ST BENEDICT OF PALERMO, RELIGIOUS - 4 APRIL

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN APRIL

Saints celebrated on the 4th of April

WELCOME!

SAINT BENEDICT OF PALERMO, RELIGIOUS

He was widely respected for his deep, intuitive understanding of theology and scripture, and was often sought for counselling.

Saint Benedict was born in 1526 to Cristoforo and Diana Manasseri, Africans who were taken as slaves in the early 16th century to San Fratello, a small town near Messina, Sicily. 

Cristoforo and Diana had earlier converted to Catholicism and, although St Benedict never received any schooling, he learnt all about God and the Catholic Faith from his parents.

St Benedict grew up on a farm, a slave like his parents. At the age of 18 St Benedict was given his freedom, the land owner fulfilling an earlier promise to his father for the good work he had done as a foreman of the field workers.

HIS DIGNITY IN THIS DIFFICULT SITUATION DREW ADMIRATION FROM SOME FRANCISCAN HERMITS

As a free man St Benedict found work as a labourer, earning a meagre wage, but was still willing to share the little he had with others in need. During his youth, St Benedict volunteered to look after the sick and the poor. At the age of 21 St Benedict was publicly insulted because of the colour of his skin and his dignity and patience in this difficult situation drew admiration from some hermits who followed the Rule for hermit life written by St Francis of Assisi.

HE WANTED TO SERVE GOD IN A RADICAL WAY

They invited St Benedict to join them and he saw this as an answer to the call that he felt to serve God in a radical way.

So giving up all his earthly possessions St Benedict joined this group of hermits, eventually becoming their leader.

HE WAS MASTER OF NOVICES

In 1564 Pope Pius IV disbanded independent communities of hermits and asked them to join established Religious Orders, so St Benedict’s group joined the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor. St Benedict was assigned to the Friary at Palermo and was soon appointed as Master of Novices and then the Guardian of the community, even though he was not a priest and was illiterate.

HE WAS WIDELY RESPECTED

He was widely respected for his deep, intuitive understanding of theology and scripture, and was often sought for counselling. These skills brought many visitors to the Friary but eventually St Benedict wished for a quieter life, choosing to work in the kitchen as the cook, away from visitors. St Benedict continued to live an austere life and died at the age of 65.

HIS BODY WAS FOUND INCORRUPT

St Benedict was beatified by Pope Benedict XIV in 1743 and was canonised as a saint in 1807 by Pope Pius VII. It is claimed that his body was found to be incorrupt upon exhumation a few years later. As the Patron Saint of African Americans, there are several parishes in America that bear the name of St Benedict the Moor.

From: Spiritual Thought from Father Chris

[Saint Benedict the Moor is also considered a patron saint for those suffering from anemia.]