St. Benedict The African East at 340 W. 66th Street, Chicago, IL 60621 US - Who Was St. Benedict The African?
Who Was St. Benedict The African?
Benedict was born between 1522 and 1526 (sources vary) on the northern coast of Sicily in the town of San Fratello. His parents were Christopher and Diana Manasseri. They had been brought as slaves from Ethiopia to Sicily where they converted to Christianity. They took the last name of the owner of the manor (Manasseri) on which they worked. Christopher was foreman of the other slaves. Diana had been freed by a Sicilian nobleman, Jerome Lanza, who was to play an important role in the life of Benedict.
After many years, Mr. Manasseri asked Christopher and Diana why they had remained childless. The couple responded that they did not want to raise children as slaves. Mr. Manasseri promised he would free their first-born child when he/she reached the age of 18. Benedict was their first-born, followed by a brother and two sisters. He was granted his freedom at age 18, but remained as an employee of his former master.
He was scorned because of his skin color and origin. Despite the racial slurs he suffered his temperament was refined and cheerful. Jerome Lanza who was now a hermit witnessed Benedict's humble endurance and asked him to join his group of hermits in the nearby mountains. He gave all his possessions to the poor and became a hermit near Palermo, following the rule of St. Francis.
When Benedict was forty years old, Pius IV decreed that all such hermits should become members of the Franciscan Order. Benedict entered a friary in Palermo as a lay brother. The friars there appointed him as their Superior because of his outstanding virtue, even though he was not a priest. When his term as Superior ended he asked to be allowed to return to kitchen duties. People began coming to see him from all over Sicily for spiritual direction. His devotion to Mary was lifelong. He became famous for his care of the sick and the hungry. He is often pictured holding loaves of bread.
When he was in his mid-sixties, Benedict died. He had predicted the hour of his death on April 4, the Tuesday after Easter in the year of 1589. After three years his body was exhumed and found to be incorrupt. It was kept in a niche in the sacristy of the monastery until King Philip III of Spain built a shrine in 1611. Benedict was canonized in 1807. His feast day is April 4.