Many of you know that I spent several years in a Benedictine Monastery. These were very happy years of my life and I have very fond memories of my time there. Today is the feast day of one of the great monastic saints, east or west, Benedict. To all of my Benedictine friends happy feast day. I know on your calendar today is not the feast but happy feast day anyway.This Saint, whose name means “blessed,” was born in 480 in Nursia, a small town about seventy miles northeast of Rome. He struggled in asceticism from his youth in deserted regions, where his example drew many who desired to emulate him. Hence, he ascended Mount Cassino in Campania and built a monastery there. The Rule that he gave his monks, which was inspired by the writings of Saint John Cassian, Saint Basil the Great, and other Fathers, became a pattern for monasticism in the West; because of this, he is often called the first teacher of monks in the West. He reposed in 547.
Thank you for this post, Fr. Peter. St. Benedict is my patron…
you are indeed a very special person.The benedictine are a very strick disiplined order to have made it there shows a great deal of devotion and character on your part.linda