Benedict was born into a wealthy family in Nursia, near Umbria, Italy, in 480. He is a Christian saint venerated in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Anglican Communion and Old Catholic Churches.

Benedict was sent to Rome to finish his education. There, he was distressed to see his fellow students spending their wealth, youth and education in the pursuit of worldly pleasure. Benedict watched in horror as vice unravelled the lives and ethics of his companions.

Afraid for his soul, Benedict fled Rome, gave up his inheritance and lived in a small village. When God called him beyond this quiet life to an even deeper solitude, he went to the mountains of Subiaco. Although becoming a hermit was not his purpose in leaving, there he lived as a hermit under the direction of another hermit, Romanus.

After years of prayer, word of his holiness brought nearby monks to ask for his leadership. He warned them that he would be too strict for them, but they insisted and Benedict took charge eventually. Soon the monks realized that it was extremely difficult to cope up with his ways and they attempted to poison Benedict's drink. However, he prayed a blessing over the cup before drinking and it did no harm to him.

The next set of his followers were more sincere and he set up twelve monasteries in Subiaco where the monks lived in separate communities of twelve. However, he left these monasteries abruptly when the envious attacks of another hermit made it impossible to continue the spiritual leadership he had taken.

It was in Monte Cassino he founded the monastery that became the roots of the Church's monastic system. Instead of founding small separate communities he gathered his disciples into one whole community. Benedict was an innovator and no one had ever set up communities like his before or directed them with a rule. His beliefs and instructions on religious life were collected in what is now known as the Rule of Saint Benedict.

In one story of Benedict's life, a poor man came to the monastery begging for a little oil. The cellarer refused the request in spite of Benedict’s order, because there was only a tiny bit of oil left. Angry at this distrust of God's providence, Benedict knelt down to pray and the monks watched in fascination as oil from God filled the vessel so completely that it overflowed, cascading out on to the floor.

Guided by the golden rule “Ora et Labora,” which means pray and work, the Benedictines have, according to records, given the Church 50 Popes, 7,000 bishops, and 40,000 saints.

Benedict died on 21 March 543 and was named as the patron saint and protector of Europe by Pope Paul VI in 1964. The Church regards St. Benedict as “a great missionary, a man of prayer, a spiritual director of souls, the epitome of humility, and a true servant of God.”

Other Saints of the Day
1. Saint Abundius
2. Saint Cindeus
3. Saint Drostan
4. Saint Leontius the Younger
5. Saint Sabinus

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