Murals of the Basilica

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"Ascent of St. Benedict"

The panel across the transept depicting "The Transitus of St. Benedict" shows two monks in the north corner of the panel viewing a path revealed by an angel. The pathway is covered with a carpet, lined with lamps, and surrounded by angels; it connects the earthly monastery of Benedict with the heavenly Jerusalem.

Benedict is shown ascending the path to the gates of Jerusalem. Gregory the Great wrote: "On that day, the very same vision appeared to two monks, one who was from his [Benedict's] monastery and the other from quite far away. In it they saw a road, strewn with carpets and flashing with many lamps, which led straight eastward from his cell to heaven. Above this road stood a man radiant in appearance and dressed in a stately robe. When he asked whose road this was, they confessed that they did not know, and he told them, 'This is the road by which  Benedict, beloved by the Lord, is ascending to heaven.' Then just as the disciples present saw the holy man's death, so those absent became aware of it from the sign which had been foretold to them."

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