Author name: amdg

On 25 September 1959, in the Anselmianum monastery on the Aventine Hill, John XXIII delivered a Latin allocution to assembled Benedictine abbots, superiors, and monks from around the world. He:
– Praises the historical merits of the Benedictine Order in evangelizing and civilizing Europe.
– Emphasizes the motto “ora et labora”, highlighting liturgical prayer (Divine Office, psalmody, nocturnal prayer) as the heart of monastic life.
– Commends Benedictine contributions in sacred learning, youth formation, parish ministry, and missions, including among those separated from the Apostolic See.
– Exhorts to unity, fidelity to the Holy Rule, and, crucially, openness to “new technical inventions,” contemporary experiences, and “new apostolic undertakings” adapted to modern circumstances.
– Confers his “apostolic blessing” upon their persons, works, and structures.

Behind this apparently devout exhortation stands the programmatic subordination of Benedictine contemplative life and Catholic tradition to the aggiornamento project that would soon explode at Vatican II, dissolving monastic, liturgical, and doctrinal stability into experimental modernist activism.