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Politics Foreign Affairs Culture Fellows Program

‘The Benedict Option’ — A Sonnet

A Catholic teacher and father-to-be in Boston reads the book, writes poetry
Marco Sermarini, the Doge of the Benedict Option and a self-described ‘old donkey,’ in the valley near Castellucio, Umbria

A theology and literature teacher at a Catholic high school did me the very great honor of sending me a sonnet he wrote after reading The Benedict Option. Here it is:

The Benedict Option

Upon learning that my wife was pregnant,

I finally fully felt my true calling:

to reflect the Father in my falling,

in my self-submergence as a servant

and teacher of my kids. But in this scarring

culture cut off from the past, in this segment

severed from Tradition, is there some remnant

to prevent their stunting and their stalling?

These schools are mostly broken incubators

or breeding, gene-tweaking laboratories,

these cities rich, heavenless hermitages.

Yet have I the strength to leave my creator,

this state containing my family’s stories,

for distant, religion-stitched villages?

Magnificent. Thank you, poet — and congratulations to you and your wife on the baby to come. If you want some light Ben Op fiction to read, try The Awakening of Miss Prim, which even has the monks of Norcia in it. It’s not poetry, but it’s lovely and inspiriting, like vinho verde on a hot day.

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