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A Cloister on the Mountainside

The Abbazia di San Benedetto in Monte is perched above the ancient town of Nursia, birthplace of St. Benedict, founder of Western monasticism

The birthplace of St. Benedict has always drawn men from faraway lands to seek God after the pattern established by the great saint’s Rule. Immersed in the peace and beauty of the enveloping Sibylline Mountains, monks for more than 15 centuries have engaged in spiritual warfare for their own salvation while also imploring God for the welfare of those in town.
 
The community of Benedictines who live there today, often known to the world simply as “The Monks of Norcia,” adhere to the ancient monastic observance found in the Rule of St. Benedict. ​

A restored monastery,
a new era for Norcia

The monks are reviving Benedictine life in Norcia, within a recently restored 16th-century monastery overlooking the Valley of St. Scholastica.

The major historical restoration project of the Church of Santa Maria della Misericordia and the adjacent monastery reached a fitting conclusion in mid-2024, when the monastic community was elevated to the status of an abbey. During the same period, the celebrations for the community's twenty-fifth anniversary saw enormous participation from the people of Norcia and friends from around the world. This grand event was marked by profound gratitude to God, who in Christ promises to make all things new (Nova Facio Omnia).

Stay tuned to the monks for updates on their life and the mission of the new abbey: to firmly reestablish monastic life in Norcia, the birthplace of St. Benedict.

Chant that fills the valley

The monks' life of conversion is rooted in the traditional praying of the Divine Office 7 times during the day and once during the night.

​The monks chant the Divine Office in Latin and offer the Holy Mass each day in the traditional form of the Roman Rite. The monks dedicate their prayers to those who have asked them for intercession, for the Church and for the world.
 
​The monks have shared their chants in many ways since the founding of their community, most notably in the release of a Billboard-topping album in 2015. Benedicta, the monks’ CD of Marian chants, can be purchased using the links below.

The Brewmonks of Norcia

Birra Nursia is brewed by the Benedictine monks of Norcia.

Inaugurated in 2012, Birra Nursia is the monks’ way of living by the work of their own hands (Rule of St. Benedict) while building a bridge between the secular world and the spiritual. 

With their viable industry underway, exporting brews to the USA and elsewhere, the monks try to be self-sustaining and raise funds to build their new home, while sharing their profits with those most in need in the earthquake-stricken valley.

To visit the American Online Store click below ↓

Norcia comes back to life

Locals and families who have chosen to move here from Italy and abroad are gathering around the Abbey—a place to seek God.

After the earthquakes of 2016, the monks were not the only ones rebuilding. While the restoration of homes and sacred places continues in Norcia, more and more locals, along with people from afar, are finding in St. Benedict and monastic life the inspiration they need for their own lives.

The monks desire that the Abbey of San Benedetto in Monte be a place of prayer in silence and peace for both the residents of Norcia and the pilgrims who come from all over the world, and that around it, an authentic Christian culture may once again flourish.

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Updates from the Abbot's Desk

Get Involved!

To participate in the life of the Abbey and support the monks' efforts to restore monastic life in Norcia, please consider a donation of any size in one of these ways, or write to [email protected] for more information.

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