Saint Benedict of Nursia founded the Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino, he is also the father of Western monacticism. He sought to create a sacred school and community and a safe place free from distraction, negativity and vices so, he turned the monastery into a place of work, prayer and space to provide spiritual life and guidance. Inside the monastery people learnt how to live and worship according to his rule. If a person wanted to live as a cenobite monk, he had to renounce to his possessions and distractions and follow God.
He also wrote The rule of Saint Benedict which is a book consisting of precepts for monks living under the authority of an abbot. Benedictines have been using The Rule of Saint Benedict for 15 centuries. As a result Benedict is regarded as the founder of Western monasticism as his rules gave way to reforms on the current Catholic hierarch.
