Benedict was of a noble family in Nursia, near Rome, and had a twin sister, Scholastica, also a saint and co-founder with him.
Sent to Rome for his education, Benedict abhorred the licentiousness of his companions in the city and secretly left Rome.
He found his way to the village of Enfide, where, far from the din, he realized that he was called to a life of solitude.
Climbing higher to a rugged, wild place called Subiaco, he met a hermit, Romanus, who giving him a habit of sheepskin, initiated him in the hermitical life in a cave high up in the mountain.
In this desolate place, Benedict spent three years in total solitude, once a day lowering a basket to Romanus who brought him bread and kept the secret of his whereabouts.
As the fame of the sanctity and the miraculous powers of the young recluse spread, disciples gathered.
Benedict set up a system of twelve wooden monasteries, containing each twelve monks headed by a superior, himself directing all from his cave.
Once these communities where established, Benedict moved on to Monte Cassino. At the site of a big temple, he built two chapels, and around the sanctuary there gradually arose the greatest abbey the world has ever known.
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