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All of us studying for the Diocese of Little Rock try to travel together somewhere at least once a year. There are four of us in Rome this year (Dc. James, Josh, Andrew and me) and we decided to travel about three hours north of Rome to a small town called Norcia.
Norcia is the birthplace of St. Benedict and his twin sister St. Scholastica, born in 480. Dc. James and I will be ordained priests next summer in Little Rock at our cathedral on the feast day of St. Benedict, July 11th, 2009.
We four stayed the weekend with the small Benedictine community of monks, most of whom are from the US but you wouldn’t have guessed it since they are silent nearly all the time and chant the prayers (every three hours or so, 7 times throughout the day beginning at 4:15) in Latin! Do a google search on “osbnorcia” for more info.
Our stay with the monks was very peaceful and prayerful although before leaving we were a little nervous since from September 14th until Ash Wednesday, the Rule of St. Benedict prescribes that the monks eat only one meal at 3:00 PM and outside of that only an Italian breakfast (literally a breaking of the fast) is available all year round.
However, when we went it was the weekend for the feasts of All Saints and all Souls and the monks felt obliged to actually feast for the feasts and we had three meals a day. Since the monks don’t eat meat we decided to eat out in a restaurant one night and taste the local delicacies.
Other than Sts. Benedict and Scholastic, Norcia is known for its wild boar and tartufo (an edible fungus, which sounds gross but is good). Every time we walked by one particular store the display changed so we took a number of photos there.
I have already been a couple times to Subiaco (see my previous journal and its connection with St. Benedict). Now, I plan to travel to Monte Cassino sometime before my last year in Italy is up. That is where St. Benedict started Western Monasticism, building the first monastery in 529 and it is the place where he and his twin sister are buried.
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