Benedict was born in the year 480. He died on 21st March 547, at the age of 67. We celebrate the feast of St. Benedict on the 11th of July.
Benedict was born in a noble Roman family, in Nursia, Central Italy, roughly 100 miles north-east of Rome. His father was a Prefect of the Western Roman Empire. He had a twin sister named Scholastica who also became a Saint. She established the first Benedictine community of women at the age of 67.
As a youth, Benedict was sent to Rome for studies, but he was disappointed by the bad behaviour of his classmates. At the age of 20, he left his studies in Rome to seek a life of more value. He moved to the countryside about 40 miles from Rome, accompanied by his nurse who cared for him like a mother. They moved in with some holy men in the Church of St. Peter. There his nurse accidentally broke a dish used to sift wheat. She was very upset. Seeing this Benedict miraculously mended the dish and returned it to her. News of this spread quickly and Benedict became the talk of the town.
Numerous miracles are said to have taken place through the intervention of Benedict. He brought back a monk to life, healed a youngster, miraculously supplied the monastery with flour and oil in its time of need, expelled demons and walked on water. He also could foresee the future. However, Benedict was not interested in the praise of men; he sought only holiness.
A group of monks pleaded with him to lead their community. Over time the monks grew to resent his radical way of life and sought to dispose of him by poisoning his wine. Upon blessing the wine, the glass shattered and the treachery of the monks was revealed. St. Benedict departed to seek God alone in the wilderness.
As time passed, he shared his love of Christ with others, founding 12 monasteries. In 1964 Pope Paul VI declared Benedict a Patron Saint of Europe. As the Patron Saint of Europe and Holy Father of the Benedictine Order, monks across the world have carried on his great work, forever living out his directive that “in all things God may be glorified.” St. Benedict is known as the Father of Western Monasticism due to his great influence on the shape and character of monastic life in the West.
J. Rodrigues