Pope Benedict XV (Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista Della Chiesa). Papacy From 1914-1922. (Part One.)

Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,

unless otherwise stated.

English: Pope Benedict XV, circa 1915.

Français: Photo de Benoît XV prise vers 1915.

Photo: Circa 1915.

Source: Library of Congress.

Author: Unknown.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Pope Benedict XV (Latin: Benedictus XV), 21 November 1854 – 22 January 1922), born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, was Pope from 3 September 1914 to his death in 1922. His Pontificate was largely overshadowed by World War I and its political, social and humanitarian consequences in Europe.

Between 1846 and 1903, the Catholic Church had experienced its two longest Pontificates in history up to that point. Together, Pope Pius IX and Pope Leo XIII ruled for a total of fifty-seven years. In 1914, the College of Cardinals chose della Chiesa at the young age of fifty-nine, indicating their desire for another long-lasting Pontificate at the outbreak of World War I, which he labelled “the suicide of civilised Europe.”

The war, and its consequences, were the main focus of Benedict XV. He immediately declared the neutrality of the Holy See and attempted, from that perspective, to mediate peace, in 1916 and 1917. Both sides rejected his initiatives. German Protestants rejected any “Papal Peace” as insulting. The French politician, Georges Clemenceau, regarded the Vatican initiative as being anti-French.

The Election of Pope Benedict XV, 1914.

Available on YouTube at

http://youtu.be/HiqYDEwkFaM.

Having failed with diplomatic initiatives, Benedict XV focused on humanitarian efforts to lessen the impacts of the war, such as attending Prisoners of War, the exchange of wounded soldiers and food deliveries to needy populations in Europe. After the war, he repaired the difficult relations with France, which re-established relations with the Vatican in 1921. During his Pontificate, relations with Italy improved, as well, as Benedict XV now permitted Catholic Politicians, led by Don Luigi Sturzo, to participate in national Italian politics.

In 1917, Benedict XV promulgated the Code of Canon Law, which was released on 27 May 1917, the creation of which he had prepared, with Pietro Gasparri and Eugenio Pacelli, during the Pontificate of Pope Saint Pius X. The new Code of Canon Law is considered to have stimulated Religious Life and activities throughout the Church.

He named Pietro Gasparri to be his Cardinal Secretary of State and personally Consecrated Nuncio Eugenio Pacelli (the future Pope Pius XII), on 13 May 1917, as Archbishop, on the very day of the first Marian Apparition in Fatima, Portugal. World War I caused great damage to Catholic Missions throughout the world. Benedict XV revitalised these activities, asking, in Maximum Illud, for Catholics throughout the world to participate. For that, he has been referred to as the "Pope of Missions".

Copyright-expired photo of

Giacomo Della Chiesa,

aged 12, in 1866.

Source: Anton de Waal.

Author: A. Della Chiesa.

Original uploader was Ambrosius007 at en.wikipedia

(Wikimedia Commons)

His last concern was the emerging persecution of the Catholic Church in Soviet Russia and the famine there after the Revolution. Pope Benedict XV was an ardent Mariologist, devoted to Marian Veneration, and he was open to new perspectives of Roman Catholic Mariology. He supported the Mediatrix Theology and authorised the Feast of Mary, Mediator of all Graces.

After seven years in Office, Pope Benedict XV died on 22 January 1922 after battling pneumonia since the start of that month. He was buried in the grottos of Saint Peter's Basilica. With his diplomatic skills and his openness towards modern society, "he gained respect for himself and the Papacy." To this day, he is possibly the least remembered Pontiff of the 20th-Century, overshadowed by the likes of successors, such as Pope Pius XII and Pope Saint John Paul II.

English: President of the United States, Thomas Woodrow Wilson.

Deutsch: Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924), Präsident der Vereinigten Staaten von 1913 bis 1921, Friedensnobelpreisträger des Jahres 1919, aufgenommen am 2. Dezember 1912.

Photo: 2 December 1912.

Source: United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division.

Author: Pach Brothers, New York.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The first Meeting of a reigning Pope and the President of the United States of America took place in the Vatican, on 4 January 1919, between Pope Benedict XV and President Woodrow Wilson.

Giacomo della Chiesa was born at Pegli, a suburb of Genoa, Italy, third son of Marchese Giuseppe della Chiesa and his wife, Marchesa Giovanna Migliorati. Genealogy findings report that his father's side produced Pope Callixtus II, and also claimed descent from Berengar II of Italy, and that his maternal family produced Pope Innocent VII.

