'I am ready. It is time for me to meet my God'
Homily given by Abbot Cuthbert Madden OSB, 6 February 2009
Introduction
'In him who rose from the dead, our hope of resurrection dawned. The sadness of death gives way to the bright promise of immortality. Lord, for your faithful people life is changed, not ended. When the body of our earthly dwelling lies in death we gain an everlasting dwelling place in heaven'. These words, dear friends, which are taken from the First Preface of Christian Death in the Roman Missal, give shape to our thoughts and feelings as we come together to pray for our beloved Fr Benet. He lived a long life of 92 years - the vast majority of it in this valley in Yorkshire. He remained remarkably well until his final years - and even when his body gradually failed, his mind remained astonishingly sharp right up to his closing days. He taught us both in words and deeds how a man can live in the hope of the resurrection.
The Resurrection
I think that it is important to begin here - with the resurrection: Jesus said 'I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?' (Jn 11.25-26). In our gospel reading we heard the reply of Martha - but each of us is invited to make the same reply. Our brother Benet made Martha's reply his own, 'Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God'. In recent months he made it quite plain to me and to others among the brethren that he was ready, quite ready, to die. He made arrangements for his funeral. He asked me on several occasions to come and anoint him and pray with him because he felt that the end was near. When I arrived back from visiting the brethren in our foundation in Zimbabwe on 24 January I went to see him to give him my news and he told me that he felt that his end was now very close indeed - and this time he was perfectly correct. It is inspiring to see an ordinary man like you and me quietly saying, 'I am ready. It is time for me to meet my God'. Speaking without fear, a little apprehensive certainly as he embarked on his last journey - but not fearful.
Early History
When I arrived in the monastery in 1984 Fr Benet was rather an awe-inspiring figure. In that year he celebrated his golden jubilee of clothing. He was serving as the Second Master in the College. Almost my only contact with him as a novice was to ensure that the vestments and other items for Mass were laid ready for him in the sacristy. He would celebrate Mass each morning as regular as clockwork after Lauds in the Lady Chapel. It was hard to imagine that once he was the 'lad with the curls'. That was back in 1934 when as an 18 year-old he decided to test what he believed was a vocation to live as a monk among the brethren who had educated him since he first arrived as a ten year-old from Wimbledon in 1926. Peter Perceval, as he was then, went on to become a foundation member of St Wilfrid's House, moving to the brand-new Bolton House for his final summer term in the school in 1934.
He was clothed by Abbot Matthews in September of the same year - now only Abbot Patrick survives from those pre-war days at Ampleforth. After his Simple Profession in 1935 he completed two more years at Ampleforth before being sent to St Benet's Hall in Oxford in 1937 to read History. Although in the nature of things there were excursions from the valley, this was the last time that Fr Benet's address was anything other than Ampleforth Abbey. He made his Solemn Profession in 1938 and was ordained to the Priesthood in 1943.
Humility
I chose the second reading this morning (Philippians 2.1-13) because I believe that it lay at the heart of Fr Benet's spirituality. In my short time as abbot I have been constantly surprised by Fr Benet's capacity both to give his opinion and at the same time to be self-effacing. All of us among the brethren, and perhaps among the family, know that he would give his opinion - and give it quite unambiguously - but he was also quite clear that it was for the abbot or headmaster to decide what should be done with his opinion. And once the abbot or headmaster had decided to set his opinion to one side the decision was made and the matter was not raised again. Again I can tell you that his curriculum vitae is limited to a single sheet of paper. I daresay that the major offices he was given are all carefully enumerated - but he did not believe in saying too much about himself. I like to think, and those of you who knew him better than me can comment later, that he had really learnt what it meant to have the self-emptying humility which St Paul says characterised Jesus Christ. It is precisely that humility which each one of us is supposed to re-present to our world by following in the footsteps of our Saviour in order that the world might believe in the name of God's only begotten Son.
Concern for others
My experience of Fr Benet was, as I said, quite limited - just the last 25 years of his 75 years as a monk in this community - but I have gradually discovered that Fr Benet was often remarkably kind and always concerned about others. When we discussed changes in the school he always commented first on the impact the changes would have on the students in the school - being a man of his time he would always refer to students in the first instance as 'boys' before remembering that now we have girls as well. After the students would come the various staff - and then the monks: he had other peoples' interests at heart. Sometimes his desire to ensure the well-being and safety of others could take a highly predictable form which became the object of a certain amount of merriment - especially among the boys in St John's. Several of the Old Amplefordians from the House have told me quite independently that pretty well every jaw he gave would conclude with the reminder that in the event of fire there was always 6 inches of fresh air below the smoke if one crawled along the floor.
