A REMARKABLE ABBEY.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 102, 1 May 1908, Page 2

A REMARKABLE ABBEY.

The Nation contains an interesting account of a visit to the famous Benedictine Abbey of Monte Cassino. " Darkness had' set in," says the writer, "when at last we reached the base of the mountain and braced ourselves for the 1500 ft climb. Mist filled the valley, shrouding the lights of the- town below. Scarce a sound came up to stir the lonely silence mtolife. The rocky footpath jarred our tired feet; its windings seemed endless. And then, quite unexpectedly, it turned into a bit of straight road leading into the still open door of the monastery. . . Northerners accustomed to Gothic architecture's restful lines may at first be disconcerned by the elaborate borooca of Mount Cassino. Excepting the frescoed ceiling and doorway, every available inch of the church—even to the chancel steps—is covered with mosaics. You stand as in a casket of innumerable gems. But the spaciousness of the building and the harmony of its colours prevent it from being overpowering, and so perfect is the work that you can hardly see the jointing of the stones; but it seems as if Nature had happily designed the veinings of

her marble to run into that intricate ; yet orderly pattern. ■ I "St. Benedict's body, with that of \ his sister, Santa Scholastics, lies buried under the high altar, of what is the fourth church (founded in 1637 : and consecrated in 1729) since the one | that St. Benedict built when he came ! from Subiaco to Monte Oassino in 529. Some of its outer pillars are said—though with what truth cannot be told—to have belonged to the very I tomple of Apollo, whose worship St. ! Benedict rooted out from the moun- ; tain, though much opposed to our : ghostly enemy, who, says legend, j threw down a wall upon a monkish i builder. But the monk was extricated ' miraculously unharmed. . The only ■authentic relics of antiquity in the

; building of the church are its bronze j doors, engraved in silver letters with 'all the possession of the house, which S were made in Constantinople in 1066 [ for the Abbot Besiderius, afterwards 1 Pope Victor 111. > But near the gate |of the monastery the monks can j show you some old walls with a ByzanI tine window or two which are at least ; near Sfc. Benedict's time: and what is j believed to have,been the Saint's own 1 cell, which, German. Benedicts decoratf ed a few years ago with some rather ' indifferent frescoes; « j ■ " It is surprising that there should ibe even so much, for after St. Benei diet's death the house underwent | many Y^issitudes. It was' pillaged ;by Lombards and lay waste for 150 • years, while the monks sheltered in Rome. It was raided by the Saracens, the monks fleeing to Teano, where— 'most grievous of all, perhaps—St. own rule.was accidentally burned. Every passing invader made I it the object of his unwelcome atteni tioxis. In St. Thomas Aquinas' day it £ had degenerated into a mere weapon ! factory; but this was put a stop to by . Pope Alexander IV. Still, between j recurring peril and exile, the monks j enjoyed the greatest glory. Charlemagne visited it and gave the title of ; Chaplains of the Empire. Ecclesiastics intrigued against each other for che wealthy headship of the house; and abbots fared like princes and dressed their servants in silk and j cloth of gold. How different from ' such storms and barbaric brilliance ,1s the studious repose of to-day! In . 1865 Monte Cassino was declared a

' national monument' for the sake of its splendid library; and the monks now keep a school of 200 "pupils, amongst whom are the sons of several Italian deputies', and v oven members of the Government.

"Waiting at the church*' and "left lin the lurch," says the Ashburton | Guardian, was the experience of a I young lady the other day in mid-Can- , terbury. It appears that the girl and' j her parents had - made arrangements . for her wedding, and on the I day on which the ceremony was Ito have been celebrated the j bride and party waited long \ and anxiously for the arrival of the bridegroom. At last they went in quest of the absentee, from whom ' they demanded a full explanation of his behaviour, but only to learn, on ' pressure, that a banking account, of which he had vaunted, had^e vaporated, and that he had not the money with which to carry out, hisobligations. Upon reflection; says "the Guardian, the young lady will doubtless recognise that thel incident, must prove a .'lucky one for herself. .'