Brother
Joseph Natale O.S.B.
Brother
Joseph Natale was trained at St. Vincent’s benedictine Arch-abbey in Latrobe, PA.
Bro. Michael Dimond
O.S.B.
Raised in a
family with no religion, Bro. Michael Dimond converted to Catholicism at the
age of 15. Brother Michael Dimond
entered Most Holy Family Monastery in 1992 at the age of 19, a short time after
graduating from high school. Brother
Michael Dimond’s father graduated from
The following
information is taken from the articles on “St. Benedict” and “Benedictine” in
the 1907 Catholic Encyclopedia:
A
Benedictine community is a community that lives under the Rule of St.
Benedict. In the Benedictine order there
is no general or common superior over the whole order other than the pope, and
the order consists, so to speak, of what are practically a number of orders,
called “congregations”, each of which is self-governing; all are united, not
under the obedience to one general superior, but only by the spiritual bond of
allegiance to the same Rule, which may be modified according to the
circumstances of each particular house or congregation.(1)
“According to Saint Benedict’s idea,
each Benedictine monastery constituted a separate, independent, autonomous
family, the members of which elected their own superior.”(2) Each Benedictine monastery is unique in so
far as they take upon themselves whatever work is necessary for the well-being of
their community and of the Church. “Thus
during the life of the saint (Benedict) we find what has ever since remained a
characteristic feature of Benedictine houses, i.e. the members take up any work
which is adapted to their particular circumstances, any work which may be
dictated by their necessities. Thus we find Benedictines teaching in the
poor schools and in the universities, practicing the arts and following
agriculture, undertaking the care of souls, or devoting themselves wholly to
study.”(3)
“The hours
ordered by the Rule to be devoted daily to systematic reading and study, have
given to the world many of the foremost scholars and writers, so that the term
‘Benedictine learning’ has been for long centuries a byword indicative of the
learning and laborious research fostered in the Benedictine cloister. The regulations regarding the reception and
education of children, moreover, were the germ from which sprang up a great
number of famous monastic schools and universities which flourished in the
Middle Ages.”(4) The work of education
and the cultivation of literature have always been looked upon as belonging by
right to the Benedictines.(5)
Besides being
the chief educational centers during the Middle Ages,
the monasteries were, moreover, the workshops where precious manuscripts were
collected, preserved, and multiplied. To
the monastic transcribers the world is indebted for most of its ancient
literature, not only the Scriptures and the writings of the Fathers, but those
of the classical authors also.(6)
During the first four or five
centuries after the death of St. Benedict there existed no organic bond of
union among the various monasteries other than the Rule itself and obedience to
the Holy See. According to St. Benedict, each Benedictine
monastery constituted an independent family,(7) the members of which elected
their own superior.(8) Each monastery
was to be self-contained, self-governing, managing its own affairs, and subject
to no external authority except that of the local diocesan bishop, whose powers
of control were, however, limited to certain specific conditions.(9)
So intimately
connected with domestic life is the whole framework and teaching of the Rule
that a Benedictine may be more truly said to enter or
join a particular household than to join an order. The Benedictine ideal of poverty is quite
different from the Franciscan. The
Benedictine takes no explicit vow of poverty; he only vows obedience according
to the Rule. The Rule allows all that is
necessary to each individual, together with sufficient and varied clothing,
abundant food (except the flesh meat of four footed animals), and ample
sleep. Possessions could be held in
common, they might be large, but they were to be administered for the
furtherance of the work of the community and for the benefit of others. While the individual monk was poor, the benedictine monastery was to be in a position to give alms,
not to be compelled to seek them. It was
to relieve the poor, to clothe the naked, to visit the sick, to bury the dead,
to help the afflicted, to entertain all strangers. The poor came to St. Benedict to get help to
pay their debts, they came for food.(10) Abbots came to see and advise with St.
Benedict. Men of all classes were
frequent visitors, and he numbered nobles and bishops among his intimate
friends. There were nuns in the
neighborhood whom the monks went to preach to and to
teach. There was a village nearby in
which St. Benedict preached and made many converts.(11)
In the
In 1907, the
Catholic Encyclopedia pointed out that, “At the present day there is hardly a
congregation, Benedictine or otherwise, that has not its lay brethren, and even
amongst numerous orders of nuns a similar distinction is observed, either
between the nuns that are bound to choir and those that are not so
enclosed. The habit worn by the lay
brethren is usually a modification of that of the choir monks, sometimes
differing from it in color as well as in shape; and the vows of the lay
brethren are in most congregations only simple, or
renewable periodically, in contrast with the solemn vows for life taken by the
choir religious.”(13)
As is obvious
from our website, our community is heavily involved with educating people about
what they must know and do in order to save their souls, which is the most
important work of charity with which anyone could be involved. “Without faith it is impossible to please
God” (Heb. 11:6). And without the
Catholic faith it is impossible to be saved.
