L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 20 L'Italo-Americano T h e A b b e y o f Montecassino i s a s y m b o l o f spirituality, his- t o r y , a n d resilience. T h e p a t r o n S a i n t o f Europe and father of West- ern Monasticism Benedict o f N o r c i a f o u n d e d t h e a b b e y i n 5 2 9 A D . H e h a d reached the hills of Monte- c a s s i n o f r o m S u b i a c o , o n foot, with other monks: they planned to find the perfect spot to build a monastery and give their community a home. And that hill, the same hill where, today, Benedetto's majestic abbey still stands, couldn't go unnoticed: the Romans, not many centuries before, had built their tem- ples to Apollo and Jupiter there, and it was their ves- tiges that welcomed Benedict and his brethren. There, on the highest spot of the hill, where trees and nature had conquered back their space around the temples, Benedict set the founding stone of his religious community. The first structures to be built were the Oratorio di San Martino and the Ora- t o r i o d i S a n G i o v a n n i Battista: the latter was to become the heart of the early Benedictine community at Montecassino. It is interest- ing to note that some of the ancient Roman features of the area, including a watch- tower and walls, were kept and became part of the new structure. Benedict called his abbey h o m e u n t i l t h e d a y o f h i s death, on the 21st of March 5 4 7 . T h o s e w e r e y e a r s o f hard work, of reflection and m e d i t a t i o n , p l a n n i n g a n d prayer, which bore as a result not only the construction of the abbey, but also the com- piling of the Benedictine R u l e , w r i t t e n i n 5 3 4 , t h e first document of Western Monasticism and the founda- t i o n o f t h e B e n e d i c t i n e Order. B u t t h e h i s t o r y o f t h e Abbazia is not only made of p r a y e r b u t a l s o p a i n a n d destruction. In 581, it was attacked and destroyed by the Lombard Duke of Spole- to: the surviving monks left Montecassino and traveled to R o m e , b r i n g i n g a l o n g t h e original copy of their Rule, the one written by Benedict, which had miraculously sur- v i v e d t h e c a t a s t r o p h i c attack. It took 200 years for the precious document to return to Montecassino. In those early centuries of the Middle Ages, Montecassino Abbey became a center of culture and knowledge, as well as spirituality, a hub of beauty and wisdom. Until 8 8 3 , w h e n t h e S a r a c e n s a t t a c k e d t h e m o n a s t e r y a g a i n . O n c e m o r e , t h e monks were forced to flee – t h i s t i m e t o T e a n o . O n c e more, they managed to res- cue the original copy of their Rule. However, the fate of the precious document was sealed: it was destroyed dur- ing a fire only a few years later. I n 9 5 0 t h e m o n k s returned to what was left of their abbey and, in a show of resilience and Faith, they r e s t o r e d i t t o i t s f o r m e r glory: it was the beginning of another bountiful time f o r t h e a b b a z i a , w h i c h became known for its scrip- toria where talented scribes would copy and decorate pages and pages of parch- ment. In the 17th century, Montecassino's architectur- al compound became what we are familiar with today, with its church, three clois- ters, and the monastery. But speaking of Monte- cassino, at least after the mid-20th century, doesn't only mean speaking about art and spirituality, but also about the tragedy of war. Of c o u r s e , i n i t s m o r e t h a n 1000 years of history, as we've seen, the abbey fell victim to the brutality of M a n o n m o r e t h a n o n e occasion, but it is the very last time it happened that remains clearly and vividly impressed in our memory: it's because of the infinite p o w e r o f i m a g e s a n d sounds, of and memories t h a t a r e s t i l l a l i v e i n t h e mind of some, even today. From the 17th of January 1944 until the 18th of May of the same year, the Gustav Line, one of the areas where fighting between the Nazis and the Allied Forces was taking place more violently, crossed the lands around the abbey and the town of Cassino: the battle caused t h e d e a t h o f m o r e t h a n 3 0 . 0 0 0 G e r m a n s o l d i e r s a n d t h e A l l i e s l o s t e v e n m o r e , w i t h 2 7 . 0 0 0 f a l l e n Americans, 26.000 Britons and thousands of French, P o l e s , I n d i a n s a n d e v e n Maoris. Among them, also 400 Italian Partigiani. This is the reality of war, the bru- tality of Man against Man. While the battle was fought l a r g e l y o n t h e g r o u n d – hence the terrifying number of fatalities – terror came also from the skies, espe- cially for the abbey, which was razed to the ground by Allied bombings over the space of three days, from the 15th to the 18th of Feb- ruary 1944. Bombing a religious com- p l e x w a s , t o m a n y , a n unspeakable and unjust act, b u t i t w a s n e c e s s a r y , t h e Allies said, to demoralize the Germans, who had been defending the abbey under the explicit request of Adolf H i t l e r – f o r i t s s t r a t e g i c p o s i t i o n , o f c o u r s e , n o t b e c a u s e t h e m a n c a r e d about God or beautiful art. Montecassino Abbey no longer existed physically, but its spiritual presence and its artistic patrimony were safe: most of its works of art had been moved to R o m e b e f o r e t h e a b b e y found itself under fire. A year later, when the war was still fought in Italy, Abbot D i a m a r e a n d h i s m o n k s , who had found protection in Rome, returned to what was left of their home, of their abbey, and symbolical- ly began reconstruction. It was the beginning of a new era. I n 1 9 6 4 , t w e n t y y e a r s after it was erased from the face of the Earth by war, the new Abbazia di Montecassi- no was consecrated again by Pope Paul VI: a symbol of human resilience, spiritual power and, symbolically, of the victory of Beauty and Good over the ugliness of violence. This article was inspired by Maurizio Carvigno's article Abbazia di Monte- c a s s i n o , u n c a p o l a v o r o risorto dalle ceneri, pub- lished on Passaggi Lenti, at www.passaggilenti.com. GIULIA FRANCESCHINI Statue at Montecassino Abbey (Photo: Karzof Pleine/Dreamstime) History and spirituality meet at Montecassino Abbey LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE

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