St. Benedict, whose name in Latin means "Blessed," was born to a Christian family in the mountains to the northeast of Rome. As a youth, he was sent to Rome for schooling and there experienced a religious awakening which caused him to renounce corrupt secular society and to join a group of … Christian ascetics. His fame as a holy person grew until he was importuned to become the abbot of a group of monks. After an attempted to poison him from whihc he was saved by a Raven, Benedict began to organize groups of his followers into small monasteries. In about A.D. 529, he and a few disciples came to the mountain above the city of Cassino where they established the monastery now known as Montecassino. This is probably where he wrote the Monastic Rule.
St. Scholastica is the twin sister of Benedict. She led a consecrated life with a group of Christian women. When Scholastica died, Benedict had her body brought to Montecassino and placed in his own tomb. Scholastica's name means "she who has leisure to devote to study."

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