His wish to become a Priest was rejected early on by his father, who insisted on a legal career for his son. At age twenty-one, he acquired a Doctorate in Law, on 2 August 1875. He had attended the University of Genoa, which, after the unification of Italy, was largely dominated by anti-Catholic and anti-Clerical politics. With his Doctorate in Law, and at legal age, he again asked his father for permission to study for the Priesthood, which was now reluctantly granted. He insisted, however, that his son conduct his Theological Studies in Rome, not in Genoa, so that he would not end up as a village Priest or provincial Monsignore.

Della Chiesa entered the Collegio Capranica and was there in Rome when, in 1878, Pope Pius IX died and was followed by Pope Leo XIII. The new Pope received the students of the Capranica in private audience, only a few days after his Coronation. Shortly thereafter, della Chiesa was ordained a Priest by Cardinal Raffaele Monaco La Valletta, on 21 December 1878.

The Death of Pope Benedict XV in 1922.

Available on YouTube at

http://youtu.be/toBmuR-WD_A

From 1878 until 1883, he studied at the Pontificia Accademia dei Nobili Ecclesiastici, in Rome. It was there, on every Thursday, that students were required to defend a Research Paper, to which Cardinals and High Members of the Roman Curia were invited. Cardinal Mariano Rampolla took note of him and furthered his entry in the Diplomatic Service of the Vatican in 1882, where he was employed by Rampolla as a Secretary and soon to be posted to Madrid. When Rampolla subsequently was appointed Cardinal Secretary of State, della Chiesa followed him. During these years, della Chiesa helped negotiate the resolution of a dispute between Germany and Spain over the Caroline Islands, as well as organising relief during a cholera epidemic.

PART TWO FOLLOWS.

Pope Saint Leo II. Confessor. Feast Day 3 July. Papacy 682 A.D. - 683 A.D.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

Saint Leo II.
Pope and Confessor.
Feast Day 3 July.

Semi-Double.

White Vestments.

English: Portrait of Pope Saint Leo II.

Español: imagen del papa leon II.

Date: Unknown.

Source: Basilica di San Paolo fuori le Mura, Roma.

Author: Unknown.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Leo II, a Sicilian by birth, participated in the full Priesthood of Christ (Introit, Epistle, Gradual, Alleluia) on becoming Pope. Guided by the Holy Ghost, Pope Leo II gave their full value to the spiritual riches of the Church committed to his care by Jesus (Gospel, Communion).

He approved the Acts of the Sixth Council, which condemned those who taught that Christ has only one will. Well versed in Sacred Singing, he perfected the melodies of the Psalms and of the Hymns of the Church.

He was truly the father of the poor and, by his example and Preaching, led everyone to virtue. He died in 683 A.D. and was buried in the Basilica of Saint Peter.

Let us imitate the example of this Saint (Collect), who was one of the successors of Saint Peter on the Pontifical Throne.

Mass: Sacerdotes tui.

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,

unless otherwise stated.

Pope Saint Leo II (611 A.D. – 683 A.D.) was Pope from 682 A.D. to his death in 683 A.D.

He was a Sicilian by birth (the son of a man named Paulus), and succeeded Pope Agatho. Though elected Pope a few days after the death of Saint Agatho (10 January 681 A.D.), he was not Consecrated until after the lapse of a year and seven months (17 August 682). Pope Saint Leo was known as an eloquent Preacher, who was interested in music, and noted for his Charity to the poor.

Elected shortly after the death of Pope Agatho, Pope Leo II was not Consecrated for over a year and a half. The reason may have been due to negotiations regarding Imperial control of Papal Elections.

These negotiations were undertaken by Pope Leo's predecessor, Agatho, between the Holy See and Emperor Constantine IV. They concerned the relations of the Byzantine Court to Papal Elections. Emperor Constantine IV had already promised Agatho to abolish or reduce the tax, that the Popes had been paying to the Imperial Treasury, at the time of their Consecration, an Imperial policy that had been in force for about a Century.

