ALL POSTS TAGGED: BENEDICTINE

Anselm’s desire to become a monk led him from his childhood home in Italy to a famous Benedictine monastery in France.
 

In the 14th century, a number of English men and women withdrew from the world. They lived alone as hermits or anchorites. Their hermitage, or cell, was a small room attached to a local church. Each room had two windows. One pierced the church wall. Through this window, the anchorite received communion. Through the second window, the anchorite received food brought to him or her by village people.

In the year 1020, a boy named Hildebrand Bonizi was born in Tuscany, Italy. He was educated for the priesthood in Rome and was chosen by Pope Gregory VI to be his personal chaplain. After the pope died, Hildebrand entered a monastery to pray and study.

There are several saints who have the words “the great” after their names, but St. Gertrude the Great is the only female to have that honor.