Benedict of Nursia

Benedict was born at Nursia, now Norcia, in central Italy, and was sent to Rome to study. Disgusted by the city's vice, he left and lived alone as a hermit for three years in a cave at Subiaco, east of Rome. Others came to follow him, and he organized them into small communities. Around 529 he moved south and founded the monastery of Monte Cassino on a hilltop between Rome and Naples. There he wrote his Rule, a short book of guidance for monks. It sets out a balanced life of prayer at set hours of the day and night, manual work, and reading, summed up later in the motto pray and work. It asks monks to live in stability in one community under an abbot, practice obedience and humility, receive guests as Christ, and avoid both harshness and excess. Almost everything known about his life comes from the Dialogues of Pope Gregory the Great, which also recount miracles. His sister Scholastica led a community of nuns nearby. He died around 547. His Rule became the standard for monasteries across Western Europe.

Faith: Christian monk and father of Western monasticism; his feast is kept by the Roman Catholic Church. Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica