18 June 2019

Miracles of St. Benedict of Nursia - Poisoned food miraculously revealed

Saint Benedict of Nursia was a greatly acclaimed Catholic Saint who lived during the period 480 – 547 AD. He formed several religious communities and is particularly known for the ‘Benedict Rule’ that he wrote as a guidance note for monasteries which till date is the most influential document for monasticism. He lived a very holy and virtuous life which was evident for all to see in the hundreds of miracles that were attributed to him during his life on earth. However, there were challenges too. There were two separate occasions when his food was poisoned by his enemies but he was saved miraculously both times. These incidents were unfortunate but proved to be opportunities to reveal his holiness to all.

The Abbot of a nearby monastery has died and all the monks pleaded to Saint Benedict to take his place and be their Abbot. Saint Benedict refused because their way of life was very liberal and different from his. However, after several rounds of persuasion he agreed to be their Abbot. After he took charge, he began to instil discipline in their lives to ensure they stayed on the path of virtue. This was not accepted well by the monks who loved their earlier way of life. Soon they regretted having asked him to be their Abbot. They planned to poison him and regain their earlier perverse way of life. They poisoned his wine and kept it alongwith the other food on the table. As was the practice then, all the food was blessed by Saint Benedict and as he made the sign of the Cross, the glass with the poisoned wine broke into pieces. By this the holy man perceived that the glass had something that was opposed to the sign of life. He soon called the Brethren and asked them why they had done such a sin? He forgave them for their folly and asked them to find another Abbot for themselves before leaving the monastery.

In the later years of his life, there is yet another instance of his food being poisoned. As he grew in holiness, there was a priest of a nearby Church called Florentius who was greatly jealous of his virtuous life and fame. Out of his envy, he often tried to defame Saint Benedict and prevent people from reaching out to him. But all his attempts failed miserably and he found the virtues and fame of Saint Benedict increasing day by day. He desired to be known and have extra ordinary graces like Saint Benedict but did not want to lead a virtuous life. Blinded by envy, Florentius sent a poisoned loaf of bread to Saint Benedict, which he thankfully accepted knowing fully well that it was poisoned. During that period, there was a crow that regularly visited Saint Benedict and received its daily bread from the holy man. That day when the crow came along, Saint Benedict gave the poisoned loaf to it and said “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ take this bread and cast it in some place where no man may find it.” The crow looked at him and flitted around without picking the bread. Again Saint Benedict said to the crow, “Take it up, take it up, and cast it where no man may find it.” After sometime, the crow picked up the bread in its beak and flew away to fulfil the command it received from the holy man. After having dealt with it suitably, it returned three hours later to collect its usual dinner from the Saint. This was the second time that he encountered such an attempt on his life. Though his life was preserved, Saint Benedict was greatly moved and grieved for the priest because of the extent of evil that prevailed in him. On the bright side, both incidents proved to be occasions for revealing his extra ordinary graces.