St Benedict's feast day, according to the 1962 Roman Missal, is today. The Italian saint is often referred to as the Patriarch of western monasticism and for hundreds of years monks and nuns have been following his rule, as well as those in lay communities looking for spiritual guidance. He died on March 21, 543 or 547, at Monte Cassino, south of Rome, where he had established his first monastery.
There is so much information on the web and in books about St Benedict, I found it hard to know what to write...so plenty more to talk about in other posts.
However one story jumped out at me. My shortened version: when the abbot of a nearby monastery had died the monks from that community begged St Benedict to become their abbot, he eventually agreed but was unsure of them. His instincts proved right, because some monks decided to poison him, first in his drink, but when he said a blessing over the cup, it shattered. Then with his bread, but when he said a blessing before eating, a raven flew in and carried the loaf away.
This reminds me of other stories about holy men and ravens - God seems to like to use his small creatures to help his people: St Benedict being saved from poisoned bread by a raven, Elijah in 1 Kings 17 was fed bread and meat by ravens after God commanded the Prophet to hide before the drought, St Paul the First Hermit who was given bread by ravens every day while he lived in a cave in Egypt before his death c. 343.
Blessed be God.
Very interesting post .God does love all his creatures, even the humble birds.
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