Benedict of Nursia
(c. 480-c. 547). The “Patriarch of Western Monasticism.” He was born in Nursia in Umbria, Italy, and then educated at Rome. He did not like the degenerate life of the city, and withdrew to the country, where he lived as a hermit in a cave at Subiaco. Gradually a community grew up around him. Sometime between 525 and 530 he moved south with some of his disciples to Monte Cassino, where he composed his Rule about 540. The Rule of St. Benedict shaped monasticism in western Christianity. His ministry is commemorated in the Episcopal calendar of the church year on July 11.
Glossary definitions provided courtesy of Church Publishing Incorporated, New York, NY,(All Rights reserved) from “An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church, A User Friendly Reference for Episcopalians,” Don S. Armentrout and Robert Boak Slocum, editors.