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This 3 1/2" tall pewter figurine is remarkably detailed! From the features on the saint's face, and the folds of the garments to the accessories that tradition commonly associates with this saint. Last but not least the saint's name is inscribed on the base of this sturdy little statue.
About St. Benedict . . . St. Benedict is the Father of Western monasticism and brother of Scholastica. He was born in Nursia, Italy and educated in Rome. In about the year 500, he fled to Enfide, thirty miles away, to escape the vices of the city. He decided to live the life of a hermit and settled in the mountains, where he lived in a cave for three years. Despite Benedict's desire for solitude, his holiness and austerities became known and he was asked to be their abbot by a community of monks at Vicovaro. He accepted, but when the monks resisted his strict rule and tried to poison him, he returned to Subiaco and became a center of spirituality and learning. He left suddenly, reportedly because of the efforts of a neighboring priest, Florentius, to undermine his work, and in about 525, settled at Monte Cassino. He destroyed a pagan temple to Apollo on its crest, brought the people of the neighboring area back to Christianity, and in about 530 began to build the monastery that was to be the birthplace of Western monasticism. Soon disciples again flocked to him as his reputation for holiness, wisdom, and miracles spread far and wide. He organized the monks into a single monastic community and wrote his famous Rule prescribing common sense, a life of moderate asceticism, prayer, study, and work, and community life under one superior. He died at Monte Cassino on March 21 and was named patron protector of Europe by Pope Paul VI in 1964.
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