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St.
Benedict
Feast Day: July 11
Benedict was born in Nursia, Italy,
in about 480 AD. When he grew up, he studied in Rome. Then, wanting to
pray alone, Benedict lived for three years in a cave near Subiaco.
During that time, people began to talk about the holiness of the Subiaco
hermit. So men came to Benedict and asked him to help them lead a holy
life. In around 529, Benedict formed these men into a community of monks
at Monte Cassino, near Naples, Italy.
Benedict wrote a rule, or way of life, for these monks. They promised
to live in poverty; to obey their abbot, or leader; to live purely; and
to stay at Monte Cassino and not run off when things got hard.
In his rule, Benedict also set up eight times a day for the monks to pray
together. By praying the Psalms, they would praise and honor God. Prayer
would help them live with one another in community. (Benedict knew that
this was not always easy!)
For the next 20 years, Benedict served the monks as their abbot. He encouraged
them to serve one another and to help the people who lived nearby. Then,
in about 547, Benedict died. The monks buried him next to his twin sister,
Scholastica, at Monte Cassino.
The rule Benedict wrote has influenced Western civilization since his
death. The monasteries that followed it kept learning alive in Europe
throughout the centuries of the Dark Ages.
Connecting to Faith First® Legacy Edition
Grade 4, chapter 24
Grade 6, chapter 8
Connecting to Faith First®
Grade 6, chapter 8
