INSieiiT
by FATHER JOHN P. BRADLEY, PRESIDENT
The homily for the Feast of St. Benedict was
delivered by Rev. John P. Bradley in the Belmont
Abbey Cathedral. In the audience were parents,
students, faculty, assembled for the second annual
Parents Weekend.
“I coimt it an honor to be granted the privilege of
giving the Homily on such a Day as this. We celebrate
today the Feast of the founder of the Order of Saint
Benedict, but the, celebration this year has a special
significance, since 1976 is Belmont Abbey’s Centennial
Year. Today, then, as we join together in the
Eucharist, let us make a very special thanksgiving to
God for the many graces He has shed on Belmont
Abbey during the past hundred years.
“Let us also today hold in grateful memory those
wonderful pioneer monks who, imder the leadership of
Bishop Leo Haid, built this institution and with un
common missionary zeal contributed so much, not only
to Belmont Abbey, but to Catholicism throughout this
entire region. Let us remember also today their
successors down through the years and including the
present monastic community. Much of the good the
Benedictines of Belmont have done, much of the
sacrifice and struggle that make up the history of this
institution, is known to some of us. But the full extent
of it, all the lives the Benedictines have touched with
the grace of God through their various apostolates -
this is known to God alone.
“It is proper and fitting that these things be said
today, and I am happy to have the opportunity of
saying them. For it seems to me that those of us who
are not Benedictines, whether we are clerics or lay
people, whether here at Belmont or somewhere else
throughout this entire region, have too seldom ex
pressed to the Belmont Benedictines our deep ap
preciation of the great tradition they represent, of the
wonderful work they have done, and of all the many
kindnesses so many of us have received from them. It
is also proper and fitting, therefore, that we thank the
monastic community today, that we offer our
congratulations as we celebrate with them the Feast of
Saint Benedict during this Centennial Year. We pray
that God will continue to bless the Belmont Benedic
tines as they now embark on their second century.
“Education has, of course, during the past hundred
years, been the primary work of the Benedictines here
at Belmont. Since this is so, and particularly since,
happily, many of the parents of our present students
join with us today in celebrating this Eucharist, I
would like to say a few words about the great
Benedictine tradition. I take pride in the fact that on
this tradition the identity of Belmont Abbey College
rests, and from this tradition the College’s philosophy
of education is derived.
“This tradition of which I speak began with Saint
Benedict’s founding of his Order in the sixth century.
The Benedictine Order, therefore, stretches back in
history for 1400 years. That in itself is surely
something to marvel at and reveals to us something of
the genius and wisdom of Saint Benedict. His Rule, the
surprisingly short document according to which the
monks live their lives, has been embraced by
thousands of men during fourteen different centuries,
in different parts of the world, speaking different
languages, and all of them human beings much like
you and I, and sharing, therefore, similar hum^’n
weaknesses. Clearly, a rule of life that has ac
complished this and has endured so long is a
remarkable achievement, and, of course, the Rule of
Saint Benedict is recognized by scholars as one of the
world’s great documents.
“It is not difficult to conclude from this that one of
the important characteristics of the Benedictine
tradition is a deeply sympathetic understanding of
human beings. That is why in the official Statement of
the Identity, Goals, and Purposes of Belmont Abbey
College we find the following quotation from the
Roman poet Terence: “I am a man, and so I consider
nothing that is human alien to me.’’ That is why, too,
the great Benedictine scholar. David Knowles, in his
April,
book titled The Benedictines, says that “A Benedictine
monk considers nothing human alien to him.”
“A practical application of Benedictine humanity,
this deep understanding of human beings, is con-
'tained in Saint JBenedict’s RuiCj Chap. 64, where the
abbot is urged to use discretion, the mother of virtues,
in the exercise of his authority. This he must do
because human beings are all different, with different
physical and intellectual qualities, and so each one has
to be seen and understood as an individual person, with
certain strengths and certain weaknesses. In our
dealings with one another, therefore, room must
always be made for compassion.
“Another characteristic of the Benedictine tradition,
or perhaps just another aspect of Benedictine
humanity, is moderation. The importance of living our
lives with moderation has, of course, often been
stressed in pagan as well as Christian times. The great
philosopher, Aristotle, summed it up in these words:
“Nothing too much.” The Roman historian, Tacitus,
frequently expressed his admiration for the virtue of
moderation, and in Christian times the same thought is
expressed thus: virtue stands in the middle. It is the
wise human being, therefore, who seeks always to
avoid extremes and strives for moderation, for
balance, in whatever he does.
