Saving Civilization: The Story of St. Benedict of Nursia

This is the amazing story of a young man scandalized by the moral decay of the world, who sought to live as a hermit in cave. Yet, God called him not to run away from the world, but to convert it through a renewal of faith, holiness, learning, and liturgy. 

This lecture was presented by Rev. Andrew Fisher on June 14, 2014, in a series of talks sponsored by the Institute of Catholic Culture at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church, Purcellville, Virginia.

The Institute of Catholic Culture is an adult catechetical organization, faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, and dedicated to the Church’s call for a new evangelization. The Institute seeks to fulfill its mission by offering education programs structured upon the classical liberal arts and by offering opportunities in which authentic Catholic culture is experienced and lived.

Pius XII Begged FDR to Spare Civilians, Churches, Hospitals

The wartime ruins of Monte Casino, the monastery built by St. Benedict of Nursia around 529, and the source of the Benedictine Order.

From Catholic World News

The Knights of Columbus have published a recently discovered August 1943 letter from Pope Pius XII to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt asking the Allied forces to spare civilians, churches, and charitable institutions. The fraternal organization, which found the letter in its archives, served as a channel between the Holy See and the United States in the absence of diplomatic relations between the two states.

“If under such circumstances Italy is to be forced still to bear devastating blows against which she is practically defenseless, we hope and pray that the military leader will find it possible to spare innocent civil populations and in particular churches and religious institutions the ravages of war,” the Pontiff wrote . “Already, we must recount with deep sorrow and regret, these figure very prominently among the ruins of Italy's most populous and important cities.”

He continued:

But the message of assurance addressed to us by Your Excellency sustains our hope, even in the face of bitter experience, that God's temples and the homes erected by Christian charity for the poor and sick and abandoned members of Christ's flock may survive the terrible onslaught. May God in His merciful pity and love hearken to the universal cry of his children and let them hear once more the voice of Christ say: Peace!

The wartime Pope, who was recently declared venerable, wrote his letter three months after the Allies began to bomb Rome. Five months after he wrote the letter, the Battle of Monte Cassino commenced, leading to the destruction of the historic abbey.

Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

• Pius XII's Letter to US President Roosevelt (Zenit)
• Wartime Pope begged allies not to bomb Rome (Daily Telegraph)
• Pius XII Letter to Roosevelt Published for 1st Time (Zenit)
• Battle of Monte Cassino (Wikipedia)