The Pope recently sent a message to the Camaldolese Order in commemoration of the Millennium of the Martyrdom of the Five Disciples of St. Romuald. They are commonly called the "Five Brother Martyrs", having suffered martyrdom in Poland in 1003, while they were living as monks to proclaim the Gospel to the pagan peoples in the area. They lived the monastic life and mission in profound synthesis and communion.
"During these ten centuries", comments F. Emanuele Bargellini, Prior General of the Camaldolese Congregation of the Order of St. Benedict, "this example of life has returned to be the type of life of the early Camaldolese Order: community, solitude and evangelism."
The message offers the Pope the occasion to speak to all three branches of the Romualdian-Camaldolese monastic family which includes the Camaldolese Congregation of the Order of St. Benedict, the Camaldolese Hermits of Monte Corona, and the Union of Monasteries of the Camaldolese Nuns of the Order of St. Benedict, taking into consideration the historical divisions overcome by common reference to the many-sided charism of St. Romuald.
"St. Romuald suggested the 'communion of diversity' of monastic life styles, according to the criterion of the ecclesiology of communion, antecedent to the division between East and West and the 'Gregorian reform' coming after him and in pyramidal style."
According to Fr. Bargellini, "The Pope reads all the history of the Camaldolese monastic tradition through the sign of martyrdom understood as the 'primate of undivided love for God and men', an orientation that in effect produced 'heroic witnesses of love' in the ancient ascetical practices as in recent testimonies of fidelity to the Gospel against barbarian actions of Nazism. The Pope uses this Gospel setting as a criterion of authenticity for the monastic life and spiritual renewal which are meaningful and credible even in our times."
"The Church in Poland", the Papal message continues, "thanks God for the witnesses of these suthentic servants of the Gospel, whose names are; John, Benedict, Matthew, Isaac and Christian. All are called Polish Brothers even if two of these, John of Classes and Benedict of Benevento, came from Italy. Their sacrifice, next to that of St. Adalbert, is put at the beginning of the Christian Millennium in Poland."
The Pontiff recalls the evangelizing and spiritual history of the Camaldolese Monks in ten centuries of history after the development given to moasticism and evangelization by St. Gregory the Great. He ends by recalling the characteristic of the Camaldolese vocation in the last century and the commitment to the new Christian Millenium which just began.
"After much labor, at this beginning of the third millenium", underlines the message, "the signs of a new flourishing of the Camaldolese Order are becoming ever more evident. The signs are strengthened by the example and the spiritual power which flows from the sacrifice of another five Polish Brothers of Camaldolese Hermits killed in the Nazi concentration camps during the last century. Nor can we forget the corageous testimony of the Italian priest Don Carol Ghezzi, who spent himself to the point of death in voluntary imprisonment. In full and heroic consistency with his monastic and sacerdotal vocation, he sacrificed himself so that the soldiers in prison might not be deprived of the comforting ministry of the Word of God and the Sacraments."
"Dear Camaldolese Brothers and Sisters, the manifold celebrations of this important jubilee should be for all of you a forceful reminder to live your specific monastic vocation with generosity and determination, rendering fruitful the precious heritage transmitted to you and the rich tradition of spirituality and of Christian civilization with which you have been entrusted. May you continue to walk faithfully on the path traced by the martyrs of your Order!"