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St. Benedict of Nursia
St. Benedict of Nursia (c. 480–March 21, 547) was an Italian monk, preacher, and founder of Western monasticism, best known for establishing the Rule of St. Benedict, which shaped Christian monastic life for centuries. Born in Nursia (modern Norcia, Umbria) to a noble Roman family—traditionally named Eupropius and Abundantia—he was sent to Rome for education around 495 but abandoned worldly pursuits after witnessing the city’s moral decay. Fleeing to Subiaco, he lived as a hermit in a cave for three years, guided by a monk named Romanus, where his reputation for holiness grew, drawing disciples. Though not ordained as a priest, his preaching through example and instruction profoundly influenced early Christian communities. Around 529, Benedict founded the monastery at Monte Cassino, south of Rome, after leaving Subiaco due to conflicts with a jealous priest. There, he composed his Rule, a practical guide blending work, prayer, and study—famously summarized as “ora et labora” (pray and work)—preached to his monks to foster a balanced spiritual life. His miracles, like restoring a shattered sieve or raising a boy from the dead, underscored his sanctity, as recorded by Pope Gregory the Great in Dialogues. Tradition holds he had a twin sister, St. Scholastica, also a monastic founder. Benedict died at Monte Cassino in 547, possibly from fever, and was buried alongside Scholastica. Canonized in 1220, he’s venerated as the patron saint of Europe, leaving a legacy as a preacher of discipline and devotion that endures in the Benedictine Order.
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St. Benedict of Nursia emphasizes the solemn commitment and obedience required for those entering monastic life, highlighting the importance of making promises before God and His Saints, with the awareness of facing condemnation if those promises are broken. He instructs novices to write a document of their commitment, place it on the altar, and seek prayers from the community for support. St. Benedict also stresses the renunciation of personal possessions and the complete surrender of one's will and body to the monastery, symbolized by changing into the monastery's clothes.
When She Is to Be Received
When she is to be received she promises before all in the oratory stability, fidelity to monastic life and obedience. This promise she shall make before God and His Saints, so that if she should ever act otherwise, she may know that she will be condemned by Him whom she mocks. Of this promise of hers let her draw up a document in the name of the Saints whose relics are there and of the Abbess who is present. Let her write this document with her own hand; or if she is illiterate, let another write it at her request, and let the novice put her mark to it. Then let her place it with her own hand upon the altar; and when she has placed it there, let the novice at once intone this verse: "Receive me, O Lord, according to Your word, and I shall live: and let me not be confounded in my hope" (Ps. 118[119]:116). Let the whole community answer this verse three times and add the "Glory be to the Father." Then let the novice prostrate herself at each one's feet, that they may pray for her. And from that day forward let her be counted as one of the community. If she has any property, let her either give it beforehand to the poor or by solemn donation bestow it on the monastery, reserving nothing at all for herself, as indeed she knows that from that day forward she will no longer have power even over her own body. At once, therefore, in the oratory, let her be divested of her own clothes which she is wearing and dressed in the clothes of the monastery. But let the clothes of which she was divested be put aside in the wardrobe and kept there. Then if she should ever listen to the persuasions of the devil and decide to leave the monastery (which God forbid), she may be divested of the monastic clothes and cast out. Her document, however, which the Abbess has taken from the altar, shall not be returned to her, but shall be kept in the monastery.
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St. Benedict of Nursia (c. 480–March 21, 547) was an Italian monk, preacher, and founder of Western monasticism, best known for establishing the Rule of St. Benedict, which shaped Christian monastic life for centuries. Born in Nursia (modern Norcia, Umbria) to a noble Roman family—traditionally named Eupropius and Abundantia—he was sent to Rome for education around 495 but abandoned worldly pursuits after witnessing the city’s moral decay. Fleeing to Subiaco, he lived as a hermit in a cave for three years, guided by a monk named Romanus, where his reputation for holiness grew, drawing disciples. Though not ordained as a priest, his preaching through example and instruction profoundly influenced early Christian communities. Around 529, Benedict founded the monastery at Monte Cassino, south of Rome, after leaving Subiaco due to conflicts with a jealous priest. There, he composed his Rule, a practical guide blending work, prayer, and study—famously summarized as “ora et labora” (pray and work)—preached to his monks to foster a balanced spiritual life. His miracles, like restoring a shattered sieve or raising a boy from the dead, underscored his sanctity, as recorded by Pope Gregory the Great in Dialogues. Tradition holds he had a twin sister, St. Scholastica, also a monastic founder. Benedict died at Monte Cassino in 547, possibly from fever, and was buried alongside Scholastica. Canonized in 1220, he’s venerated as the patron saint of Europe, leaving a legacy as a preacher of discipline and devotion that endures in the Benedictine Order.