St. Bendict the Black

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Feastday: April 4
Patron of African missions; African American; black missions; black people; Palermo, Sicily San Fratello, Sicily
1524 - 1589

There is a saint called Benedict the Black or Benedict the Moor. He was born a slave near Messina, Italy. He was freed by his master and became a solitary, eventually settling with other hermits at Montepellegrino. He was made superior of the community, but when he was about thirty-eight, Pope Pius IV disbanded communities of solitaries and he became a Franciscan lay brother and the cook at St. Mary's convent near Palermo. He was appointed, against his will, superior of the convent when it opted for the reform, though he could neither read nor write. After serving as superior, he became novice master but asked to be relieved of this post and return to his former position of cook. His holiness, reputation for miracles, and his fame as a confessor brought hordes of visitors to see the obscure and humble cook. He died at the convent, was canonized in 1807, and is the patron of Blacks in the United States. The surname "the Moor" is a misnomer originating from the Italian il moro (the black). His feast day is April 4th.

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1 - 7 of 7 Comments

Moe
1 year ago
Thank you so much for compiling this all here. I have been researching a few members of the christian church when I came to your article. It was really interesting to learn about him. I love that a lot of these church leaders were also healers and would use natural herbs to heal people.
oliver schroeder
1 year ago
great site! doin my research now! Thank you catholic online for this fantastic knoledge i learned
Jerry Sandusky
1 year ago
I really loved this website. Benedict the black was a fantastic man.
William Jerome
2 years ago
Could you please give us the dates?
Beatrice
2 years ago
I'm a non Catholic and I was curious about the name of this church. I'm glad to discover that St. Benedict The Black is the name of the saint and not a Black Catholic Church. Good article.
JanS
2 years ago
St. Benedict the Moor is the name of the parish our family worships at in Pittsburgh, Pa.
Over two years ago, we began making a novena in honor of our patron saint in order to widen knowledge about this holy man and also to have his feast day placed on the official calendar for recognition by entire Church.

We are looking forward to Black Catholic History Month in November, when we will feature the lives of Black saints every Sunday!

Thanks for your part in spreading the history of these holy people.
Lydia
3 years ago
This saint is cool. His feast day is a good date :)

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