St. Benedict Religious Beliefs

Late in the fifth century the son of a well-off family in Italy left for isolation on his mission to truly seek god. This man was St. Benedict, who is credited with the first establishment of the concept of withdrawing from all temptation for Christian beliefs in the west. St. Benedict left his home and went to the top of a mountain, where he established a monastic community. In this community the individuals who resided there, constantly reiterated their faith. They sacrificed whatever they may have had to prove their true commitment to God. This became an early ideal of Christianity, that one must suffer loss and sacrifice to prove their loyalty to the faith. It was believed in this time period that if one is content with only what they
Benedict's time were hard working and devoted. They participated in eight divine services, labored in fields or workshops for six or seven hours and two hours studying and preserving the wring of Latin antiquity . The monks of that time were a strong force in Western Europe and extremely dedicated and self-sacrificing. St. Benedict also needed no additional support from the government or local town. This was untrue for many of the monks after the 12th century. During the 16th century the monks were often criticized as being lazy and parasitical. This is because in comparison to the monks in the centuries following them, they did not work nearly as hard, or did they suffer the same sacrifice and separation from materialistic possessions and luxuries. The church and congregation itself also underwent a dramatic change. The church progressed with the times to be not only a powerful institution religiously, but also politically, economically and also socially. With this rise in power in many different areas besides religion came the involvement in many different areas in society. These ties in society created involvement in the "City of the World" which took away from aspects of the "City of