The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict, are a mainly contemplative monastic religious order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. The male religious are also sometimes called the Black Monks, in reference to the colour of their religious habits, in contrast to other Benedictine orders such as the Olivetans, who wear white. They were founded in 529 by Benedict of Nursia, a 6th-century Italian monk who laid the foundations of Benedictine monasticism through the formulation of his Rule. Benedict's sister, Scholastica, possibly his twin, also became a religious from an early age, but chose to live as a hermit. They retained a close relationship until her death.
The Rule of Saint Benedict is a book of precepts written in Latin c. 530 by St Benedict of Nursia for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot.
The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a Catholic religious order of cloistered monastics that branched off from the Cistercians. They follow the Rule of Saint Benedict and have communities of both monks and nuns that are known as Trappists and Trappistines, respectively. They are named after La Trappe Abbey, the monastery from which the movement and religious order originated. The movement first began with the reforms that Abbot Armand Jean le Bouthillier de Rancé introduced in 1664, later leading to the creation of Trappist congregations, and eventually the formal constitution as a separate religious order in 1892.
Saint Meinrad Archabbey is a Catholic monastery in Spencer County, Indiana, US, was founded by monks from Einsiedeln Abbey in Switzerland on March 21, 1854, and is home to approximately 79 monks. The Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology is also located on the premises.
The Abbey of Our Lady, Help of Christians, commonly known as Worth Abbey, is a community of Roman Catholic monks who follow the Rule of St Benedict near Turners Hill village, in West Sussex, England. Founded in 1933, the abbey is part of the English Benedictine Congregation. As of 2020, the monastic community had 21 monks.
The English Benedictine Congregation (EBC) unites autonomous Roman Catholic Benedictine communities of monks and nuns and is technically the oldest of the nineteen congregations that are affiliated in the Benedictine Confederation.
Quarr Abbey is a monastery between the villages of Binstead and Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight in southern England. The name is pronounced as "Kwor". It belongs to the Catholic Order of St Benedict.
The Ottilien Congregation, often also known as the St. Ottilien Congregation and as the Missionary Benedictines, is a congregation of religious houses within the Benedictine Confederation, the aim of which is to combine the Benedictine way of life with activity in the mission field.
Douai Abbey is a Benedictine Abbey at Upper Woolhampton, near Thatcham, in the English county of Berkshire, situated within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth. Monks from the monastery of St. Edmund's, in Douai, France, came to Woolhampton in 1903 when the community left France as a result of anti-clerical legislation. The abbey church is listed Grade II* on the National Heritage List for England.
Stanbrook Abbey is a Catholic contemplative Benedictine Monastery with the status of an abbey, located at Wass, North Yorkshire, England.
Solesmes Abbey or St. Peter's Abbey, Solesmes is a Benedictine monastery in Solesmes, Sarthe, France, famous as the source of the restoration of Benedictine monastic life in the country under Dom Prosper Guéranger after the French Revolution. The current abbot is the Right Reverend Dom Abbot Geoffrey Kemlin, O.S.B., elected in 2022.
St. Gregory's Abbey is an American monastic community of men living under the Rule of St. Benedict within the Episcopal Church. The abbey is located near Three Rivers in St. Joseph County, Michigan.
The Abbey of Saint Mary and Saint Louis is an abbey of the Catholic English Benedictine Congregation (EBC) located in Creve Coeur, in St. Louis County, Missouri in the United States. The Abbey is an important presence in the spiritual life of the Archdiocese of St. Louis. The monks of the Abbey live their faith according to the Benedictine discipline of 'prayer and work', praying the Divine Office five times daily, celebrating daily Masses in English and Latin, and working in the two parishes under their pastoral care and in the Saint Louis Priory School, which the Abbey runs as an apostolate. The Abbey and its school sit on a 150-acre (0.61 km2) campus in west St. Louis County, in the city of Creve Coeur.
Belmont Abbey, in Herefordshire, England, is a Catholic Benedictine monastery that forms part of the English Benedictine Congregation. It stands on a small hill overlooking the city of Hereford to the east, with views across to the Black Mountains in Wales to the west. The 19th century Abbey also serves as a parish church.
Saint Joseph Abbey is a Benedictine abbey in Saint Benedict, Louisiana, governed by the Swiss-American Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation. The monks of the abbey also operate Saint Joseph Seminary College.
The Monastery of Christ the Word is a priory of the English Benedictine Congregation (EBC) located in Macheke, Zimbabwe, within the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Harare. Founded in 1996, its community comprises some five monks.
Silverstream Priory is a Roman Catholic monastery in Stamullen, County Meath, Ireland, founded in 2012. The monastery is an autonomous diocesan priory of the Benedictine Monks of Perpetual Adoration.
The Abbey of St. Maurus is a Tanzanian Benedictine monastery of the Congregation of Missionary Benedictines of Saint Ottilien in Hanga, Ruvuma Region. Established in 1956 by Abbot-Bishop Eberhard Spiess as a formation house for African monastic candidates, the monastery is currently home to 122 monks. The abbey operates schools and a dispensary for the people of the local village and a seminary for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Songea.
The College of Sant'Anselmo is an international Benedictine college founded by Pope Leo XIII in 1887 and located in Rome, Italy. Situated on the Aventine Hill, it is one of four Benedictine institutions that occupy the complex known as "Sant'Anselmo all'Aventino" which serves as the Primatial Abbey of the Benedictine Confederation. As an ecclesiastical residential college in the Roman College tradition, it serves as both a house of formation for Benedictines, but also as a residence for over one hundred monks from around forty countries, religious, diocesan priests, and lay people. It offers a monastic environment for those who study at the onsite Pontifical Athenaeum of Saint Anselm or at other Roman pontifical universities.
Dominic Terence Joseph Bellenger,, also known by his monastic name of Dom Aidan Bellenger, is an English historian and former Benedictine monk and schoolmaster. He was headmaster of Downside School from 1991 to 1995 and later Abbot of Downside Abbey from 2006 to 2014.
