Germany: Benediktbeuern Abbey, St. Benedict’s spiritual route to be unveiled

This Sunday, 11 July, will be the unveiling of the “Benediktusweg”, a journey of prayer, pilgrimage and socialisation around the sites of the Benediktbeuern monastic compound in Upper Bavaria in search of the Benedictine spirituality. The 2.5-kilometre route will guide the pilgrim with religious images, statues and inscriptions inspiring reflection and meditation. Carved in stone at the twelve stations are excerpts from the rule of the founder of the Order, Saint Benedict, for example on the “unity of generations”, “openness to strangers”, and “responsibility for creation”. The texts can be accessed as audio files via QR codes with further information which is also available. The inauguration is entrusted to the Abbot of Ettal and President of the Bavarian Benedictine Congregation, Dom Barnabas Bögle. At the beginning of the route, a sculpture of the Saint will be unveiled. The life-size wooden figure by sculptor Margit Unterthiner shows a young Benedict dressed in a simple monk's garb, with an abbot's rod, an open book and a crow at his feet. The Benediktbeuern Abbey, founded at the beginning of the 8th century, has developed into one of the most important places of pilgrimage and worship in the Benedictine world. Today it is the Salesians who live in the Benediktbeuern Abbey. The monastic compound includes a youth hostel, a centre for the environment and culture, and a branch of the Catholic Foundation College Munich, where over 500 young people study social assistance and religious education.
Valentina Bombelli