Therefore, our work as Catholic Benedictine monks – especially in this
time of the great apostasy – necessarily involves educating Catholics about the
true dogmas of the Church and condemning the heresies that are rampant
today. Our work also deeply involves
exposing the counterfeit Catholic Church of the Vatican II sect, which is
deceiving millions of those who profess to be Catholic. This counterfeit Vatican II sect – with its
antipopes – is the primary enemy of Jesus Christ today. It is most dangerous for the salvation of souls
because it purports to be the Catholic Church but it is not. This is why we dedicate much effort to
exposing it.
We also work
and pray for the salvation of all non-Catholics, producing and distributing
mass quantities of information with the goal of converting them to the one true
faith, outside of which no one can be saved.
In our apostolic work (called an “apostolate”), we have distributed
almost 1 million copies of our videos, audios, DVDs and books. The material that we have distributed and
continue to distribute covers a wide variety of topics that are essential,
including (to name a few): the necessity of prayer; the eternity and pains of
Hell; the shortness of life; miraculous conversion stories; the authenticity of
Sacred Scripture; the special creation of the earth; the refutation of the
theory of evolution; the miracles and marvels of the Catholic saints; the
importance of the message of Fatima; the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin;
the Communist and Freemasonic plot against the Catholic Church; the evils of
Rock Music; the false and invalid New Mass; the false Second Vatican Council;
the false Vatican II antipopes; the dogma outside the Church there is no
salvation; and many others.
We also have
spoken personally to thousands concerning the true Catholic faith and a
person’s obligation to profess it.
Our Community
is dedicated first and foremost to Jesus Christ, our Savior, and the worship of
the Most Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Ghost)–
the One True God – and the profession of the Catholic faith whole and
inviolate. Secondly, our Community is
deeply dedicated to the promotion of the Holy Rosary as the primary private
devotion for a Catholic. Just as without
the faith it is impossible to please God, so it is true that without a strong
prayer life it is impossible to be saved.
We especially promote the 15 decade Rosary, which the monks recite each
day. We believe that the 15 decade
Rosary is the key to the salvation of many souls and we encourage everyone to
attempt to say it and promote it to others.
The monks have personally witnessed the incredible transformation in the
lives of many people through the 15 decade Rosary. The power of the Holy Rosary is truly
amazing, and God has revealed that He has conferred even more efficacy upon the
Holy Rosary in our dark days. St. Louis
De Montfort recommends one set of mysteries at three different times in the day
as an effective way to say the entire Rosary each day. We believe that the salvation of millions of
souls hinges upon the practice of a true devotion to the Mother of God and the
necessary foundation of a pure profession of the true Catholic faith.
In addition
to the above, our community practices (and encourages others to practice)
devotion to saints, not only by getting to know their extraordinary devotion to
God by learning about their lives, but also by praying to them to intercede
with God for us. We have posted on our
website a few prayers to saints that we recommend (and we plan to add
more). At Most Holy Family Monastery we
recite at least one prayer each day to St. Benedict (our founder), St. Therese
of Lisieux, St. Michael the Archangel, Jacinta the
shepherdess of Fatima, St. Joseph, and St. Jude.
Promises
made to St. Benedict regarding the destiny of his Benedictine order and that of
its friends and enemies:
1) His order will continue to exist to
the End of the World.
2) It will, at the End of the World, in
the final battle, render great services to the holy Church and confirm many in
the faith.
3) No one shall die in the Order whose
salvation would not be assured. And if a
monk begins to lead a bad life and does not amend, he will fall into disgrace,
or be expelled from the Order, or will leave it of his own accord.
4) Everyone who persecutes his order and
does not repent will see his days shortened or meet with an unfortunate end.
5) All, however, who love his order will
obtain a happy death.(14)
* Note:
Promise number#3 obviously does not apply to the “Benedictines” of the Novus Ordo/Vatican II sect, who claim to be Benedictines but
aren’t. Likewise, it does not apply to any heretical group which claims to be a
Benedictine community.
www.mostholyfamilymonastery.com
Endnotes
1)
The Catholic Encyclopedia,
2)
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p.
458
3)
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p.
471
4)
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p.
440
5)
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p.
456
6)
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol, 2, p. 457
7)
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p.
444
8)
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p.
458
9)
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p.
444
10)
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p.
469
11)
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p.
471
12)
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p.
470
13)
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p.
453
14)
The Life of