Precious in the Sight of the Lord is the Death of His Saints

Fr. Scott Haynes

A Meditation for the Feast of the Translation of the Relics of St. Benedict

July 11

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.”—Psalm 115:15

Introduction: The Meaning of Translation

The translation of relics is not merely a change of location. It is a sacred acknowledgment of a saint’s glory, a public witness to the Communion of Saints, and a powerful sign of God’s enduring presence in the life of the Church. On July 11, the Benedictine Order commemorates the Translation of the Relics of St. Benedict, the Patriarch of Western Monasticism.

This feast, rooted in deep tradition and mystery, recalls the movement of his relics from Monte Cassino to Fleury-sur-Loire in France, likely in the late 7th century. More than a historical event, it offers an opportunity to reflect on the holiness of the man whose body was borne across nations, as the Lord extended the influence of his sanctity far beyond the mountain where he died.

1. The Holiness of the Saints Remains with Us

The Holy Scriptures remind us that God does not abandon His faithful ones in the grave. Even after death, the saints remain powerful intercessors and visible reminders of God’s fidelity. St. John Damascene, one of the great Fathers of the Church, declared:

“The bodies of the saints are not to be despised... because through them many benefits are bestowed upon men. Through these, God gives healing to the sick, sight to the blind, and many other blessings.”¹

The translation of relics, therefore, is an affirmation of this theology. When St. Benedict’s sacred body was translated from Italy to France, the Church was not merely preserving historical remains—it was proclaiming a mystery: death does not separate the saints from the Church; they continue to guide and nourish her.

2. The Significance of the Translation to Fleury

The Abbey of Fleury (now Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire), became the new resting place of St. Benedict’s relics, according to ancient tradition, during a time when Monte Cassino lay in ruins due to Lombard invasions. The translation itself is thought to have occurred under Abbot Mummolus around 673 A.D.

This moment marked a divinely-ordained spreading of Benedictine holiness, allowing the monastic ideal to flourish in Gaul and beyond. As Dom Prosper Guéranger, a 19th-century Benedictine liturgical scholar and abbot of Solesmes, writes:

“The translation of St. Benedict’s body was not merely a physical event. It was a mystical seed planted in the soil of Gaul, from which would spring the whole spiritual regeneration of the West.”²

His relics became the source of miracles, a focal point of pilgrimage, and a fire of renewal that touched monks, kings, and laymen alike. God, who had raised up Benedict as a light in the darkness of the collapsing Roman world, now spread that light into the new lands of Christian Europe.

3. St. Benedict: Father of Monks and Builder of Christendom

The very Rule of St. Benedict begins with the words:

“Hearken, O my son, to the precepts of the Master, and incline the ear of thy heart.”

This summons has not ceased to echo through the centuries. His Rule is no mere collection of pragmatic advice; it is a spiritual ladder (cf. Rule, ch. 7), leading the soul from the fear of God to the heights of perfect charity.

St. Gregory the Great, Pope and biographer of St. Benedict, recounted:

“The man of God, who shone on earth by so many miracles, did not lose his power now that he is in Heaven.”³

Gregory affirmed not only Benedict’s miracles but also his mystical vision at Monte Cassino, in which he saw “the whole world gathered into a single ray of light.” This mystical event foreshadowed the universal influence of Benedict’s Rule and sanctity. His translation to Fleury can be seen as the literal and spiritual extension of this vision. Through his relics, Benedict continues to illuminate the world with the light of Christ.

4. The Relics as a Manifestation of Incarnational Theology

Relics are tangible expressions of the Incarnation. They remind us that grace sanctifies matter, and that even the bones of the saints bear witness to the victory of Christ over death. St. Augustine of Hippo, writing on the miracles of the martyrs, explains:

“God honors the remains of His faithful servants, and through them He manifests His power. Their bones are not dead to Him.”⁴

This incarnational principle—the joining of flesh and spirit, time and eternity—lies at the heart of the Benedictine ethos. Benedict taught his monks to see Christ in all things: in the Rule, in manual labor, in sacred reading, in the abbot, and in the guest. His own remains, now translated and honored, extend that same sacramental presence into the life of the Church.

