Monday 11 July 2022

Today (11 July) the Church celebrates the life and ministry of Benedict


Benedict was born in Nursia, central Italy, around the year 480. 

As a young man he was sent to study in Rome, but was soon appalled by the corruption in society and withdrew to live as a hermit at Subiaco. He quickly attracted disciples and began to establish small monasteries in the neighbourhood.

Around the year 525, a disaffected faction tried to poison him so Benedict moved to Monte Cassino with a band of loyal monks. Later in life he wrote his Rule for Monks, based on his own experience of fallible people striving to live out the gospel. He never intended to found an ‘order’ but his Rule was so good that it was disseminated and widely followed, becoming the model for western monasticism.

Benedict died at Monte Cassino in about the year 550.

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