Saint Benedict was born around the year 480. He was the son of a Roman prefect during the time the Roman Empire was beginning to breathe its last breath.
Saint Benedict was sent to Rome to receive formal education from a nurse. However, he was disappointed with education and discouraged by how vice was destroying the lives of those around him.
He met a monk named Romanus of Sabiaco, who gave him advice about becoming a monk and gave him a monk’s habit. Following this advice, he went to a large cave overlooking the blue waters of a beautiful lake.
Saint Benedict lived alone in this cave for three years, spiritually growing and maturing. He would later move to Monte Cassino, where he founded the monastery that came to form the base for the monastic life of the Catholic Church; including the religious order that continues to bear his name today, the Order of Saint Benedict.
During this time, the monastic philosophy of Saint Benedict was documented into what is referred to as the Rule of Saint Benedict. This simple, but powerful rule of life continues to guide religious life 1,500 years later.
Important spiritual contributions from the Rule of Saint Benedict include lectio divina (or sacred reading of the Word of God) and emptying ourselves so God’s grace can fill our hearts.
Through this, the life of Saint Benedict was full of miracles and other powerful signs of God working through him.
One time a poor man came to the monastery looking for some oil. The monk in the monastery that was responsible for provisioning food refused to give any oil out of concern that there would be none left for the monastery.
Saint Benedict saw this as an extreme lack of faith in God’s providence. He immediately knelt in prayer. As he prayed, the oil jar miraculously filled with oil to the point that it overflowed onto the monastery floor.
In March of the year 547, Saint Benedict (having received a message from God that his mortal life would soon come to an end) requested that the grave of his recently deceased sister (Saint Scholastica) be opened so he may be buried with her.
Pope Saint Gregory the Great describes the day of his death to us: “On the sixth day he [Benedict] had his disciples carry him into the chapel. There he fortified himself against death by receiving the Lord’s Body and Blood. As he supported his weak limbs with the help of his disciples, he stood with hands raised to heaven and drew his last breath while praying.”
Saint Benedict died on March 21st at Monte Cassino, Italy.
Benedictine spirituality continues to remind us that we must always trust in the providence of God to fill us with His goodness, we must always be willing to empty ourselves in love for others. In emptying ourselves, God’s grace will fill our hearts to overflowing, first in inspiration, but ultimately in contemplative love.
Saint Benedict truly gave up everything to follow the Lord. In return, he received in excess of a hundred times more in the form of abundant grace, and he truly inherited eternal life. In Saint Benedict, we have a true model of how to bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God!
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