KREMSMÜNSTER ABBEY: A BENEDICTINE SCIENTIFIC POWERHOUSE

In his 1947 encyclical on St. Benedict of Nursia, Pope Pius XII praised the great saint: “Like a star in the darkness of night, Benedict of Nursia brilliantly shines.”1 If Benedict (480–547), a patron saint of Europe, shines like a star, his Order of Saint Benedict has illuminated history with a thousand constellations. Guided by the Rule of Saint Benedict, the Benedictines have profoundly influenced the development of Western Civilization. In the words of Thomas Woods:

Mere statistics can hardly do justice to the Benedictine achievement, but by the beginning of the fourteenth century, the order had supplied the Church with 24 popes, 200 cardinals, 7,000 archbishops, 15,000 bishops, and 1,500 canonized saints. At its height, the Benedictine order could boast 37,000 Monasteries. —How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization by Thomas E. Woods Jr.2

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Benedictine Contributions to Science​

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