Venerated in Roman Catholic Church | Died 1012, Tribeč | |
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Canonized 1083 or 1085 by Pope Gregory VII Feast 1 May; 13 June or 17 July on some calendars Patronage Sailors of the Vah River, Diocese of Nitra, Diocese of Tarnów, St. Andrew Abbey in Cleveland Major shrine St. Emmeram's Cathedral, Nitra | ||
Benedict of Szkalka or Skalka (10th century – 1012, 1033 or 1037 AD), born Stojislav in Nitra (Nyitra), Hungarian Kingdom, was a Benedictine monk and Roman Catholic saint.
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Life
Saint Benedict became a monk at the St. Hippolytus Monastery on Mount Zobor near Nyitra (today: Nitra in Slovakia) in the late 10th or early 11th century. He later became a hermit with his fellow saint and spiritual teacher Andrew Zorard, where they lived an austere life in a cave along the Vah River near Trenčín in modern Skalka nad Váhom—then part of the Kingdom of Hungary. Andrew died in 1009 (or 1030 or 1034), but Benedict continued to live in the cave for three years until he was strangled to death in 1012 (1033 or 1037) by a gang of thieves looking for treasure. The thieves dumped his body in the Vah River, but his body was found perfectly preserved a year later. In 1083 his relics were translated to the St. Emmeram's Cathedral in Nitra where they remain to this day. A biography of St. Benedict and St. Andrew was written by St. Maurus, Bishop of Pécs.
Feast Day and Veneration
St. Benedict is venerated especially in Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland, but also in the United States. His feast day is 1 May, but in some calendars he is venerated together with St. Andrew on 13 June or 17 July.