5. The Witness of Benedictine Tradition

Throughout the centuries, Benedictine monks and saints have recognized the importance of this feast. It is not just the commemoration of a journey but of a missionary mandate: the Rule must be lived, protected, and spread.

St. Anselm of Canterbury, himself a Benedictine, once declared:

“The spirit of Benedict has not departed from his sons. It moves in them still, as it moved in him when he founded the way of the cloister.”⁵

Similarly, Blessed Columba Marmion, a 20th-century Benedictine abbot, emphasized that the translation of St. Benedict’s relics symbolized:

“The diffusion of contemplative life, of stability, and ora et labora—the sanctification of time and place through the humble life of hidden fidelity.”⁶

Indeed, the Benedictine life—marked by obedience, humility, and balance—has transformed entire cultures. It was through the translation of St. Benedict’s relics that this vision moved from the mountain heights to the plains of France, to England, Germany, and Ireland, and even to the New World.

6. Miracles and Intercessions from the Relics

It is recorded in early sources from Fleury Abbey that miracles followed the arrival of the relics. Pilgrims were healed, storms stilled, and spiritual conversions multiplied. A 9th-century monastic text from Fleury recounts:

“We bore him with reverence; he bore us with grace. As we honored his body, he lifted our souls. Through his intercession, the blind see, the lame walk, and the heart opens to God.”⁷

These miracles are not merely signs for wonder—they are invitations to holiness. God uses relics not to dazzle the senses but to draw the soul upward. The July 11 feast reminds us that grace is not bound by time or geography. Wherever Benedict’s body rests, there Christ works through him.

7. A Model for Spiritual Translation

As the relics of St. Benedict were physically translated from one place to another, so must the spirit of his Rule be translated into our lives. Each Christian soul is a potential monastery, a place of prayer, order, silence, and grace.

St. Peter Damian, a cardinal and Benedictine reformer, wrote:

“Let the Rule of Benedict be written not only in books but in your very marrow. Let each day be a cloistered offering.”⁸

The feast of July 11 is a summons to internal translation—to become holy, to carry within us the remains of the saints in spiritual memory, and to be ourselves “living relics” of their witness. The Rule tells us that “the workshop of the spiritual craft is the enclosure of the monastery.” For the layman, this becomes the home, the office, the daily rhythm sanctified by fidelity to Christ according to one's state in life.

Conclusion: The Pilgrim Church, Guided by the Saints

As we meditate on the Feast of the Translation of the Relics of St. Benedict, we are called to remember that the saints walk with us. Their bones, borne in procession, signify our own journey toward the heavenly homeland. Benedict, the humble monk of Monte Cassino, has not ceased to guide Christendom. He is not only the “Father of Monks,” but the spiritual patriarch of Europe.

Let us then approach his relics in spirit, with reverence and faith, asking his intercession that we may follow the Rule of Christ as he did—with steadfast obedience, humility of heart, and burning love for eternity.

“O Saint Benedict, whose bones sanctified the soil of many nations, carry our prayers to the throne of God. May we, like you, be translated from this vale of tears into the eternal joy of the heavenly Jerusalem. Amen.”

Footnotes

1. St. John Damascene, On the Orthodox Faith, IV.15, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, vol. 9, ed. Philip Schaff (New York: Christian Literature Co., 1899).

2. Dom Prosper Guéranger, The Liturgical Year, vol. 12: Time after Pentecost (Fitzwilliam, NH: Loreto Publications, 2000), 97.

3. Pope Gregory I, Dialogues, Book II, ch. 37, trans. Odo Zimmerman, O.S.B. (New York: Fathers of the Church, 1959).

4. St. Augustine, City of God, Book XXII, ch. 8, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, vol. 2.

5. St. Anselm of Canterbury, Letters, trans. Walter Fröhlich, vol. 1 (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1990), Letter 72.

6. Blessed Columba Marmion, Christ the Life of the Soul, trans. Alan Bancroft (Leominster: Gracewing, 2005), 247.

7. Translatio Sancti Benedicti, ed. Jean Mabillon, Acta Sanctorum Ordinis S. Benedicti, saec. 2, pars 1 (Paris, 1669), 58.

8. St. Peter Damian, Letter 28 to the Monks of Monte Cassino, in Letters of Peter Damian, trans. Owen J. Blum (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1992), vol. 1.