Memorial Day of Venerable Benedict of Nursia

On March 27, the Orthodox Church honors the memory of Venerable Benedict of Nursia, better known as Saint Benedict, founder of the Benedictine monastic order, the first in Europe. Benedict lived in Italy at the turn of the 5th-6th centuries and came from a noble family in the city of Nursia. The well-born young man was sent to Rome to receive an education, but there he began to communicate with pious Christians, after which he left the Eternal City for a solitary life. Soon, Venedikt chooses complete hermitage and spends three years in a cave, from where he emerges spiritually tempered and physically stronger. The fame of the young hermit spread far beyond the boundaries of his cave, and the monks of the nearby monastery turned to the monk with a request to become their mentor. But Benedict’s ideas about monasticism turned out to be too harsh for the monastic brethren, and the failed abbot, faced with misunderstanding and envy, returned to his cave, having learned a bitter lesson from what happened. After much deliberation, Benedict, together with many followers, founded a monastery on Mount Cassino on the site of a former pagan temple. Here the saint introduces a clear structure, rules and regulations, in which humility before the Lord is exalted above the ascetic lifestyle. The glory of the new Christian monastery grew, as did the number of people wishing to join the monastery brethren. The charter and rules developed by the monk became the basis for all monasteries in Western Europe. Benedict also founded a women's monastery, the abbess of which was the sister of the Monk Scholastic. Saint Benedict is considered the patron saint of all Europe. Traditionally, he is depicted in dark or white vestments, in his hands an open monastic charter and a bunch of rods, symbolizing the saint’s ability to cast out demons. As abbot, Benedict became famous for his ability to defeat demons and his ability to bring the dead back to life through the power of prayer. Often next to the monk there is an image of a raven with a piece of bread. This bird recalls the foresight of the saint, whom envious people planned to poison by presenting him with poisoned bread, but Benedict asked the raven to throw a piece where no one would pick it up. In Rus', according to folk traditions, on March 27 one should take care of livestock. Animals were taken out of their stalls, cleaned, and prayers were said over them to protect them from disease and the evil eye. There were also special weather signs on Venedict: a frosty day promised to prolong the cold for at least another week, and early spring thunder predicted a fruitful year.