Saint Benedict: March 2013 Archives

Father, you revealed in Benedict your desire to live and die in grace that transcends all earthly cares; listen to our supplications as we strive toward salvation.

 

Benedict, blessed in name and grace, lived a holy life; may we follow worthily in his footsteps by praying and working to glorify you.

 

Holy father Benedict, pray for us.

 

Benedict, desiring to please you alone, left home and patrimony to found his religious family; may we live in peace in his family to add luster to your monastic way of life.

 

Holy father Benedict, pray for us.

 

Benedict withdrew from the world, knowingly unacquainted with its ways, and wisely unlearned in its wisdom; may we learn your wisdom, and guide our actions by it.

 

Holy father Benedict, pray for us.

 

Benedict, filled with the spirit of all the just, left us a rule of life in Christ; may we remain faithful to his teaching and come to prefer nothing whatsoever to Christ.

 

Holy father Benedict, pray for us.

 

Benedict, the patron of a happy death, showed us how to live in order to die in you; may he obtain this reward from you for each of us.

 

Holy father Benedict, pray for us.

 

Through Christ our Lord.

Today begins nine days of prayer to Saint Benedict, ending at First Vespers of Saint Benedict's Transitus (March 20). On March 21, many Benedictine monasteries around the world will observe the death of Benedict (+547) with solemnity, if you follow another liturgical calendar other than the Roman one, while other monasteries will celebrate July 11 as a feast, the translation of Benedict's bones.