MAURUS OF SUBIACO, ST.

Pupil and monk of St. Benedict; first half sixth century. He was the son of the Roman noble, Euthicius (Equitius) and is mentioned five times by gregory i the great in the second book of his Dialogues, which seems to be the only reliable source of information about Maurus. At Subiaco he was benedict's trusted companion, though should be noted that Maurus's name does not appear in the Monte Cassino part of the Dialogues. He may have become Benedict's successor at Subiaco. The story of Maurus introducing the benedictines into France has no validity. Its basis, the Vita sancti Mauri (Bibliotheca hagiographica latina antiquae et mediae aetatis 5772–76), purportedly by the monk Faustus of Monte Cassino, is actually the work of the ninth-century Abbot Odo of Glanfeuil. The St. Maurus blessing of the sick with the particle of the true cross, accompanied by appropriate prayers, is still in use. On March 6, 1959, permission was granted for the use of a Benedictine medal instead of the particle of the cross.

Feast: Oct. 5 (formerly Jan. 15).

Bibliography: gregory i, Gregorii Magni dialogi, ed. u. moricca (Rome 1924). Life and Miracles of St. Benedict: Book Two of the Dialogues, tr. o. j. zimmermann and b. r. avery (Collegeville, Minn. 1949). h. leclercq, Dictionnaire d'archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie, ed. f. cabrol, h. leclercq, and h. i. marrou, 15 v. (Paris 1907–53) 6.1:1283–1319. a. m. zimmer-mann, Kalendarium Benedictinum: Die Heiligen und Seligen des Benediktinerorderns und seiner Zweige, 4 v. (Metten 1933–38) 1:85–89. a. butler, The Lives of the Saints, rev. ed. h. thurston and d. attwater, 4 v. (New York 1956) 1:97. l. rÉau, Iconographie de l'art chrétien, 6 v. (Paris 1955–59) 3.2: 932–934.

[v. gellhaus]