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Saint Benedict

Abbot

Feast Day
July 11
Life
480–547
Order
Order of Saint Benedict (OSB)
Born
Nursia (Norcia), Umbria, Kingdom of the Ostrogoths

Saint Benedict was born at Nursia in Umbria about 480, of a free family. The principal source for his life is Book II of the Dialogues of Pope Saint Gregory the Great (594), drawn from the testimony of four of Benedict's own disciples. Sent as a young man to Rome for studies, Benedict was repelled by the moral corruption of the late imperial city and withdrew, first to Enfide in the Sabine hills, then to a cave at Subiaco, where he lived as a hermit for three years under the guidance of the monk Romanus.

His reputation drew disciples, and he founded twelve small monasteries of twelve monks each at Subiaco. About 529, after escaping a poisoning attempt by jealous local clergy, he moved with a small group of monks to Monte Cassino, midway between Rome and Naples, where on the site of an old pagan shrine he founded the great monastery that would become the cradle of Western monasticism.

At Monte Cassino, between approximately 530 and 547, Benedict composed the Rule, seventy-three short chapters of practical legislation for the cenobitic life, ordering the day around the Opus Dei (the singing of the Divine Office), lectio divina, manual labor, common life under an abbot, hospitality, stability, and obedience. The motto Ora et labora (pray and work) summarizes its spirit. Saint Gregory the Great praises the Rule as conspicuous for its discretion and its language clear, and the great Benedictine biographer Jean Mabillon called it the source of monastic legislation in the West.

According to the Dialogues, Benedict died standing in prayer in the oratory of Monte Cassino, supported by his disciples, on March 21, 547, six days after the death of his sister Saint Scholastica. The Memorial in the General Roman Calendar is observed on July 11, traditionally the day of the translation of his relics to Fleury (Saint-Benoit-sur-Loire) in the seventh century.

Pope Saint Paul VI proclaimed Benedict patron of Europe in the Apostolic Letter Pacis nuntius (October 24, 1964), at the rededication of Monte Cassino after its destruction in the Second World War.

Pope Benedict XVI, who took the saint's name as pope, devoted his General Audience of April 9, 2008, to Saint Benedict, calling him a luminous star showing the way out of the dark night of history at the fall of the Roman Empire. The Rule of Saint Benedict shaped Western civilization through the Benedictine monasteries, which preserved learning, evangelized the barbarian peoples, and gave Europe its unity of faith and culture, prompting Saint John Paul II to honor Saints Cyril, Methodius, Bridget, Catherine of Siena, and Edith Stein as co-patrons alongside Benedict, recognizing the saint as the first patron of the continent.

Patronages

Europe · monks · students · schoolchildren · engineers · speleologists · against poisoning

Catholic Churches Named After Saint Benedict

20 parishes on Catholic Church Times share Saint Benedict's name. Find their Mass times, confession schedules, and adoration hours:

Sources