Blessed Benigno of Vallumbrosa
Also known as
- Benigno Benizzi
- Benigno Visdomini
- Benignus…
- Bénigne…
Profile
May have been related to Saint John Gualbert. Young priest probably ordained in the region of Florence, Italy. He seems to have had a failure at clerical discipline; his biographer wrote that Benigno “fell into sin”. To re-examine his life and call to vocation, he made a pilgrimage to the graves of the apostles in Rome, Italy, after which, to reform his life, he joined the Benedictine Vallombrosans, c.1180. As a monk he became a model of penance, piety and humility. To concentrate on his penance, he lived as a hermit in a cell near the Vallombrosa monastery. Abbot of the San Salvi monastery outside Florence, Italy c.1190. Abbot of the Vallombrosa monastery and General of the Order in late 1201 or early 1202; he served for over 30 years and ruled during the period of the Order‘s greatest prosperity and expansion. He worked to maintain discipline to the Vallumbrosan Rule, and bring peace to Orders and houses in conflict of the claim of anti-pope Callistus III. Abbot Benigno enshrined the relics of Saint John Gualbert on 10 October 1210, built the new church in Vallombrosa, a project that took six years to complete, added more cells to the monastery for those desiring to live as hermits, and built an oratorium. In his final years, some time in 1234, Benigno gave up his leadership position, and retired to live in a hermit‘s cell, doing daily penance for the errors of his youth.
Born
- c.1136 in Montevarchi, Arezzo, Italy
- 17 July c.1236 in Vallumbrosa, Italy of natural causes
- his grave was one of several that were rediscovered in May 1600; they were exhibited for veneration on 21 August 1600 while preparations were made for their enshrinement
- relics enshrined on 1 August 1604 in a new chapel of the church at the abbey of Vallumbrosa
MLA Citation
- “Blessed Benigno of Vallumbrosa“. CatholicSaints.Info. 12 December 2023. Web. 24 April 2024. <>