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Friends of the Rosary,

Today is the Memorial of St. Benedict (480-547), the father of Christian monasticism.

St. Benedict was born in Nursia, Italy, in 480 and, after being educated in Rome, left the world to live as a solitary hermit at Subiaco. He organized a form of monastic life in twelve small monasteries. Under his guidance, as abbot, the monks vowed to seek God and devoted themselves to work and prayer.

A few years later, St. Benedict left the district of Subiaco to found the abbey of Monte Cassino on the heights of Campania. There, he wrote his famous Rule, the monks’ program of life, in which the Roman genius and the monastic wisdom of the Christian world are wonderfully combined.

His rule prescribed common sense, a life of moderate asceticism, prayer, study, and work, and community life under one superior. It stressed obedience, stability, and zeal, and made the Divine Office the center of monastic life; it would affect spiritual and monastic life in the West for centuries to come.

While ruling his monks (most of whom, including Benedict, were not ordained), he counseled rulers and Popes, ministered to the poor and destitute around him, and tried to repair the ravages of the Lombard invasion led by Totila.

For St. Benedict, the fundamental, and even more, the sole objective of existence is the search for God: “Quaerere Deum.” He knew that when the believer enters into a profound relationship with God, he cannot be content with living in a mediocre way, with a minimalist ethic and superficial religiosity.

In this light, the faithful better the expression that Benedict took from St. Cyprian, and that is summarized in his Rule (IV, 21): Nihil amori Christi praeponere. Prefer nothing to the love of Christ.

Associated with the life of the saint and worn on a Rosary, the Saint Benedict Medal is used by many faithful as a sacramental for spiritual protection against evil and temptation, and as a prayer of exorcism against Satan.

The primary prayer associated with the Saint Benedict medal is an exorcism prayer, often represented by initials on the medal, which translates to: “May the Holy Cross be my light; May the dragon never be my guide. Begone, Satan! Never tempt me with your vanities. What you offer is evil; Drink the poison yourself!”.

Ave Maria!
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
To Jesus through Mary!

Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
Please give us the grace to respond with joy!

+ Mikel Amigot w/ María Blanca | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

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Leo XIV