FEAST OF SAINT BENEDICT OF NURSIA - JULY 11

Saint Benedict, known as the Father of Western Monasticism and honored as the Patron of Europe, lived between 480 and 547 CE, born with his sister, St. Scholastica, into a Christian family in Nursia, Italy.

Disillusioned by the immoral, corrupt life of Rome while at school there, he opted for an eremitical life at Subiaco. He went on to found his order, with monastic communities at Subiaco, Terracina and Montecassino. St. Benedict developed his Simple Rule for Beginners fifteen hundred years ago to govern life in the cloister. Today, the Rule continues to inspire religious orders worldwide and also provides principles lay people can use for their individual spiritual growth.

In our own Community of Divine Love, we are vowed to the Benedictine framework of Stability, Obedience, and Conversion of Life. As stated in our Rule, “We accept The Rule of Saint Benedict as a guide for inspiration but not binding.”

Saint Benedict died in 547. It is reported that he fell ill with an intense fever shortly after receiving Communion. Too weak to stand on his own, his disciples supported him with his hands lifted in prayer in the Montecassino monastery chapel as he took his last breath. He was buried in the same grave beside his beloved twin sister Scholastica who preceded him in death in 543. The siblings shared a deep spiritual bond in life and remain united in death.