Pope Leo's short-lived Pontificate did not allow him to accomplish much, but there was one achievement of major importance: he confirmed the Acts of the Sixth Ecumenical Council (680 A.D. - 681 A.D.). This Council had been held in Constantinople, against the Monothelite controversy, and had been presided over by the Legates of Pope Agatho. After Pope Leo had notified the Emperor that the Decrees of the Council had been confirmed, he made them known to the nations of the West. In Letters written to the King, the Bishops, and the nobles of Spain, he explained what the Council had effected, and he called upon the Bishops to subscribe to its Decrees.

During this Council, Pope Honorius I (625 A.D. - 628 A.D.) was anathematised for his views in the Monothelite controversy as tolerant of Heresy. Pope Leo took great pains to make it clear that, in condemning Pope Honorius, he did so not because Honorius taught Heresy, but because he was not active enough in opposing it. In accordance with the Papal Mandate, a Synod was held at Toledo in 684 A.D., in which the Council of Constantinople was accepted.

Regarding the decision of the Council, Pope Leo wrote once again in approbation of the decision of the Council and in condemnation of Honorius, whom he regarded as one who "profana proditione immaculatem fidem subvertare conatus est" (roughly, "one who by betrayal has tried to overthrow the Immaculate Faith").

In their bearing upon the question of Papal Infallibility, these words have caused considerable attention and controversy, and prominence is given to the circumstance that, in the Greek Text of the Letter to the Emperor, where the phrase occurs, the milder expression "subverti permisit" ("allowed to be overthrown . . .") is used for "subvertare conatus est".

At this time, Pope Leo II put an end to the attempts of the Ravenna Archbishops to get away from the control of the Bishop of Rome. The Pope sweetened the deal for the Ravenna Bishops by abolishing the tax it had been customary for them to pay, when they received the Pallium.

Also, in apparent response to Lombard raids, Pope Leo transferred the Relics, of a number of Martyrs, from the Catacombs to Churches inside the walls of the City. He also Dedicated two Churches, Saint Paul's and Saints Sebastian and George.

Pope Leo II was originally buried in his own Monument; however, some years after his death, his remains were put into a tomb that contained all four Pope Leos (Popes Leo I, II, III, IV).

The Visitation Of The Blessed Virgin Mary.

Text and Illustration taken from UNA VOCE OF ORANGE COUNTY
which states that all Text and Illustrations are taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
1952 Edition, with the kind permission of St. Bonaventure Press.

Feast Of The Visitation Of The Blessed Virgin Mary.
Feast Day 2 July.

Double of the Second Class.

White Vestments.

Visitation of The Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Angel Gabriel had announced to Mary that God would soon give a son to Elizabeth. The Virgin at once betook herself to Hebron, where her cousin resided: That is the Mystery of the Visitation, which is Solemnised on the day following the Octave of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist.

On this day, as in the Season of Advent, the Church recalls together the memories of the Precursor and of Jesus and Mary. For we then remarked, that the Friday in the Winter Ember Week recalled to us the same Mystery of the Visitation.

This Feast was instituted for the whole world, in 1389, by Pope Urban VI, in order to obtain the end of the great Western Schism. It was later on raised to the Rite of Double of the Second Class by Pope Pius IX, for on this Feast was completed at Rome in 1849 the victory of the Church over the Revolution.

The Magnificat.

The Canticle of Mary.

John Michael Talbot wrote the music

and the words are from the Gospel of Luke 1:46-55.

Sung by Annie Karto., Jackie Francois, John Michael Talbot.

Available on YouTube at

http://youtu.be/0y67GDT2kwU.

The Canticle of Mary.

This is Mary's great Exaltation of Praise to God.

For in her visit to Elizabeth, Mary's Faith is validated; that she will be The Mother of the World's Saviour - Jesus Christ! And so, with Rejoicing and Thanksgiving for all His mighty deeds, His mercy on the lowly and His fulfillment of Covenant - Mary's Soul bursts forth with Joy to the Lord.

Mary visits Elizabeth and Jesus visits and Sanctifies John. Wherefore, Saint John leaps with joy and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Ghost, exclaims: " Blessed art thou among women and Blessed is the Fruit of thy Womb" (Gospel).

The Virgin, Mother of God, who bears and gives birth to Him who bears and produces all things (Gradual, Alleluia, Offertory, Communion) then pronounces a "sublime Canticle" (Introit), the Magnificat.

Saint Benedict Ornate Wall Crucifix.

Image: NATIONAL SHRINE OF THE INFANT JESUS OF PRAGUE

THE SAME DAY

Saint Processus and Saint Martinian.

Martyrs.

