A Cloister on the Mountainside
The Monastero 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 for 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 observance of the Rule of St. Benedict. They are building a new monastery on the mountainside where they will live out a life dedicated exclusively to God.
The community of Benedictines who live there today, often known to the world simply as “The Monks of Norcia,” adhere to the ancient observance of the Rule of St. Benedict. They are building a new monastery on the mountainside where they will live out a life dedicated exclusively to God.
A new monastery...The monks are restoring a dilapidated 16th-century monastery overlooking the Valley of St. Scholastica.
Their historic church was the only church in Norcia that remained standing after a massive earthquake struck Norcia in 2016, though it was severely damaged.
In 2019, after breaking ground and beginning to raise the walls of their new home, the monks added a motto to the monastery’s crest: Nova Facio Omnia. Taken from the Book of the Apocalypse, it describes the New Jerusalem in all its splendor and underlines what Christ does for all who cooperate with His plan: “Behold, I make all things new!” 
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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 full 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, Church and 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.
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The Brewmonks of Norcia...Birra Nursia is brewed by the Benedictine monks of Norcia, the guardians of the legacy of St. Benedict in the city of his birth.
Inaugurated in 2012, Birra Nursia is the monks’ way to live out the maxim of St. Benedict that says true monks live by the work of their own hands.
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. What began in the ancient walls of the monastery in town will soon move close to the mountainside lodgings so that the monks can maintain their rhythm of life and schedule of prayer. To visit the American Online Store click below ↓ 
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The people of Norcia…From the first days of their arrival in Norcia, the monks have been welcomed with open arms, warm smiles and spiritual, as well as material, assistance of all kinds.
Whether cooking a meal for a special feast, lending a helping hand with big moving projects or bottling beer with the monks for a few hours, townspeople have shown their great devotion to the saint through their consistent support of the monks’ community.
The monks hope that San Benedetto in Monte can offer the inhabitants of Norcia and pilgrims from around the world a place to pray and, through silence and peace they cannot find in the world, an opportunity to seek God |
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The monks call their building campaign "Deep Roots." It is an invitation to the whole world to help the monks build an earthquake-resistant monastery and to provide the town with a flourishing monastic community for centuries to come.
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Whether cooking a meal for a special feast, lending a helping hand with big moving projects or bottling beer with the monks for a few hours, townspeople have shown their great devotion to the saint through their consistent support of the monks’ community.
The monks hope San Benedetto in Monte will become a source of light and hope for generations to come, welcoming local citizens and pilgrims to prayers and days of retreat, offering them the silence and peace that the world cannot. |
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither. Deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken, The crownless again shall be king. ∼ J. R. R. Tolkien ∼ |