25. Some monks want to poison Saint Benedict.

This painting shows us a scene worthy of a crime novel: an attempted murder with a cup of poisoned wine.

Although Benedict was still very young, he had already gained a reputation for holiness. So, when the abbot of a nearby monastery died, the monks repeatedly asked him to take his place.

Benedict resisted. He knew the community and was aware that the monks lived their monastic life in a rather relaxed way. He warned them that, if he became their abbot, he would require a much more rigorous way of life from them. But they insisted so strongly that, finally, Benedict accepted.

Conflicts soon arose. The new abbot’s demands created growing tension, until some of the monks decided to get rid of him. So they came up with a plan: to put poison in the wine they would serve him at the table.

Now look at the painting, because the artist places us right at the scene of the crime.

We are in the monks’ dining room. At the far left, Saint Benedict presides over the table. On the other side of the painting, two monks are serving food: one is carrying a fruit tray, while the other carries a cup containing the poisoned wine.

Look at the monks sitting at the table. Their eyes give them away. Some are watching Benedict; others are watching those serving food. They all seem to be waiting for the same thing: what will happen when the abbot drinks from that cup?

Look at their hands as well. The monks’ gestures convey agitation and nervousness. Benedict, on the other hand, is calm.

Now look at his right hand. Before drinking, Benedict makes the sign of the cross over the cup.

And suddenly, something extraordinary happens.

The wine cup breaks. Gregory the Great explains that it shattered as though, instead of receiving the sign of the cross, it had been struck by a stone.

The plan has failed. Benedict realises that the wine was poisoned and that his own monks had tried to kill him.

But his reaction is surprising. He seeks neither revenge nor punishment for those responsible. He simply decides to leave. He returns to the solitude he had left behind when he accepted the role of abbot.

But the story does not end there.

Look at the window above the monks. It is a pictorial device that the artist uses to show us what happened next.

It is difficult to figure it out in our painting, but it can be seen very clearly in the engraving by Aliprando Caprioli, which served as the model for our painter. You will find it in the image gallery. There you will see Benedict returning to the cave once again. But this time he will not be alone, because some monks join him, wanting to learn from him and live under his guidance.

Gregory the Great tells us that, with these new disciples, Benedict went on to found twelve monasteries.

What a striking contrast! Those who did not want to change their hearts try to drive Benedict out of their lives; whereas those who do want to transform their lives begin to seek him out. What seemed to be Benedict’s failure as an abbot would become the beginning of an extraordinary fruitfulness.