St. Benedict of Nursia: Feast Day, Patronage & Prayers
Feast day: July 11 (Feast of St. Benedict, Abbot, Patron of Europe)
Patron of: Europe, monks, and those seeking protection from evil.
About St. Benedict of Nursia
St. Benedict was born around 480 at Nursia in central Italy and sent to Rome to study. Disturbed by the corruption he found there, he left to live as a hermit in a cave at Subiaco, where he spent three years in prayer. Word of his holiness spread, disciples gathered, and he founded several small monasteries. Around 529 he moved to Monte Cassino, south of Rome, where he built the monastery that became the heart of his work. His twin sister, St. Scholastica, led a community of nuns nearby.
At Monte Cassino Benedict wrote his Rule, a wise and moderate guide for monks living together under an abbot. Its motto is often summed up as "pray and work," and it asks that "in all things God may be glorified." The Rule shaped Western monasticism for fifteen centuries, and Benedictine monasteries preserved learning, farming, and prayer through the upheavals of the early Middle Ages. Our knowledge of his life comes from Pope St. Gregory the Great. Benedict died around 547, and in 1964 Pope St. Paul VI named him patron of Europe. The St. Benedict medal is a beloved sacramental.
Prayers to St. Benedict of Nursia on Daily Catholic Prayers
Browse every saint in our Catalog of Saints A–Z.
Comments