Memorial of St. Benedict, 480-547; born into a distinguished family in central Italy; drawn to monasticism, he became a hermit, and then withdrew to a high cave in the mountains; some monks chose him as their leader for a time, but many disagreed with his strictness; he conceived of gathering various families of monks into one “Grand Monastery” to give them the benefit of unity, fraternity, and permanent worship in one house; he then began to build Monte Cassino; the rule which gradually developed prescribed a life of liturgical prayer, study, manual labor, and living together in community under a common abbot