HISTORICAL NOTES

The Abbey of Montecassino is one of the most sacred and historical places in Italy. Founded in 529 AD by the Benedictine monk Saint Benedict, the abbey has been destroyed and rebuilt several times over the centuries.

The first construction of the abbey was destroyed by an earthquake in the 8th century but was rebuilt by Saint Benedict of Aniane in 817. In 1053, the abbey was destroyed by a fire and was then rebuilt by Desiderius, King of the Lombards. During World War II, the abbey was heavily damaged by Allied bombings but was rebuilt again after the end of the conflict.

The Abbey of Montecassino is famous for its numerous miraculous events associated with the figure of Saint Benedict. One of the most famous is the story of the healing of a paralyzed man who had made a pilgrimage to the abbey to ask for healing. On another occasion, Saint Benedict is said to have been able to bring forth a spring of water within the abbey to provide drinking water for the monks and pilgrims.

The Abbey of Montecassino is also famous for its panoramic location on a hill south of Rome. It offers a panoramic view of the surrounding countryside and the Tyrrhenian coast. Today, the abbey is an important pilgrimage site for believers from around the world and attracts thousands of visitors each year.

HISTORICAL INSIGHTS

When Saint Benedict founded the Abbey of Montecassino around the year 529 on the mountain of the ancient castrum Casinum, at the southern border of Latium novum, it seems that he obtained support from the most prominent local families and the approval of the nearest ecclesiastical authorities, likely finding the episcopal seat of Cassino vacant for some time. Constantius, Bishop of Aquino, whose esteem for Benedict is mentioned in the second book of Gregory the Great’s Dialogues.

The city of Casinum, once a Samnite stronghold and later loyal to Rome, had also been devastated in the 5th century by the incursions of Visigoths and Vandals. Of the bishops who occupied its seat, only one name enjoys some historical credibility, that of “Severus Cassinas,” present at the Roman synod of 487 and also remembered in the oldest calendars of Montecassino dating back to the end of the 8th century, while the names of two other presumed bishops of Cassino, Caprarius Cassitanus, who attended the Roman council of 465, and Fortunatus, are unfounded. In this territorial context lacking the care of an effective pastor, Saint Benedict soon began an evangelizing work that did not escape the notice of the Gothic king Totila, who visited him shortly before besieging Rome in December 546.

The first four successors of the saint in the governance of Montecassino were Constantine, Simplicius, Vitalis, and Bonitus, the last of whom saw the monastery destroyed by the Lombards in 577, leading to the exile of the monastic community to Rome.

At this point, a gap in documentation opened, ending only around 718, when the noble pilgrim Petronax, from Brescia and sent to Montecassino by Pope Gregory II, laid the foundations for the revival of the ancient monastery, thanks also to the policy of collaboration between the Duchy of Benevento and the Apostolic See.

During World War II, the monastery was bombed and destroyed. Immediately after the end of the conflict, the restorations began.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELICS

The relics referred to here are those of Saint Benedict and Saint Scholastica, whose tomb (discovered during the Desiderian reconstructions of the 1060s) is the object of worship in the presbytery of the abbey church, in the so-called Oratory of Saint John.

In indicating the date of the relic’s entry into use, consideration was given not only to the orientations of the most accredited historiography but also to the fact that the tone of Leo of Ostia’s account (Chronica Monasterii Casinensis, ed. H. Hoffmann, in Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores, XXXIV, Hannover 1980, III 26, p. 395) suggests that the discovery of the tomb of the two saints occurred entirely by chance during the renovation works of the ancient abbey church.

Entry into use: between the year 1066 and the year 1070 Relic: Bones

Collection of ex-votos: No
For an initial orientation regarding the miracles that occurred in the monastery, one can consult the index of Leo of Ostia’s Chronicle (ed. H. Hoffmann, in Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores XXXIV, Hannover 1980) under the entry miraculum.
It should be remembered that, strictly logically, there are two moments of strong discontinuity in the life cycle of the sanctuary:

1. (around the year 581) the Lombard Duke of Spoleto Zotto devastates the monastery. The community abandons the site, which will be rebuilt and reoccupied only around 717 (Abbot Petronax).

2. (year 883) the Saracens devastate the abbey again. The monks find refuge in Teano first and then in Capua. The monastery will be repopulated only in 950 (Abbot Aligerno).
Cf. Gregory the Great, Dialogi, II, 7. 1441- Eugene IV establishes that those who visit the seven altars (major, St. Mary, St. John, St. Gregory, St. Nicholas, St. Placidus, St. Maurus) placed in the abbey church and, stopping in front of each one, recites a Pater noster and an Ave Maria with the Miserere (3 Pater noster and 3 Ave Maria for those who do not know the Miserere), will gain the same indulgences as those who visit the Ecclesiae Urbis on the days of the stations).

Via Montecassino, 03043 Cassino FR, Italy