Patron Saint - Saint Benedict the Moor

St. Benedict the Moor OFM was a Franciscan Friar, born of African slaves on March 31,1526 in San Fratello, Italy. He was freed at birth and would later become known for his life of Gospel charity. As a young man,  he joined an affiliated hermit fraternity of which he was  elected in a leadership role. However, in 1564 Pope Pius IV disbanded the independent communities of hermits and ordered them to affiliate themselves to an established religious order. Benedict became a member of the Franciscan Order and as a lay brother served  as a director of novices and later guardian of the Friars  at Palermo. These positions rarely were held by religious brothers. When his term of office ended, he gladly returned to his work in the friary kitchen.
Benedict the Moor was known throughout all of Italy for his prayerfulness and spiritual guidance of souls. A man steeped in holiness of life, he is particularly remembered for his penitential spirit as he observed seven 40 day fasts throughout the year. Upon his death 
on April 4, 1589 in Palermo, King Philip III of Spain paid for special tomb to hold           
the remains of this holy and humble friar. Canonized a saint of the Church in 1807,
St. Benedict the Moor/ or the Black and is a patron saint throughout North America for African Americans.
Having lived in Sicily he is venerated among both Catholics and Lutherans.

From the Gospel of Matthew 20:28, Jesus said: "I did not come to be served but to serve."  It is this spirit of "minoritas" that came to natural to Benedict and reflects well his Franciscan spirit. In the Fourth Admonition of St. Francis writes: "They should be no prouder of their office than if they had been appointed to wash the feet of their brothers."   That's our brother Benedict alright...