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Check out my latest article on Aleteia on Saint Benedict:
Listen carefully, my son, to the master’s instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart.
Prologue to the Holy Rule of St. BenedictJuly 11 is the feast day of Saint Benedict, a man who left the city and the promises of Roman nobility in search of a life of solitude. For three years he lived in a cave as a hermit, but when a local abbot died, the community begged him to come and help them.
However, while they revered Benedict for his sanctity, the monks could not agree on anything and tried to poison him with a drink. The saint famously said a blessing over the cup and foiled the insidious plan. Numerous miracles were attributed to him during his lifetime and his wisdom was sought after by all.
Saint Benedict would go on to found 13 monasteries and spent the remainder of his life creating a plan or “rule” for an ideal monastery. This would become known as the “Rule of Saint Benedict” and continues to be a driving force behind religious life — and even for some principled corporations and businesses — in our own day.
To help us appreciate the man Pope Benedict XVI chose to emulate, here are ten inspiring quotes from the “Father of Western Monasticism”: