Bishop Robert Barron, bishop-elect of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, marked the feast day of St. Benedict on Monday by tweeting to ask for his intercession.

“St. Benedict, pray for us!” Barron’s tweet said. 

St. Benedict of Nursia was born sometime around the year 480 in Italy, Britannica said. His parents sent him to study in Rome, but there Benedict observed a lack of moral restraint among the people, so he gave up on city life. 

Benedict moved into a cave that was approximately 40 miles away, where he lived a spartan, solitary life for three years, Britannica said. He became famous for his sanctity, and monks eventually asked him to become the abbott of a nearby monastery. He was not liked by everyone, as evidenced by someone’s attempt to poison him. With that, he returned to his cave, but people who believed in him kept returning to him. 

He eventually established 12 monasteries that held to his list of instructions for religious life, something that is now called the Rule of St. Benedict. His Rule is still used to guide religious life centuries later, a report on Catholic.org said. In his Rule, he described the power of rhetoric in spreading the Gospel and emphasized the importance of reading and meditating about sacred Scripture.

Benedict and his twin sister, St. Scholastica, died within a short period of time, Catholic.org said. 

In artwork, Benedict is sometimes depicted with a raven or a bell. 

Benedict is the patron saint of Europe, schoolchildren, monastics and poisoning; Franciscan Media said. His feast day is celebrated each year on July 11.