Linton Hall's Benedictine Tradition: The Shocking Truth

On the web, Linton Hall School describes itself as "a Catholic school in Benedictine Tradition." So what really is this "Benedictine Tradition?" I doubt that most people really know; and I think it likely that most will be shocked to learn the truth.

"Benedictine" refers to Benedict of Nursia (480-547) who founded a dozen monasteries near Rome. He was proclaimed a saint in 1220 and the Order of St. Benedict was named after him.

Just what were Benedict's beliefs, precepts and values? They are found in the Rule of St. Benedict, which he wrote to govern behavior in the monasteries he founded. Although the original was destroyed by fire in 896, various (handwritten) copies remain, the most reliable the one kept in St. Gallen, Switzerland.

Benedict saw obedience as a master virtue, and advocated the annihilation of self will. That's right, human beings who are given free will by God should instead obey a "superior" (Benedict, for example.) Alumni of Linton Hall Military School should not be surprised at this.

To justify his Rule, Benedict selectively quotes the Bible. This reminds meme of a quote in Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice"-- "The Devil can cite Scripture for his purpose."

In Chapter 2 of his Rule, Benedict states "the proud, the disobedient and the hard-hearted should be punished with whips, even at the first signs of sin." To justify this, he cites "The fool is not corrected by words" (Proverbs 29:19) and "strike your son with rod and you shall deliver his soul from death" (Proverbs 23:14.) Needless to say, he does not explain what makes Benedict, or any abbot for that matter, qualified to whip others.

Chapter 4 contains a long list of "instruments of good works," or rules, the first seven of which rephrase seven of the ten Commandments. Not content to quote God's words, Benedict must have thought he could do a better job restating them. Some of the gems written by Benedict include #11, "chastise the body," #12, "not love pleasure," #59, "despise one's own will" (presumably this does not apply to Benedict, since he believes his will should be followed by the monks, for #59 states "obey the abbot's commands in all things.)

In Chapter 5 he repeats this, stating "obey any command of a superior as if it were a command of God." This ties in with my blog post of February 17, 2011, "Blind Obedience at Linton Hall." I should point out that in the officer commission I received at Linton Hall Military School, lower-ranking cadets were required to follow only lawful commands. This limit on authority came up as well in conjuction with both the Nuremberg trials and the My Lai Massacre trial.

Benedict further states that "God will not be pleased by the monk who obeys grudgingly" (as you can see, Benedict has appointed himself as God's spokesman) and attempts to justify this statement by quoting 2 Corinthians 9:7 which states that "God loves a cheerful giver" and which clearly refers to something entirely different than Benedict's position. In fact, 2 Corinthians 9:7 states, in its entirety, "Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."

Chapters 24, 25 and 26 advocate shunning as punishment, and the same shunning to anyone who should speak or meet with someone who is the subject of shunning.

If shunning is not enough, Chapter 28 advocates punishment by whipping, and Chapter 30 advocates enforced fasting or flogging of youths.

Chapter 33 speaks of the "vice of private ownership" and states that no one should give, receive or keep anything, not even a book, tablet or pen, and that "all things are to be common to every one," using as justification for his position the fact that the Apostles shared things. Quite a stretch between voluntary sharing and involuntary abolition of private property, it seems. He adds that "monks have neither free will nor free body." Can you get more autocratic than that? And can you get farther away from 2 Corinthians 9:7 cited above, which refers to voluntary giving and goes against both compulsion and against Benedict's contention that monks have no free will.

Benedict wasn't much of a fan of personal hygiene. In Chapter 36 he states that "The sick should be permitted baths as often as necessary but the healthy and especially all young are to bathe rarely." Well, I do suppose that bathing rarely does make a vow of chastity easy to follow!

Though according to Benedict "monks have neither free will nor free body" (in Chaper 33, quoted above) Benedict says that "if one makes a mistake in chanting a psalm ... he must immediately humble himself publicly ... children should be whipped for these mistakes." (Chapter 45.)

Chapter 54 forbids the giving or sending of letters or parcels even to or from one's parents without the abbott's permission, and if any parcels are received the abbott may give them to whomever he decides. Linton Hall Military School alumni will certainly recall the censorship of outgoing (and, less frequently) incoming letters, even between cadets and their parents.

