Editing Benedict of Nursia (section)

==Early life==
Benedict was the son of a [[Roman Empire|Roman]] noble of [[Nursia]],<ref name=ford>{{cite web| url = https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02467b.htm| title = Ford, Hugh. "St. Benedict of Norcia." The ''Catholic Encyclopedia''. Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 3 Mar. 2014| access-date = 3 March 2014| archive-date = 9 March 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210309172635/https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02467b.htm| url-status = live}}</ref><ref name=Knowles>[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Benedict-of-Nursia Knowles, Michael David. "St. Benedict". ''Encyclopedia Britannica'']</ref> the modern [[Norcia]], in [[Umbria]]. According to Gregory's narrative, Benedict was born around 480, and the year in which he abandoned his studies and left home "was probably a few years before 500."<ref>Pope Gregory I, E. G. Gardner (ed.), ''The Dialogues of Saint Gregory the Great: Re-edited with an Introduction and Notes'' (London & Boston: Philip Lee Warner, 1911), [https://books.google.com/books?id=H-lrSGeNTAMC&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&lpg=PP1&pg=PA263&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false p. 263].</ref>{{rp|263}}

Benedict was sent to Rome to study, but was disappointed by the academic studies he encountered there. Seeking to flee the great city, he left with his nurse and settled in [[Enfide]].<ref name=Crawley>{{cite web| url = https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/saint-benedict-abbot-founder-of-western-monasticism-5225| title = "Saint Benedict, Abbot", ''Lives of Saints'', John J. Crawley & Co., Inc.| access-date = 11 February 2015| archive-date = 8 July 2019| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190708000639/http://www.ewtn.com/library/mary/benedict.htm| url-status = live}}</ref> Enfide, which the tradition of Subiaco identifies with the modern [[Affile]], is in the [[Simbruini]] mountains, about forty miles from Rome<ref name=Knowles/> and two miles from Subiaco.

[[File:Benedetto, Mauro e Placido.jpg|thumb|200px|left|''Saint Benedict orders [[Saint Maurus]] to the rescue of [[Saint Placidus]]'', by [[Fra Filippo Lippi]], AD&nbsp;1445]]

A short distance from Enfide is the entrance to a narrow, gloomy valley, penetrating the mountains and leading directly to Subiaco. The path continues to ascend, and the side of the ravine on which it runs becomes steeper until a cave is reached, above this point the mountain now rises almost perpendicularly; while on the right, it strikes in a rapid descent down to where, in Benedict's day, {{convert|500|ft|m}} below, lay the blue waters of a lake. The cave has a large triangular-shaped opening and is about ten feet deep.
On his way from Enfide, Benedict met a monk, [[Romanus of Subiaco]], whose monastery was on the mountain above the cliff overhanging the cave. Romanus discussed with Benedict the purpose which had brought him to Subiaco, and gave him the monk's habit. By his advice Benedict became a hermit and for three years lived in this cave above the lake.<ref name=Knowles/>