The years in the educational apostolate
Fr Benet was devoted to the work of education. I would be interested to discover more about his early classroom style - in his latter years it was pretty robust as he drummed the basics of Latin grammar into 13 and 14 year-olds. At that time he was approaching 80 and the possibility of a discipline problem simply did not arise - why should it when it rapidly became clear that he had taught not just a boy's father but also his grandfather and had punished them both for the same mistakes that the grandson was now committing. He held a variety of posts in the school: Manager of the School Shop, First Housemaster of St John's House, Second Master, and Acting Headmaster for a term. He was steady, predictable and deeply attached to the simple Catholicism of his youth. In his long service to our school, however, I must mention his role as Secretary to the War Memorial Trust Fund which, as many of you know, is a source of bursaries for students in the College; it was a role he was given in 1945 and which he continued to exercise until his death 64 years later.
Monastic Life
After his retirment as Second Master in 1986 Fr Benet stepped back into his monastic life. Fr Benet was deeply attached to the Rule and to the saint who had written it. If you asked him about his name Fr Benet would always remind you that 'Benet' was quite simply the Old English form of Benedict. His patron saint was not St Benet Biscop who was merely a reasonably well-known Abbot from Northumbria; no, his patron was Saint Benedict - the saint from Norcia who had written the Rule which we still follow today.
St Benedict himself is deeply imbued with the words of Sacred Scripture and he echoes the instructions given in the book of Proverbs which we heard in the first reading: 'If you take my words to heart, if you set store by my commandments, ...if you cry out for discernment, ...if you search for it as for buried treasure, ...you will discover the knowledge of God ...and you will understand what virtue is, justice and fair dealing' (taken from Proverbs 2.1-9). Fr Benet was a living example of a man who strove to be virtuous, a man who always sought to be just and fair. Doubtless, like the rest of us, he fell short of his ideals from time to time but there was no doubting where his values lay.
Obedience
Obedience was foremost among the monastic virtues which Fr Benet held dear. I remember in my early days as abbot giving a conference in which I mentioned the impotance of dialogue between the abbot and his monks. Fr Benet was having none of it. The next day he told me that the community simply did not deed any of this 'dialogue nonsense': 'just tell us what to do and we will do it'. Yes, Fr Benet believed in the absolute authority of the abbot - but he knew that the neds of the individual monk were safeguarded if the community chose its abbots wisely and if the abbot was guided by (perhaps held to) the provisions of the Rule and Constitutions. Fr Benet knew both intimately and did not hesitate to remind the abbot of the requirements of the Constitutions before adding, 'But of course, Father, you are the abbot and you must decide what is best'.
Anyone who kept in contact with Fr Benet between 1987 and 1997 would have been astonished at the number of tasks he took on at the request of his abbot: he was Sub-Prior, Custodian of the Strong Room, a very active member of the Farm Board, the Auditor of Accounts, and, for four years, Prior for Abbot Patrick. Later he was Abbot Timothy's assistant, he cared for the needs of the Confraters and for our woodlands. Fr Benet had a passion for planting trees and one of his great joys was to be able to repair the depredations of time in the avenue at Gilling Castle. In everything he did he brought his steadiness of touch - ordering what was disordered, getting the task done. Fr Benet was the kind of monk that an abbot loves to have: steady, dependable, and able to do a variety of tasks well. If Fr Benet said he would do something - it would be done; and he did not take on what he knew he could not do.
Stability
It is fashionable nowadays to talk, in some circles, about the prophetic nature of monasticism. If one tried out this idea on Fr Benet, or if one tried to discuss the niceties of lectio divina with him, or the finer points of scriptural interpretation, or the latest views of well-known theologians, you would probably receive a pretty dusty answer. But Fr Benet was prophetic in a different way - in his fidelity to Stability and what Cardinal Suenens called 'the extreme centre of Catholicism' (cited by Bishop Christopher Butler OSB in A Time To Speak, Ch. 13, page 149), influential even when he was predictable. He was influential because he was a monk of absolute integrity. He was unwavering in his expression of his opinion but not contentious or abrasive. He was greatly valued by his brethren and many others who knew him because he was, in uncertain times, a great bulwark of sanity.
Faith in the Resurrection
I end this homily where I began, but this time I turn to the words of St Paul in his letter to the Philippians: 'For us, our homeland is in heaven, and from heaven comes the saviour we are waiting for, the Lord Jesus Christ, and he will transfigure these wretched bodies of ours into copies of his glorious body. He will do that by the same power with which he can subdue the whole universe' (Phil 3.20-21). We have no need to be afraid; whilst we are living in this world we simply need to place ourselves unreservedly into the hands of the living God. He will bring us all, through trials and difficulties, through sorrows and joys, to our heavenly homeland where we will be re-united with our brother Benet for ever.