Feast Day 2 July.

Red Vestments.

Peter and Paul, cast into the Mamertine Prison, converted their two Warders, Processus and Martinian, and Baptised them. Brought before the statue of Jupiter, these new Christians refused to adore it and were put to death.

Mass: Sapientiam.

New Seminary In France.

This Article was picked up from FR Z's BLOG

Photo: MISSIONARIES FOR EUROPE

The following Text is taken from FR Z's BLOG

I am delighted at this news I just received via email:

I thought you might be interested in learning about the new seminary that will be established presently in the diocese of Fréjus-Toulon by Bishop Dominique Rey, entrusted to the Fraternity of St Joseph the Guardian (FSJC). The goal of the seminary is to form priests from North and South America in order to serve as missionaries in Europe.

The seminarians will be taught both forms of the Roman Rite, with a special focus on the traditional liturgy; their formation will also emphasize the defence of human life in all its stages and the promotion of the natural family. The seminary will be located in Bormes-les-Mimosas with a future branch in La Londe-les-Maures. There is more information at its WEBSITE.

Sounds like a great place to teach! I think that a friend of mine, with whom I was in seminary, will be teaching there.

Feast Of The Most Precious Blood Of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Feast Day 1 July.

Text and Illustration taken from UNA VOCE OF ORANGE COUNTY
which states that all Text and Illustrations are taken from the Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
1952 Edition, with the kind permission of St. Bonaventure Press.

Feast Of The Most Precious Blood Of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Feast Day 1 July.

Double of the First Class.

Red Vestments.

The Most Precious Blood Of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Liturgy, that admirable summary of the history of the Church, reminds us every year that, at this date in 1849, thanks to the French Army, the Revolution which had driven the Pope from Rome was vanquished.

To perpetuate the memory of this triumph, and to show that it was due to the Saviour's merits, Pope Pius IX, at the time a refugee at Gaeta, instituted the Feast of The Precious Blood.

Pope Pius XI, in 1934, raised it to the First Class.

The Antiphon at the Magnificat

for Second Vespers

on the Feast of the Most Precious Blood

of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Available on YouTube at

http://youtu.be/99bEwmPUYpw.

Habebitis autem*

hunc diem in monumentum:

Et celebrabitis eum solemnem

Domino in generationibus

vestris cultu sempiterno.

Ye shall observe this day for a Memorial:

And ye shall keep it holy unto the Lord,

Throughout your generations

With an everlasting worship.

[Exodus, Chapter xii, Verse 14]

The Heart of Jesus has made this adorable Blood circulate in His limbs; wherefore, as on the Feast of the Sacred Heart, the Gospel presents to our view the thrust of the lance which pierced the side of the Divine Crucified, Blood and Water gushing forth. [The Office of Matins speaks of the Blood which Jesus shed at the Circumcision, in the Garden of Olives, the Flagellation, the Crowning of Thorns and on the Cross.]

Thus become united the two testimonies which the Holy Ghost bore to the Messias, when He was Baptised in the water of the Jordan and when He was Baptised in Blood on the Cross (Gradual). [The Docetes taught that Jesus  was the Christ at His Baptism, and had thus come by Water, but being no longer Christ on the Cross, He had not come by Blood.]

Let us do homage to The Precious Blood of Our Redeemer, which the Priest offers to God on the Altar.

May They Rest In Peace. Requiéscant In Pace.

Saint Benedict Ornate Wall Crucifix.

Image: AMAZON

1 July 1916, the first day of The Battle of the Somme,
was the worst day in the history of the British Army.

British Army casualties for the day were 60,000.

The Battle of the Somme lasted from

1 July 1916 until 18 November 1916.

In total, there were more than 1 million casualties.

Leyton Orient Football Club

Supporters visit The Somme Battlefields,

July 2011.

Available on YouTube at

http://youtu.be/KhmWgCaiF7w.

Soldiers of the Australian 4th Division, 10th Field Artillery Brigade, on a duck-board track,

passing through Chateau Wood, near Hooge, in the Ypres salient, 29 October 1917.

The leading soldier is Gunner James Fulton and the second soldier is Lieutenant Anthony Devine.

The men belong to a Battery of the 10th Field Artillery Brigade.

Source: This image is available from the Collection Database of the

Australian War Memorial under the ID Number: E01220.

Author: Frank Hurley.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Frank Hurley.

