(A.D. 821.)
[Roman Martyrology. Authority:--His life by Ardo Smaragdus, his
disciple.]
This Benedict, the reviver of monastic discipline, was the son of
Aigulf, Count of Languedoc, and served King Pepin and his son
Charlemagne as cupbearer. But, at the age of twenty, he resolved to
seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness with all his heart. From
that time forward he led a mortified life in the Court for three
years, eating sparingly and allowing himself little sleep. In 774,
having narrowly escaped drowning, he made a vow to quit the world
entirely. Returning to Languedoc, he was confirmed in his resolution
by the advice of a hermit, named Widmar, and, under pretext of going
to the Court at Aix-la-Chapelle, he went to the abbey of S. Seine,
five leagues from Dijon, and became a monk there. His discipline of
himself was most severe. He frequently spent the whole night in
prayer, standing barefoot on the ground in a keen frost. On the death
of the abbot, the brethren desired to elect Benedict, but he, knowing
their aversion to a reformation, left them, and retired to a
hermitage, in 780, on the brook Aniane, on his own estate in
Languedoc. Here he was joined by the hermit Widmar and other
solitaries, who placed themselves under his direction. They earned
their livelihood by their labour, and lived on bread and water, except
on Sundays and great festivals. In a short while Benedict had three
hundred monks under his rule, and he built a monastery; and also
exercised the office of general inspector to all the monasteries of
Provence, Languedoc, and Gascony. King Louis the Pious, who succeeded
his father, Charlemagne, in 814, committed to the saint the inspection
of all the abbeys in his kingdom. In 817 he presided at an assembly of
abbots, to enforce restoration of discipline in their monasteries. He
died at Inde, a monastery near Aix-la-Chapelle, on February 11th, 821,
at the age of seventy one; but his festival is usually observed on the
following day, which is that of his burial.
[36] This is a mistake, as Bollandus has pointed out; the cross means
the little-horse on which she was extended.
[37] It is uncertain whether he was first at Sebaste or at Beroea.
Socrates says he was translated from Beroea to Sebaste, but there
are circumstances which make this statement impossible to reconcile
with other facts.
[38] Theodoret, lib. v. c. 2.
[39] Lib. v., c. 7.
[40] Lib. vii., c. 10.
[Illustration: The Papermaker.]
February 13.
SS. FUSCA, _V._, AND MAURA, _MM. at Ravenna, 3rd cent._
S. POLYEUCTUS, _M. at Melitene, in Armenia; circ._ A.D. 259.
S. JULIANA, _Matron at Turin, 9th cent._
S. DOMNINUS, _B. of Digne in France, 4th cent._
S. CASTOR, _P. at Coblenz, end of 4th cent._
S. MARTIAN, _H. in Palestine; circ._ A.D. 400.
S. STEPHEN, _of Lyons, B. C.; circ._ A.D. 512.
S. MODOMNOC, _of Ossory, C. 6th cent._
S. STEPHEN, _Ab. of Riete in Italy, 6th cent._
S. LICINIUS, _B. of Angers; circ._ A.D. 617.
S. ERMENILDA, _Q. Abbess of Ely; circ._ 700.
S. GREGORY II., _B. of Rome_; A.D. 731.
SS. AYMON AND WEREMUND, _Counts of Turbio in Italy; circ._ A.D. 790.
S. FULCRAN, _B. of Lodeve in France_, A.D. 1006.
S. GISLBERT, _B. of Meaux, after_ A.D. 1000.
B. JORDAN, _O. S.D._ A.D. 1237.
S. CATHERINE, _of Ricci, V., O. S.D_., A.D. 1590.