The great Benedictine Jubilee of 2029 begins in Norcia this year with the theme of Awaken, and so I thought it might be helpful to share the story of another awakening some years ago.
On August 24, 2016, an earthquake shook the ancient city of Norcia and the nearly 2000-year-old monastery that sits on its central piazza. It was a little after 4:00 AM, and the monks were just about to pray Matins. Awake! While the damage to the building was noticeable, it wasn’t until almost two months later, on October 30 at 7:30 AM (Again, Awake!) a much larger earthquake -- 6.8 on the Richter scale -- sent the 15th-century bell tower rushing into the nave of the 12th-century Basilica, reaching all the way down to the crypt where the Holy Twins were born in 480. On that day a few of our monks were right beside the church preparing to offer Mass in the gift shop for those few faithful who remained in the historic center. By a miracle they, and many others, were spared. It was the day that the clocks changed and because of this fortuitous overlap, most people were still asleep rather than carrying on their usual morning routine.
Thus, the monks of Norcia took our place in the footsteps of monasteries throughout the world who have coped with all manner of tragedies. How often had we read in the refectory the histories of famous abbeys that were destroyed by fires, floods, or invaders. We need only read the Life of St. Benedict himself, and the vision he had that all of Monte Cassino would be razed to the ground and only the monks survive, to remember where we sat in this sequence. We were not alone. And yet when such an event strikes, one doesn’t immediately see one’s place in the history books. One sees urgent needs to be met everywhere. On that cool October morning, we saw a mushroom cloud of smoke rise from the town from our mountainside perch, and we knew the first, most pressing need was for the last rites. Awake! The brothers of the Abbey were told to kneel and pray for the dead; the priests rushed to the center of town with stoles and holy oils in hand.
The devastation was intense and the debris everywhere. We found wounded, yet to our great surprise, no dead. We led firefighters through rubble and dangerous streets to the homes of older people we knew who probably had not gotten out. We had to aggressively push the firefighters to break down the door of the cloistered Poor Clare nuns whom we knew would only leave by force. The first responders were sure that the nuns had left. We were sure they hadn’t. When the door finally came down and the sisters were discovered praying around the altar, it wasn’t an ‘I told you so’ moment so much as shock and joy for all. And yet there was no time to waste, other homes needed to be visited. And quickly.
Bulldozers were needed to clear paths to retrieve the 150 or so who had gathered in the only open space left, the central piazza. In an image that went “viral” one monk was photographed leading the faithful in prayer on his knees. The other monks helped organize the exits. We led relay teams down the central Corso with emergency personnel, after the medieval escape tunnel was deemed unreachable and dangerous. The difficult thing about an earthquake, unlike other disasters, is one never knows when it’s over. It can feel calm, no more tremors, and only a second later, everything is shaking and crashing down again.
The days, weeks, months, and years that followed brought many a challenge. With God’s help, so many things that seemed impossible became possible. To the monks and nuns throughout the world who might read these words, I would remind them that our vow of Conversatio is often requested in the most unexpected of ways. On the day of our Profession, each monk hears the words, Surge qui dormit, arise you who sleep! Awaken! And of course, we think on that day that arising is exactly what we have done. But God has in mind so many other moments, so many other ‘wake-up calls.’ Would we have accepted this path if we had known what was in store? Perhaps not. In God’s wisdom we often say Yes to God, to Awaken when we are quite young and this seems easy. And just like in marriage, it can be years or decades that the call to Awaken (or to Listen! as the first words of the Prologue states) is finally truly heard. In that moment it will be the small yesses we’ve made all our lives, often in very small matters, that will help us say Yes to a big one. Or it will be the first time that so many previous utterances of ‘no’ become our first real ‘Yes.’
