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- For other Saint Benedicts see Saint Benedict (disambiguation)
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Saint Benedict of Nursia (c. 480 – 543), born at Nursia (Norcia), Italy, was the founder of western monasticism. Many of those monastic men and women belong to a Christian religious order named in his honor, the Order of Saint Benedict.
He was canonized in 1220. The only authentic life of Benedict of Nursia is that contained in the second book of St Gregory's Dialogues. It is more of a character sketch than a biography and consists, for the most part, of a number of miraculous incidents, which, although they illustrate the life of the saint, give little help towards a chronological account of his career. St Gregory's authorities for all that he relates were the saint's own disciples, viz. Constantinus, who succeeded him as Abbot of Monte Cassino; and Honoratus, who was Abbot of Subiaco when St Gregory wrote his Dialogues.
Biography
Benedict was the son of a Roman noble of Nursia, and a tradition, which Bede accepts, makes him a twin with his sister Scholastica. St Gregory's narrative makes it impossible to suppose him younger than nineteen or twenty. He was old enough to be in the midst of his literary studies, to understand the real meaning and worth of the dissolute and licentious lives of his companions, and to have been deeply affected himself by the love of a woman (Ibid. II, 2). He was capable of weighing all these things in comparison with the life taught in the Gospels, and chose the latter. He was at the beginning of life, and he had at his disposal the means to a career as a Roman noble; clearly he was not a child. If we accept the date 480 for his birth, we may fix the date of his abandonment of his studies and leaving home at about 500 CE. Benedict does not seem to have left Rome for the purpose of becoming a hermit, but only to find some place away from the life of the great city; moreover, he took his old nurse with him as a servant and they settled down to live in Enfide, near a church to St Peter, in some kind of association with "a company of virtuous men" who were in sympathy with his feelings and his views of life. Enfide, which the tradition of Subiaco identifies with the modern Affile, is in the Simbrucini mountains, about forty miles from Rome and two from Subiaco.
During these three years of solitude, broken only by occasional communications with the outer world and by the visits of Romanus, he matured both in mind and character, in knowledge of himself and of his fellow-man, and at the same time he became not merely known to, but secured the respect of, those about him; so much so that on the death of the abbot of a monastery in the neighbourhood (identified by some with Vicovaro), the community came to him and begged him to become its abbot. Benedict was acquainted with the life and discipline of the monastery, and knew that "their manners were diverse from his and therefore that they would never agree together: yet, at length, overcome with their entreaty, he gave his consent" (ibid., 3). The experiment failed; the monks tried to poison him, and he returned to his cave. The legend goes that they first tried to poison his drink. He prayed a blessing over the cup and the cup shattered. Then they tried to poison him with poisoned bread. When he prayed a blessing over the bread, a raven swept in and took the loaf away. From this time his miracles seem to have become frequent, and many people, attracted by his sanctity and character, came to Subiaco to be under his guidance. For them he built in the valley twelve monasteries, in each of which he placed a superior with twelve monks. In a thirteenth he lived with a few, such as he thought would more profit and be better instructed by his own presence (ibid., 3). He remained, however, the father or abbot of all. With the establishment of these monasteries began the schools for children; and amongst the first to be brought were Maurus and Placid.
St Benedict spent the rest of his life realizing the ideal of monasticism which he had drawn out in his rule. He died at Monte Cassino, Italy on March 21 and was named patron protector of Europe by Pope Paul VI in 1964. His feast day is July 11.
The Saint Benedict Medal
This medal originally came from a cross in honor of St Benedict. On one side, the St Benedict medal has an image of Benedict, holding the Holy Rule in his left hand and a cross in his right. There is a raven on one side of him, with a cup on the other side of him. Around the medal's outer margin is "Ejus in obitunro praesentia muniamus" (May we at our death be fortified by his presence). The other side of the medal has a cross with the initials for the words "Crux Sacra Sit Mihi Lux" (The Holy Cross be my light) on the vertical beam and the initials for "Non Draco Sit Mihi Dux" (Let not the dragon be my guide) on the horizontal beam. The initial letters for "Crux Sancti Patris Benedicti" (The Cross of St Benedict) are on the interior angles of the cross. Around the medal's margin on this side are the initials for "Vade Retro Satana, Nunquam Suade Mihi Vana--Sunt Mala Quae Libas, Ipse Venena Bibas" (Begone, Satan, do not suggest to me thy vanities--evil are the things thou profferest, drink thou thy own poison). Either the word "Pax" (Peace) or IHS (Jesus) is located at the top of the cross in most cases.
This medal was first struck in 1880 to commemorate the fourteenth centenary of St Benedict's birth, and is also called the Jubilee Medal; however, the exact origin is unknown. In 1647, during a witchcraft trial at Natternberg near the Abbey of Metten in Bavaria, the accused women testified they had no power over Metten, which was under the protection of the cross. An investigation found a number of painted crosses on the walls of the abbey with the letters now found on St Benedict medals, but their meaning had been forgotten. A manuscript written in 1415 was eventually found that had a picture of Saint Benedict holding a scroll in one hand and a staff which ended in a cross in the other. On the scroll and staff were written the full words of the initials contained on the crosses. Medals then began to be struck in Germany, which then spread throughout Europe. This medal was first approved by Benedict XIV in his briefs of December 23, 1741, and March 12, 1742.
Other pictures related to St Benedict
See also
Saints | Italian saints | Benedictines | History of Catholic monasticism | Natives of Umbria | 480 births | 543 deaths | Founders of Roman Catholic religious communities | Benedictine spirituality
Sveti Benedikt | Benedikt af Nurcia | Benedikt von Nursia | Benito de Nursia | Benoît de Nursie | Sveti Benedikt | San Benedetto da Norcia | Benedictus de Nursia | Nursiai Szent Benedek | Benedictus van Nursia | ベネディクトゥス | Benedykt z Nursji | Bento de Núrsia | Бенедикт Нурсийский | Benedikt z Nursie | Преподобни Бенедикт | Benedictus Nursialainen | Benedikt av Nursia | Бенедикт Святий
"Benedict of Nursia"