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Saint Benedict > 
Born in the district of Nurcia, in Umbria, central Italy, he was sent to Rome for his studies; but left there and joined (c 500) a sort of community of ecclesiastical students at Affile. Shortly after he retired to a cave near Subiaco--now the Sacro Speco--to live as a hermit. Here his sanctity was soon discovered and many disciples flocked to him; for these he built a laura, composed of twelve small monasteries, himself retaining the command over all. About the year 530 he left Subiaco for Montecassino, where on the road to Naples he founded the great arch-abbey and where he lived till his death, famous as wonder-worker. Here too, he promulgated his rule, which is justly considered one of the most potent factors in building up the civilization of Christian Europe. Eventually it became the norm for all western monks, and was simply called "The Holy Rule". The little we know of St. Benedict's own personality shows him to us as a strong but lovable character. He died standing in prayer before the altar. It is generally considered that he may have been a deacon, but not a priest. His life was written by St. Gregory the Great, Dialogues Bk II. The French tradition maintains that the remains of St. Benedict were translated to Fleury in 703. This is contested by the monks of Montecassino where excavations made possible by the wanton destruction of the abbey in the last war yielded up substantial remains, regarded as those of Benedict and Scholastica. His symbols are a raven with a bun in its beak. He often holds a book with a broken chalice, or a sieve in portraits. Sometimes he carries an open copy of his own rule, open at the first word, "Ausculta". Proclaimed Patron of Europe by Paul VI in 1964.
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