(Editor: Frank Hurley was the photographer, who took the

photo (above) of Australian troops passing through Chateau Wood.)

Date: 1914.

Source: Scanned from The Endurance by

Caroline Alexander ISBN 074754123X.

Author: Frank Hurley (1885-1962).

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Battle of Passchendaele

(or Third Battle of Ypres or "Passchendaele")

July 1917 - November 1917.

In total, there were, approximately, 1 million casualties.

Battle of The Menin Road.

"Australian wounded on The Menin Road, near Birr Cross Road,

on 20 September 1917".

(Caption source: National Library of Australia, n.d. (1 June 2014).

Date: 1917.

Source: State Library of New South Wales file:a479035.

Author: Frank Hurley.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Accrington Pals.

11th (Service) Battalion (Accrington),

East Lancashire Regiment.

Better known as

'The Accrington Pals' Battalion.

"Accrington Pals",

near Hyndburn Park School, Accrington, Lancashire, 1914.

[Accrington Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment, B Company, No. 1 Platoon.]

Photo kindly provided by Robert and Tony Robinson.

Image: DAS ACCRINGTON PALS BATAILLON

A month after the outbreak of war,

the "Accrington Observer and Times" reported,

on 8 September 1914, that an offer by the Mayor of Accrington, 

Captain John Harwood, to set up a Battalion,

had been accepted by The War Office.

As the recruitment began, on 14 September 1914, 104 men were drafted during the first three hours. Brothers, friends and

work-mates reported together. On 24 September 1914,

The Accrington Battalion had reached a full strength of

36 officers and 1,076 men.

About half of the Battalion were recruited from Accrington and the surrounding area; the remainder were recruited from the neighbouring towns of Burnley, Chorley, and Blackburn.

The 'Accrington Pals' Battalion is probably the most famous of
The "Pals" Battalions, which were erected in the early months of
World War I, in response to Kitchener's call to form a Volunteer Army.
It was formed by men from all walks of life from Accrington, Lancashire, and the surrounding area.

Groups of friends - "Pals" - came forward together, in anticipation of a great adventure. In its first major battle, the Battalion suffered devastating losses in the attack on Serre, France, on 1 July 1916, the first day of
The Battle of the Somme.

The losses were hard to bear in a community where everyone had a close relative or friend killed or injured.

Although the Battalion fought again,
the "Pals" concept was forever lost.

May They Rest In Peace.
Requiéscant In Pace.

"Dies Irae".

The Sequence in a Requiem Mass.

Available on YouTube at

https://youtu.be/Dlr90NLDp-0

The Holy Apostles Saint Peter And Saint Paul. Feast Day 29 June.

Text and Illustration taken from UNA VOCE OF ORANGE COUNTY
which states that all Text and Illustrations are taken from the Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
1952 Edition, with the kind permission of St. Bonaventure Press.

The Holy Apostles Peter And Paul.
Feast Day 29 June.

Double of the First Class
   with an Octave.

Red Vestments.

The Apostles Peter and Paul.

Today, the whole Church rejoices, for "God has consecrated this day by the Martyrdom of the Apostles Peter and Paul" (Collect). In both the grand Basilicas erected at Rome over the tombs "of these two Princes, who, by the Cross and Sword, have obtained their seat in the Eternal Senate [Hymn at Vespers]," this double Martyrdom was celebrated.

Later, on account of the distance which separates the two Churches, the Festival was divided, Saint Peter being more specially honoured on 29 June and Saint Paul on 30 June.

Saint Peter, Bishop of Rome, is the Vicar, that is to say, the visible representative of Christ. As is shown in the Preface, Alleluia, Gospel, Offertory and Communion, the Jews had rejected Jesus. They also rejected His successor (Epistle). Displacing the religious centre of the world, Saint Peter then left Jerusalem for Rome, which became the Eternal City and the Seat of the Popes.

Saint Peter, the first Pope, speaks in the name of Christ, Who has communicated to him His Doctrine of Infallibility. He is not guided by flesh and blood, but by the Heavenly Father, who does not permit the gates of Hell to prevail against the Church, of which he is the foundation (Gospel).

Saint Peter, on receiving the Keys, is placed at the Head of the "Kingdom of Heaven" upon Earth, that is to say, the Church, and he reigns in the name of Christ, Who has invested him with His Power and Supreme Authority (Gospel).