Chapter 69 advocates punishment for those who seek to defend or protect another. In other words, the virtue of compassion is a punishable offense.

In chapter 63, Benedict states that the "abbot, however, since he takes the place of Christ, shall be called Abbot or My Lord."

I believe that Benedict was quite unlike Jesus Christ (Jesus offered mercy and forgiveness) and Benedict was autocratic, self-righteous and arrogant, and does not deserve to be called a saint.

P.S.: This would have made for an interesting book report for Religion class when I attended Linton Hall, don't you think?

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Source:
Benedict of Nursia, The Rule of Saint Benedict, translated by Anthony C. Meisel and M. L. del Mastro. New York: Image Books / Doubleday, 1975.

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Read more in my two books: Linton Hall Military School Memories: One Cadet's Memoir" and "Linton Hall Military School Memories Volume 2."

The first volume is available only from amazon.com (or for shipments to Mexico, amazon.com.mx) The second volume (either English or Spanish version is available on Amazon as well as barnesandnoble.com and walmart.com in the US. In Mexico, it's available from either amazon.com.mx or lulu.com. Prices to Mexico may be shown in Mexican pesos. -------
Copyright 2017 by "Linton Hall Cadet."
Please respect copyright by linking to this post instead of copying and pasting.
This blog is not affiliated with Linton Hall Military School and all opinions are those of the author.
Comments are always welcome; please do not use your name or names of others.

Why Didn't Linton Hall Help Poor Children Learn a Trade?

That was, after all, the condition under which the Benedictine Order was given 1,736 acres of land by Sister Mary Baptista, V.H.M.. (Note 1)

In 1893, Sister Mary Baptista gave the land subject to the condition that it be used for
"an industrial and training school for poor and friendless white boys and youths, ... [and] a school for training and education of poor and friendless white girls in habits of industry and virtue and in learning useful occupations suitable to their condition of life" (Note 2)

In this context, the term "friendless" means children who have no parents or other relatives taking care of them -- orphaned or neglected, in today's language. "Industrial," "training" and "useful occupations suitable to their condition of life," means that they were to be taught a trade, rather than an academic curriculum. The limitation to whites became unenforceable as a result of court cases and civil rights legislation.

Saint Joseph Institute was opened in 1894 and closed in 1922, as detailed in my previous blog post. Although a school for boys, it "was never a first-rate educational institution, and it was never really an industrial school at all." (Note 3)

Nor was the condition that poor children attend the schools met, at least not as a general practice. There was strong resistance to covering the costs of poor children by St. Joseph, which requested payment by the Diocese of Richmond for such children. (Note 4)

In 1894, the Benedictine Sisters opened Saint Edith, an academy for girls. In 1897 they opened Saint Anne, an industrial school for girls. (Note 5)

The girls' schools founded by the Benedictine Sisters were not built on the 1,736 acres of land from Sister Mary Baptista's bequest, but on the nearby 92.5 acre Kincheloe farm, which had been originally owned by the Linton Family and sold off, and which was then purchased by the Benedictine Sisters. As this land was not part of the Linton gift, the sisters were not bound by the conditions placed on the Linton bequest. (Note 6) However, it could be argued that, in spirit, the condition of building a girls' industrial school had been met. But the girls' schools in Bristow were closed when Linton Hall Military School was opened in 1922.

It is not known whether or not St. Anne requested diocesan support for girls' expenses, but in 1922, with Saint Joseph Institute continuing to insist that it would only accept orphans if the diocese paid their fees, Bishop O'Connell became concerned that the trust agreement was being violated, and the Benedictines risked losing the property. (Note 7) This matter came to a head with a court case in the Prince William County (Virginia) Circuit Court in February 1923. Although the Diocese of Richmond argued that because there was no industrial school, and the instruction was educational rather than industrial, and the monks declined to take "friendless" boys free of charge, the terms of the trust had been violated. St. Joseph Institute, on the other hand, argued that because no protest had been lodged within twenty years, it was too late to enforce the trust's provisions. The court ruled in favor of St, Joseph's position, and title to the land passed to the Benedictines free and clear, with Sister Mary Baptista's conditions no longer in place. Four years later, in 1927, the Belmont Abbey gave the 1,736 acres of land, together with buildings thereon (except for the library and its contents) and livestock to the Benedictine Sisters.

