St Benedict was born into a Roman noble family with his twin sister Scholastica. He grew up with the expectation that he would follow his family’s wishes for a career in Roman government. However, he was not impressed by the dissolute lives of others in his generation and at about the age of 20 retreated into a cave near Enfide. There for three years he lived as a hermit. As he matured in wisdom, age, and grace, others noted his qualities and invited him to lead their local community of monks. At first this did not do well, as the monks resisted Benedict’s efforts to bring greater spiritual discipline to their lives. Benedict is said to have escaped their attempts to poison him by miraculous means, once with a cup of poisoned wine shattering as he blessed it.
Benedict went on to establish a number of monasteries, the most important of which was the Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino where he died in 543.
St Benedict summed up his ideals in the Rule of St Benedict which became one of the foundation documents of Western Christianity. The Rule has only 73 short chapters. It deals with the question of how an individual monk may live each day with his mind on Christ as he works and prays. The Rule also covers the duties of the abbot running the monastery as a father, leading the community to live in harmony with God and one another. This would be the basis on which centuries of monastic life would flourish and give to Western Christianity a model of stability on which Western culture could grow.