“An interesting man who has become a friend of the
College over the past few years, a graduate of an Ivy
League university, and not a Catholic, told me recently
that what impressed him most about this institution
was what he called its down-to-earth common sense.
No doubt this was his way of expressing the charac
teristics of the Benedictine tradition I am attempting
to describe.
“A further characteristic of this tradition is found in
the Benedictine motto: Pray and Work - the two great
elements in the monk’s daily life. It should be clearly
understood, and there is nothing more important in an
adequate appreciation of Benedictinism, that each day
the monk’s prayer and his work - whatever he does - is
done as a member of the Benedictine family, the
monastic community, so that “in all things God may be
glorified.”
“I have often thought that it would be impossible to
avoid in any good education gaining some knowledge
and admiration of Benedictinism. I believe this, not
simply because the Benedictines have a 1400-year
history; I believe it because of the Benedictine con
tribution to our Western culture, our civilization. Time
permits me to do no more than recall one example of
this, and in doing so I shall again quote David Knowles,
the Benedictine scholar I referred to earlier: “The
epoch between 800 and 1150 has justly been called the
Benedictine centuries; within it almost all the writing
and painting and education ... had a monastic origin.”
To me this is a truly amazing fact to reflect on: for 350
years almost all the writing, painting, and education
was done by Benedictines. This reminds us, too, that
the first schools in Europe were founded and taught by
Benedictines, and these were the forerunners of the
first universities which were later established by the
Chimch.
“This briei sketch does no more, of course, than
highlight a few characteristics of the great Benedictine
tradition we celebrate today, and I am only too well
aware that it is most inadequate, since I, though I
admire this tradition, am not truly qualified to
describe it. I do trust, however, that it is sufficient to
prompt in all of us, Benedictines and non-Benedictines
alike, a great respect and much gratitude for this
tradition of which all of us are the beneficiaries.
“In saying this, I have a final word for the parents. I
believe your sons and daughters are fortunate in
having the opportunity to benefit in some degree from
the Benedictine tradition during their four years here,
at Belmont Abbey College. I do not mean by this that
we can boast about the College, for there are so many
ways in which the College can be improved. I do mean,
however, that the Benedictine tradition, even though
imperfectly embodied in our College, reminds us that
we must always strive to see our students as individual
human beings, with different strengths and
weaknesses, and be ready to understand this and give
them in a personal v^/ay whatever help we can.
“Furthermore, this tradition convinces us that we
must do all in our power to impress on our students that
in any true education, spiritual and moral growth are
just as important as intellectual development.
Whenever we have some success in this, we thank God,
for this gives us the hope that when they leave Belmont
Abbey College, they also will strive to live their lives in
such a way that in all things, God hiay be glorified.”
1976, Crossroads, Page 9
Professor Easton
Lectures On
**The Ethics of
Land Use**
at
Belmont Abbey
By R. HOWARD SUGGS*
Professor Ed Easton of
the School of Ar
chitecture at UNC-
Charlotte, delivered a
lecture entitled “The
Ethics of Land Use” on
Tuesday, March 30.
Easton, is a founder of a
local branch of the Sierra
Club and past chairman
of the N.C.-S.C. (Joseph
LeConte) chapter of that
organization. Prior to his
association with UNC-C,
he was Director of
Planning for the Cen-
trolina Council of
Governments.
Easton opened his
lecture with an in
formative little story
about a giant piece of
cheese called “The New
World” The gist of the
story goes like this. Once
there was a giant piece of
cheese, and some rats
discovered this piece of
cheese and said “O boy
would you look at that
cheese, let’s eat.” So they
started eating, and over
the years more and more
rats came to “The New
World” and started
eating, after a time the
rats ate clear across this
giant piece of cheese and
they said, “Well we made
it to the end, let’s turn
around and eat our way
back.” So they turned
around and started back,
but on the return trip
something strange
happened, some of the
rats started biting down
on things that weren’t
cheese. They were, to put
it politely, things that
other rats left behind
when their bodies were
through with the cheese
they had eaten.
Mr. Easton went on to
propose that eventually
“The New World” would
turn to dung, and that’s
where America is headed
today.
For the non-science
majors present, myself
included, Mr. Easton
explained the difference
between an open and a
closed eco-system. That
is, one where the natural
resources are returned to
the system as opposed to
one where the resources
are removed and not
returned.
“Public education and
legislation,” says
Easton, “is the key to
wise land use.”