As a result, Sister Mary Baptista Linton's gift became property of the Benedictine Sisters, even though no industrial school for boys and youths was ever built, and the girls' industrial school, Saint Anne, was in existence from 1897 to 1922 -- a period of only twenty-five years. (Note 7) Most of this land was later sold off to developers by the Benedictine Sisters, and the extensive land on which Linton Hall Military School alumni went camping and hiking is no longer owned by Linton Hall School.

I do not know how the proceeds of the land sale were used, or whether they were used in line with Sister Mary Baptista's wishes. I believe that although there was no legal obligation to do so, a moral obligation existed.


Notes
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1. Johnston, Helen, The Fruit of His Works. Bristow, Va.: Linton Hall Press, 1954, pp. 37-40. There was a Sister Helen whom I met while a cadet at Linton Hall Military School, but I never knew her last name, so I don't know whether she was the author.
2. Baumstein, Dom Paschal, O.S.B., My Lord of Belmont: A Biography of Leo Haid. Belmont, N.C.: Herald House, 1985, p. 138, quoting Archives of the Abbey of Maryhelp, Deed from Phillips to Trustees, January, 1893. Baumstein's meticulously researched book, although dealing primarily with Belmont Abbey and Abbot Haid, devotes one chapter to the Linton legacy.
3. Baumstein, op. cit., p.151.
4. Ibid, pp.160-161.
5. Ibid, p.149.
6. Johnston, op. cit., pp. 51-52.
7. Baumstein, op. cit., pp. 172-173.
8. Ibid, pp. 174-175.

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Read more in my two books: Linton Hall Military School Memories: One Cadet's Memoir" and "Linton Hall Military School Memories Volume 2."

The first volume is available only from amazon.com (or for shipments to Mexico, amazon.com.mx) The second volume (either English or Spanish version is available on Amazon as well as barnesandnoble.com and walmart.com in the US. In Mexico, it's available from either amazon.com.mx or lulu.com. Prices to Mexico may be shown in Mexican pesos. -----
Copyright 2016 by "Linton Hall Cadet."
Please respect copyright by linking to this post instead of copying and pasting.
This blog is not affiliated with Linton Hall Military School and all opinions are those of the author.
Comments are always welcome; please do not use your name or names of others.

Linton Hall Cemetery Photos

An alumnus has provided me with photos of the cemetery at Linton Hall.  The cemetery is located on the LHMS (now Linton Hall School) grounds, if you're walking from the canteen towards the pool, tennis courts and water tower, by the time you reach the pool you're halfway there, keep walking in the same direction.  Of course, the cemetery was "out of bounds" so most of us have probably never been there.






Right: View of gravestones of sisters from cemetery entrance.

 Left:  Sister Ethelreda, former principal of Linton Hall Military School during the 1960s.

The DuCharme sisters were possibly the Commandant's aunts.

Same last name as Sister Doris Nolte (Sister Mary David.)  Possibly they were sisters in both senses of the word.

Sister Gertrude taught English and History at Linton Hall Military School during the late sixties, and I believe she had previously been Principal of LHMS, as well as a Benedictine school in Richmond.

Sister Irene was prefect of one of the senior dormitories.

Known as "Louie" he attended LHMS as a child, went away to high school and joined the Marines, then returned to Linton Hall where he spent the rest of his life working on lawn maintenance and as night watchman.  Very well liked by LHMS cadets, and fondly remembered.

Bill Farquhar coached sports, taught gym and geography, was auctioneer at school fundraising auctions, and lived right across the school on Linton Hall road.  His wife, Virginia, predeceased him.

Sister Joan Ann taught Art and was prefect of one of the senior companies.







Last but not least, a cadet who died at Linton Hall is in my next post.  Giving him his own post is the least I can do.

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Copyright 2013 "Linton Hall Cadet"
Please respect copyright by linking to this post instead of just copying and pasting. Thanks!
This blog is NOT affiliated with Linton Hall Military School. The opinions contained are those of the author.