I find some reassurance in the celebration of the feast of St Benedict this year (July 11). After several weeks of anxiety after the referendum, it is an opportune time to think about the Patron of Europe and to consider what perspective his life can bring to our present situation.
St Benedict was named as Patron of Europe in 1964. At the time, Europe was finally beginning to recover from the devastation wrought by two world wars, and the movement towards European unity had begun to develop. It was natural that the Church should have placed this desire within a sacred context under a spiritual patron. St Benedict seems to have been an inspired choice.
