ST Benedict
Italian saint and theologian.
Considered the father of Western monasticism, Saint Benedict of Nursia is among the most influential of the early Medieval Christian saints. The founder of the original Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino, Italy, Benedict is credited with composing the first true text for monastic rule of the Roman Catholic Church. Written during the decline of the Roman Empire and the nascent era of the Medieval papacy in Rome, the Regula Sancti Benedicti (c. 540; Rule of Saint Benedict) outlines the ideals of life in a religious community of monks. It is known for its emphasis on compassion and spiritual counsel, and for its relative leniency in describing the requirements of monastic life—the precepts of the Rule notably contrast with those of the more austere Eastern monasticism and focus on sanctity, virtue, humility, and obedience rather than on material self-denial. Today the Rule continues to be embraced by the Western monastic community and remains one of the most enduring and studied documents in Christian literature.
Biographical Information
Most of what is known about Benedict's life comes from the second book of St. Gregory the Great's Dialogues, which he devoted entirely to Benedict. According to Gregory, Benedict was born at Nursia, an area in the Sabine hills of central Italy (what is now the province of Umbria) in about 480. Born into a well-to-do family, he was educated at Roman schools in his youth and later, at the age of fourteen, traveled to the imperial capital of Rome to complete his studies. While there, Benedict experienced first-hand the decadence and vice of the waning Roman Empire. Disgusted with what he saw, he left the capital city to join a loosely organized community of religious ascetics at Enfide (now the town of Affile). Finding his life in the Simbrunian hills unsatisfactory, Benedict retreated to a cave some forty miles east of Rome at Subiaco. After three years of living in seclusion, engaged in prayer
Considered the father of Western monasticism, Saint Benedict of Nursia is among the most influential of the early Medieval Christian saints. The founder of the original Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino, Italy, Benedict is credited with composing the first true text for monastic rule of the Roman Catholic Church. Written during the decline of the Roman Empire and the nascent era of the Medieval papacy in Rome, the Regula Sancti Benedicti (c. 540; Rule of Saint Benedict) outlines the ideals of life in a religious community of monks. It is known for its emphasis on compassion and spiritual counsel, and for its relative leniency in describing the requirements of monastic life—the precepts of the Rule notably contrast with those of the more austere Eastern monasticism and focus on sanctity, virtue, humility, and obedience rather than on material self-denial. Today the Rule continues to be embraced by the Western monastic community and remains one of the most enduring and studied documents in Christian literature.
Biographical Information
Most of what is known about Benedict's life comes from the second book of St. Gregory the Great's Dialogues, which he devoted entirely to Benedict. According to Gregory, Benedict was born at Nursia, an area in the Sabine hills of central Italy (what is now the province of Umbria) in about 480. Born into a well-to-do family, he was educated at Roman schools in his youth and later, at the age of fourteen, traveled to the imperial capital of Rome to complete his studies. While there, Benedict experienced first-hand the decadence and vice of the waning Roman Empire. Disgusted with what he saw, he left the capital city to join a loosely organized community of religious ascetics at Enfide (now the town of Affile). Finding his life in the Simbrunian hills unsatisfactory, Benedict retreated to a cave some forty miles east of Rome at Subiaco. After three years of living in seclusion, engaged in prayer