‘Life of St. Benedict’ by Aurelius McMahon – 1880 – Chapter V & VI – pages 58-64; ‘Of a spring of water which the saint, by his prayers, produced on a mountain...’
[Saint Benedict of Nursia; V-VI Century AD; Nursia, Kingdom of Italy/Mons Casinus, Eastern Roman Empire; aged 67; Father of Western Monasticism ~ Order of Saint Benedict, Patron of Europe, Rule of Saint Benedict, Saint Benedict Medal]Chapter V ~ ‘Of a spring of water which the saint, by his prayers, produced on a mountain.’
“Of the monasteries which the saint built, three were situated on the rocks of mountains. It was a painful task for the monks to be obliged to come down every day to the lake to fetch water. This labor incommoded them all the more as it was accompanied with danger, and they were afraid of falling when coming down, as the declivity was very steep. The brethren of these monasteries assembling together, went to Saint Benedict and said: ''It is very fatiguing for us to be forced to come down every day to the lake for water, and it is therefore necessary to change the site of our monasteries." The saint having heard their complaints, consoled them in gentle language and dismissed them in peace. The following night he repaired to the rocks with the little Placidus, of whom we have already spoken, and there spent a long time in supplication. Having finished his prayer, he marked the place with three stones and returned to his monastery, the religious knowing nothing of what he had done. The same brethren coming to him again to represent how inconvenient it was to have no water near, he replied : '" Go and scoop out a small cavity in the rock where you see it marked with three stones, for Almighty Grod can make water flow from the mountain top to spare you the fatigue of so long a journey." The monks having gone to that part of the rocky ledge pointed out by Benedict, found it already moist, and there made an excavation which immediately filled with water. The water has continued to issue from the rock, and it still flows at this very day in so great abundance that it forms a copious stream hastening down the mountain side to the adjacent valley.
Chapter VI ~ Of the hook that from the bottom of the lake united itself with the handle.
On another occasion, a certain Goth, a man of much simplicity, presented himself to Saint Benedict to become a monk, and the man of God most gladly received him among his disciples. One day the saint ordered a hook to be given him to cut some bush and thorns occupying a place intended for a garden. The place given him to clear was situated on the border of a lake, and as he worked with might and main, the iron slipped off the handle and flew into the lake whose water was so deep that there could be no hope of recovering the lost blade. The Goth seeing his iron lost, went, trembling with fear, to the monk Maurus and told him the loss the monastery sustained and underwent penance. Maurus made the matter known at once to Benedict, the servant of God, who, as soon as he had heard it, went to the shore. He took the handle from the Goth and immersed it a little in the water. Immediately the blade returned from the bottom of the lake and adjusted itself to the handle. The hook having been thus restored, Benedict returned it to the Groth, saying : " Take thy hook, go to work and trouble thyself no further."
Image: Georgina Flood ~ 'My portrait of Robert Powell, (Jesus of Nazareth)'.
Music: ‘Benedicta es tu, Virgo Maria’: Graduale, Modus V · Choeur de Moines Bénedictins de l'Abbaye Santo Domingo de Silos
‘Benedicta es tu, Virgo Maria’ = ‘Blessed are you, Virgin Mary’
>>> youtube.com/watch?v=8jbdJFzzgrA