Benedict is the patron of school children because the Benedictine monks have run, important and often distinguished monastic schools. through the centuries!

Benedict was born in the year 480. He belonged to a noble family of Rome. He went to a town called Subiaco, set on a mountain forty miles from Rome. There he lived in a cave in the side of a cliff for three years. Sometimes a raven brought him food.

Men began flocking to Benedict. Soon more than one hundred and forty monks were living with him in a monastery in Subiaco. They were busy praying, cleaning the land, planting crops, teaching school and feeding the poor. Their motto was, "Pray and work."

Benedict had the power of miracles. Once he raised a dead boy to life. He had a twin sister, named Scholastica, who became a nun and a great saint also. She founded the Benedictine Sisters.

Benedict died near the altar where he received the Blessed Sacrament, while his monks held up his arms in prayer.