for the prophetic Benedict of the Cassino years, the holy man who reads hearts and foresees the future, culminating in the great mystical vision of Dialogues II.35.
  • The Rule that Benedict composed at Monte Cassino is the subject of Section 04; his death there, of The Death of Benedict.

Cross-References