 The names of Saint Peter and Saint Paul head the names of the Apostles in the Canon of the Mass (First List).

With "the Church, which did not cease Praying to God for Saint Peter" (Epistle), let us Pray for his successor "the servant of God, our Holy Father the Pope" (Canon of the Mass).

Every Parish Priest celebrates Mass for the people of his Parish.

The Vigil Of The Feast Of SS. Peter And Paul.

Text and Illustration taken from UNA VOCE OF ORANGE COUNTY
which states that all Text and Illustrations are taken from the Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
1952 Edition, with the kind permission of St. Bonaventure Press.

The Vigil Of The Feast Of Saint Peter And Saint Paul.

28 June.

Violet Vestments.

Saint Peter and Saint Paul.

The Church celebrates, tomorrow, the Feast of the two Apostles who are the two foundations on which she is solidly established (Collect).

"The rigour to which a people subjects itself by certain days of preparation," writes Dom Guéranger (The Liturgical Year), "is a mark of the Faith which it has preserved, showing that it understands the greatness of the object proposed by the Holy Liturgy for its worship." [The Liturgical Year: Vigil of The Holy Apostles.]

Peter raised to his Cross (Introit, Gospel), like Christ rises above the world. He seals in his blood his confession of Faith (Gospel of tomorrow) and love (Gospel) in Jesus, and, henceforth, it will be in His name (Ibid.) and as His Vicar that he will be King of Souls.

Paul, by sharing his labours and Martyrdom, shares his Kingship and his Triumph.

The Most Pure Heart Of The Blessed Virgin Mary. Feast Day: Saturday Within The Octave Of The Sacred Heart.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

The Most Pure Heart Of The Blessed Virgin Mary.
Feast Day: Saturday Within The Octave Of The Sacred Heart.

White Vestments.

The Virgin in Prayer.

Artist: Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato (1609 – 1685).

Date: Between 1640 and 1650.

Current location: National Gallery, London.

Source/Photographer: Web Gallery of Art.

(Wikimedia Commons)

[Editor: How apt that, within the Octave of The Sacred Heart of Jesus, a Feast Day also Commemorates The Most Pure Heart Of The Blessed Virgin Mary, His Mother. Two Hearts, so close, they cannot be separated. Ever.]

These are the characteristics of the Heart of Our Blessed Lady, which we set forth from the Texts of the Mass:

1.      All her Holiness proceeds from her Heart (Introit);

2.      Her grief, when she lost the Child, Jesus, in the Temple (Gospel);

3.      Her Heart is filled with the Love of God (Epistle, Secret, Communion);

4.      Mary's Heart is Pure, therefore it is pleasing to God (Collect, Gradual);

5.      Her Heart is courageous (Offertory);

6.      Mary's intercession (Postcommunion).

[Editor: Note that this Feast Day is in addition to The Immaculate Heart Of The Blessed Virgin Mary, celebrated on 22 August.]

Monte Cassino Abbey.

Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

Interior of the Basilica of Monte Cassino Abbey.

Photo: 4 September 2012.

Source: Own work.

Author: User:MatthiasKabel.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Monte Cassino Abbey.

Photo: July 2007.

Source: Own work.

Author: Pilecka.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Monte Cassino (sometimes written Montecassino) is a rocky hill about 130 kilometres (81 miles) South-East of Rome, Italy, 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) to the West of the Town of Cassino (the Roman Casinum, having been on the hill) and 520 m (1,706 ft) altitude. Saint Benedict of Nursia established his first Monastery, here, the source of the Benedictine Order, around 529 A.D.

It was the site of the Battle of Monte Cassino in 1944, when the building was destroyed by Allied bombing and re-built after the war. The site has been visited many times by Popes and other senior Clergy, including Pope Benedict XVI in May 2009. The Monastery is one of the few remaining Territorial Abbeys within the Catholic Church. Until his resignation was accepted by Pope Francis on 12 June 2013, the Territorial Abbot of Monte Cassino was Pietro Vittorelli.

English: Monte Cassino Arch-Abbey, Italy, at Dusk.

Deutsch: Erzabtei Monte Cassino.

Latina: Archiabbatia de Monte Cassino, Italien.

Italiano: Archiabbazia di Monte Cassino, Italia.

Photo: 18 December 2004.

Source: Own work.

Author: Halibutt.

