Saint Benedict of Nursia

By A.Vonn Hartung

St. Benedict is shown here writing; this is significant for two major reasons. One, because he was a scholar and concerned about sharing knowledge with the public so that they could advance and have a better life, especially to be closer to Christ and His saints. And two, he is writing in cursive Latin, that is, he’s popularizing Latin and adapting its stilted lettering style into a cursive style that is more easily written. This style and his use of the Vernacular became the beginnings of the Italian language we know today. In the foreground, we see a black bird, representing the Raven, which saved his life when his bread was poisoned by jealous monks envious of his many superior traits and saintly concerns for those under him, which made him such a good leader. In the background, we see Monte Cassino, the monastery he founded some 40 miles south of Rome, which did so much to nourish Christian virtues and enrich European civilization. At its height, the Benedictine order could boast 37,000 monasteries.