This morning, in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father Leo XIV received in audience three Benedictine Monastic Communities: the Monastic Community of the Abbey of Santa Scolastica of Subiaco. the Monastic Community of the Abbey of Santa Maria del Monte of Cesena, and the Benedictine Nuns of the Abbey of Santa Scolastica of Bari.

The following is the address delivered by the Pope to those present:

Address of the Holy Father

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Peace be with you!

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome!

I am glad of this meeting, which also gives us the opportunity to reflect together on the value of the Benedictine charism in your lives, in the life of the Church and in the world.

In identifying “the instruments of good works”, Saint Benedict, in Chapter IV of the Rule, urges us to “keep guard over one’s every act” (48). You, contemplative Benedictine nuns, Benedictine monks, know well how much prayer and prayerful reading of the Word of God, especially in the Lectio divina, assist in this vigilance, enabling those who practise them to understand the truth about themselves, in the recognition of their own weaknesses and sins and in the celebration of the Lord’s graces and blessings. This is how the desire to belong to Him is renewed within us and the vow of our consecration is confirmed. Scripture, therefore, should always be “nourishment of our life and of your contemplation and daily life, so that you can then share this transforming experience” (FRANCIS, Apostolic Constitution Vultum Dei quaerere, 19).

The path of sanctification of a consecrated person, of a nun, however, no matter how rich in fervour and inspiration, cannot be reduced to a merely personal journey. It has a necessary community dimension, in which the proclamation of Paschal liberation takes tangible form in fraternal service, a reflection of Christ’s universal love for the Church and for humanity.

In this regard, synodality, promoted by Pope Francis as fundamental for the life of the Church, is translated in the monastery into the daily practice of “walking together”, reciprocal listening, community discernment under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and communion with the local Church and with the Benedictine family. This is manifested in the fraternal assembly, in common prayer and in shared decisions, where authority and obedience come together in dialogue, to seek God’s will together. Monastic life cannot be understood simply as withdrawal from the outside world. It is a means by which a love similar to that of the Master may grow in the hearts of the disciples, ready to share and to help, even amongst monasteries. Monastic life will thus increasingly become, in a world often marked by self-absorption and individualism, a model for the whole of God’s People, reminding us that being missionaries, before doing things, requires a way of being and of conducting relationships.

Here we might mention a particular aspect specific to cloistered missionary life: that of intercession, in which the Word made prayer unites us to Christ the Mediator, who intercedes for us (cf. Heb 7:25). Intercession is the prerogative of hearts that beat in harmony with God’s mercy (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2635), ready to gather up and present to the Lord the joys and sorrows, the hopes and anxieties of people today and of every age (cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes, 1), and this is a primary and fundamental aspect of the work entrusted to you.

A model of this is the prophetess Anna, who “did not depart from the temple, worshipping with fasting and prayer night and day” (Lk 2:37). Having been widowed and now advanced in years, she had made the house of God her home. Prayer and asceticism led her to recognize the Messiah in the poor and anonymous child presented by Mary and Joseph: they enabled her to discern, within the fabric of history, God’s intervention and to make of it a prophetic proclamation of joy and hope for the entire people of Israel.

Prophecy and discernment lead us to a final theme I would like to speak to you about: ongoing formation, particularly necessary in an age like ours. It consists first and foremost in “knowing the love of Christ which goes beyond all knowledge” (Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life, Instruction Cor Orans, 223) and is fundamental so that consecrated life “may carry out [its] service to the monastery, to the Church and to the world in an ever more appropriate manner” (ibid. 236). The entire community is the active agent in this, through prayer, the Word, moments of celebration and decision-making, of discussion and renewal, lived and shared in the primacy of charity. This implies a commitment, for all of you, with wisdom and prudence, to encourage every good intention and to direct every effort towards common growth in the capacity for giving, so that every monastery may become, as Saint Benedict desired, ever more a “school of the Lord’s service” (cf. Prologue to the Rule, 45).

Dear brothers and sisters, thank you for the immense and hidden good you do for the Church, through your offering, your unceasing prayer, your service, and the witness of your life. Continue this work, which is “the work of God” (cf. Saint Benedict, Rule, 43, 3). I entrust you to Mary Most Holy, Mother of Silence, Woman of Listening, to Saint Benedict, to Saint Scholastica, and to the many Benedictine saints, and I bless you from my heart.