BENEDICTINE CELEBRATED

This blessed Benedictine 
has been around awhile, but this is the
first time we are celebrating his feast, 
this Wednesday, Sept. 25.

BL BENEDICT DUSMET  (1818- 1894)  was an Italian Roman Catholic cardinal who served as the Archbishop of Catania from 1867 until his death.  He was born of noble houses which could be traced back to Flanders in Belgium. His two maternal uncles Vincenzo and Leopoldo Dragonetti were both monks from the Order of Saint Benedict.

He was professed into the Order of Saint Benedict at Monte Cassino where he took "Benedetto" as his religious name. He studied under the Benedictines prior to joining them before serving as a professor in addition to prior and abbot. His elevation to the episcopate saw him distinguish himself in cholera epidemics when he tended to the ill while also remaining a strong advocate for the poor of his archdiocese. He remained a Benedictine and was known to continue to don the Benedictine habit instead of the red cardinal's regalia.

Bl. (Cardinal)  Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster, a Benedictine himself, unveiled a monument dedicated to Bl. Benedict in Catania in 1935.  His beatification was celebrated in 1988.

The monument