(Wikimedia Commons)

According to Gregory the Great's biography of Benedict, "Life of Saint Benedict of Nursia", the Monastery was constructed on an older pagan site, a temple of Apollo that crowned the hill. The biography records that the area was still largely pagan at the time and Benedict's first act was to smash the sculpture of Apollo and destroy the altar.

He then re-used the temple, dedicating it to Saint Martin, and built another Chapel on the site of the altar, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. Archaeologist Neil Christie notes that it was common in such hagiographies for the protagonist to encounter areas of strong paganism. Once established at Monte Cassino, Benedict never left. There he wrote the Benedictine Rule that became the founding principle for Western Monasticism. There at Monte Cassino he received a visit from Totila, King of the Ostrogoths, perhaps in 543 A.D., (the only remotely secure historical date for Benedict), and there he died.

English: Monte Cassino Abbey after the bombing, 1944.

Italiano: Rovine di Monte Cassino, 1944.

Photo: 1944.

Source: Copied from the Italian Wikipedia. Originally from this page

on www.qmmuseum.lee.army.mil

(Wikimedia Commons)

Monte Cassino became a model for future developments. Unfortunately, its prominent site has always made it an object of strategic importance. It was sacked or destroyed a number of times. In 581 A.D., during the Abbacy of Bonitus, the Lombards sacked the Abbey, and the surviving Monks fled to Rome, where they remained for more than a Century. During this time, the body of Saint Benedict was transferred to Fleury, the modern Saint-Benoit-sur-Loire, near Orleans, France.

A flourishing period of Monte Cassino followed its re-establishment in 718 A.D., by Abbot Petronax, when, among the Monks, were Carloman, son of Charles Martel, Ratchis, predecessor of the great Lombard Duke and King, Aistulf, and Paul the Deacon, the historian of the Lombards.

The Polish War Cemetery,

Monte Cassino Abbey.

Source: Own work.

Author: Radomił.

(Wikimedia Commons)

In 744 A.D., a donation by Gisulf II of Benevento created the Terra Sancti Benedicti, the Secular Lands of the Abbacy, which were subject to the Abbot and nobody else, save the Pope. Thus, the Monastery became the Capital of a State, comprising a compact and strategic region between the Lombard Principality of Benevento and the Byzantine City-States of the Coast (Naples, Gaeta, and Amalfi).

In 884 A.D., Saracens sacked and then burned it down, and Abbot Bertharius was killed during the attack. Among the great historians who worked at the Monastery, in this period, there was Erchempert, whose Historia Langobardorum Beneventanorum is a fundamental Chronicle of the 9th-Century Mezzogiorno.

It was rebuilt and reached the apex of its fame in the 11th-Century, under the Abbot, Desiderius (Abbot 1058–1087), who later became Pope Victor III. The number of Monks rose to over 200, and the Library, the Manuscripts produced in the Scriptorium, and the School of Manuscript Illuminators, became famous throughout the West. The unique Beneventan Script flourished there during Desiderius' Abbacy.

Monte Cassino's Cloistered Garden.

Date: July 2007.

Source: Own work.

Author: Pilecka.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The buildings of the Monastery were reconstructed on a scale of great magnificence, artists being brought from Amalfi, Lombardy, and even Constantinople, to supervise the various works. The Abbey Church, rebuilt and decorated with the utmost splendour, was Consecrated, in 1071, by Pope Alexander II. A detailed account of the Abbey, at this date, exists in the Chronica monasterii Cassinensis, by Leo of Ostia,and Amatus of Monte Cassino gives us our best source on the Early-Normans in the South.

Abbot Desiderius sent envoys to Constantinople, some time after 1066, to hire expert Byzantine Mosaicists for the decoration of the rebuilt Abbey Church. According to the Chronicler, Leo of Ostia, the Greek artists decorated the Apse, the Arch and the Vestibule of the Basilica. Their work was admired by contemporaries but was totally destroyed in later Centuries, except two fragments depicting greyhounds (now in the Monte Cassino Museum). "The Abbot, in his wisdom, decided that great numbers of young Monks in the Monastery should be thoroughly initiated in these arts" - says the Chronicler about the role of the Greeks in the revival of Mosaic art in Mediaeval Italy.

An earthquake damaged the Abbey in 1349, and, although the site was rebuilt, it marked the beginning of a long period of decline. In 1321, Pope John XXII made the Church of Monte Cassino a Cathedral, and the carefully preserved independence of the Monastery from episcopal interference was at an end. In 1505, the Monastery was joined with that of Saint Justina of Padua.

