St Benedict

St. Benedict is believed to have been born around 480 in Norcia, Italy. As a young man, he studied for a time in Rome but was so distressed by the immoral lifestyle of his fellow students that he fled the city to become a hermit at Subiaco. Disciples later joined him and he organized them into twelve deaneries of ten monks each. He lived at Subiaco for twenty five years but left there when a jealous cleric incited trouble.

Benedict and a group of monks set their sights on Montecassino. There he completed his Rule for the community. It emphasized authority, obedience, and community life. The monks’ primary obligation was praying the Divine Office in common throughout the day and manual work of various kinds. Benedict insisted that the Abbot should be elected by the monks and should be wise, discreet, flexible, and a spiritual father. The monasteries became centers of scholarship, agriculture, medicine, and hospitality at a time when the world suffered a tremendous crisis of values caused by the collapse of the Roman Empire, the invasions of new peoples, and the decay of morals.

St. Gregory the Great called Benedict a “luminous star” that pointed the way out of the “black night of history.” Interestingly, Benedict was never ordained a priest nor had he expected to found a religious order. He is considered the Patriarch of Western Monasticism and the Patron of Europe. Benedict died in 547 and is buried at Montecassino along with his twin sister, Scholastica.