The Crypt,

Monte Cassino Abbey.

Photo: 4 September 2012.

Source: Own work.

Author: User:MatthiasKabel.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The site was sacked by Napoleon's troops in 1799 and, from the dissolution of the Italian Monasteries in 1866, Monte Cassino became a national monument.

During the Battle of Monte Cassino (January 1944 – May 1944), the Abbey made up one section of the 161-kilometer (100-mile) Gustav Line, a German Defensive Line designed to hold the Allied troops from advancing any further into Italy. The Gustav Line stretched from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Adriatic Coast and the Monastery was one of the key strongholds, overlooking Highway 6 and blocking the path to Rome.

On 15 February 1944, the Abbey was almost completely destroyed in a series of heavy American-led air-raids. The bombing was conducted because many reports from troops on the ground suggested that Germans were occupying the Monastery, and it was considered a key Observation Post by all those who were fighting.

However, during the bombing, no Germans were present in the Abbey. Subsequent investigations have since confirmed that the only people killed in the Monastery by the bombing were 230 Italian civilians seeking refuge there. Only after the bombing were the ruins of the Monastery occupied by German Fallschirmjäger (Paratroopers), aiding them in their defence, because the ruins provided excellent defensive cover.

Deutsch: Monte Cassino-ein Trümmerfeld83 anglo-amerikanische Bomber haben am 15. Februar ihre Bombenlast über dem ehrwürdigen Kloster von Monte Cassino, der Geburtsstätte des Benediktinerordens abgeworfen. Das herrliche Bauwerk wurde vollständig zerstört und unersetzliche Kulturwerte vernichtet. Als Vorwand der Bombardierung diente die Behauptung, deutsche Truppen hätten das Kloster als Artilleriefestung ausgebaut, eine Behauptung, die inzwischen durch Erklärungen der Mönche von Monte Cassino restlos entkräftet wurde. PK-L 2242.

English: Monte Cassino in ruins after Allied bombing in February 1944.

Date: February 1944.

Photographer: Wittke.

Source: This image was provided to Wikimedia Commons by the

German Federal Archive (Deutsches Bundesarchiv) as part of a co-operation project.

Attribution: Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-2005-0004 / Wittke / CC-BY-SA.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The heavily-outnumbered Germans held the position until withdrawing on 17 May 1944, having repulsed four Main Offensives by the 2nd New Zealand Division, the 4th Indian Division and II Polish Corps. The Allied Forces broke the Gustav Line between 11 May 1944 and 17 May 1944. The Polish 12th Podolian Uhlans Regiment of the Polish II Corps, commanded by Lt. Gen. Władysław Anders, raised the Polish flag over the ruins on 18 May 1944. The road to Rome was then open.

The Abbey was rebuilt after the war; Pope Paul VI re-Consecrated it in 1964. During reconstruction, its Library was housed at the Pontifical Abbey of Saint Jerome-in-the-City.

English: The Nave,

Monte Cassino Abbey.

Italiano: Abbazia di Montecassino, Lazio, Italia.

Photo: 17 July 2006.

Source: Aaron Logan's Loblogomy.

Author: [1]

(Wikimedia Commons)

In December 1942, some 1,400 irreplaceable manuscript codices, chiefly patristic and historical, in addition to a vast number of documents relating to the history of the Abbey and the collections of the Keats-Shelley Memorial House in Rome, had been sent to the Abbey archives for safekeeping. Fortunately, German officers Lt. Col. Julius Schlegel (a Roman Catholic) and Capt. Maximilian Becker (a Protestant), both from the Panzer-Division Hermann Göring, had them transferred to the Vatican at the beginning of the battle.

Another account, however, from Kurowski ("The History of the Fallschirmpanzerkorps Hermann Göring: Soldiers of the Reichsmarschall") notes that 120 trucks were loaded with Monastic assets and art which had been stored there for safekeeping. Robert Edsel ("Rescuing DaVinci") is more to the point about German looting. The trucks were loaded and left in October 1943, and only "strenuous" protests resulted in their delivery to the Vatican, minus the 15 cases which contained the property of the Capodimonte Museum in Naples. Edsel goes on to note that these cases had been delivered to Göring in December 1943, for "his birthday."

Happy Feast.

Illustration from: TRANSALPINE REDEMPTORISTS