It’s officially the Saintly Sixteen's Monday Madness as we power through the entire second round this week! In today's video we’ll crown two new Canons of Comments, share stories of how these saints have shaped our faith, and gear up for today’s GREAT matchup.

It’s St. Benedict of Nursia vs. St. Anthony the Great.

Can Padre Alberto’s favorite saint work and pray his way to the Elate Eight after already knocking off a "Great," Basil? Or will the Father of All Monks remind Benedict how monasticism was done before it was cool? Rule of St. Benedict vs Desert Father energy. Monastery life vs cave life. Schedule vs solitude.

Only you decide. Watch the video, read the blogs, and vote! 🏆

Benedict of Nursia

Saint Benedict of Nursia is a name associated with miracles. Benedict’s miracles involved physical healing and prophetic insight. Through fervent prayer, Benedict was able to perceive events outside the monastery walls.

One day Benedict was praying in his chambers while monks were working on a building. Benedict sent word warning them that the enemy was about to attack. Almost immediately, an evil spirit overturned a wall, crushing one of the men. Benedict prayed over the man for hours until he was miraculously healed.

Benedict cared deeply for his whole community, especially the marginalized, including those who persecuted him. Though born into a wealthy family, he refused to look down on others. Goths were viewed as barbarians, but Benedict welcomed a Goth monk into the monastery. One day, while the monk was cutting bushes, his iron scythe head slipped into deep water. Benedict calmly came to the water, plunged the pole into it, and the blade miraculously attached itself back to the pole. Instead of reprimanding him, Benedict simply said, “Here it is. Go back to work and do not be sad!”

Another time a pious Christian, who found himself in sudden debt, came to Benedict asking for 12 gold coins. Benedict told him he did not have the money but to return in three days. During that time Benedict prayed continuously. When the man returned, they found 13 gold coins in the community chest. Benedict told him to pay his debt and keep one for his expenses.

On another occasion, a grieving father brought his dead son to Benedict and begged him to “raise him up”. Initially, Benedict hesitated, but after the father persisted, Benedict prayed, “Lord, do not look on my sins but on the faith of the man who asked that his son be raised up. Return to this body the soul you have taken from it.” Immediately, life was restored to the son.

Benedict even cared for those who tried to harm him. A jealous priest tried to poison him and later tried to tempt him with naked women. Attempts failed, and concerned for his disciples, Benedict chose to leave the monastery. The jealous priest danced for joy on his balcony, which then collapsed and he fell to his death. Benedict mourned and “gave himself over to serious laments.” Benedict loved the man as a child of God, even while rejecting his sin.

Benedict lived as a reflection of Christ to everyone he encountered. His miracles, prayer life, and compassion remind us that the Holy Spirit continues to work through those who live in humility and faith. Through prayer, love, and mercy—especially toward those society rejects—we are called to reflect Christ to the world.

— Sara Kay Hill

Anthony the Great

Gather round, friends, and prepare to hear a delightedly Lenten tale: The tale of the temptation of Anthony by the devil, according to Athanasius.

Young Anthony took lessons in virtue from everyone he met, trying to emulate the goodness that he saw in them. The devil, however, did not like this seriousness with which Anthony approached holiness, and came to him as he prayed in the desert, trying to tempt him with many earthly pleasures and desires. Anthony, with God’s help, resisted them all, and in so doing shamed the devil. The devil, of course, did not take kindly to this resistance, but retreated until a more opportune time.

Anthony, for his part, continued to grow in holiness. He prayed so constantly that he would often go a whole night without sleep. He ate little, only bread and salt, and only drank water. He denied himself and continued in prayer, until eventually he decided that he should be locked up in a tomb, to pray by himself, with a friend periodically bringing him bread. Think of it like the premodern David Blaine, except not for attention. (Okay, so maybe not like David Blaine at all.) The devil, Athanasius tells us, was concerned that Anthony would fill the entire desert with holiness, and so took a more direct approach than before.

The devil came and assaulted Anthony physically, cutting him so badly that he fell down, unable to stand or even speak. Thankfully (or providentially), this attack occurred close to delivery day, and so the friend discovered him lying there. Anthony’s wounds were so bad that he needed to be brought to the nearby village. The villagers sat with him, fearing he would die. But at midnight that night, he awoke, signaled his friend near, and asked him to return Anthony to the tomb. He still could not stand, but merely lay on the ground and prayed: “Here am I, Antony; I flee not from your stripes, for even if you inflict more nothing shall separate me from the love of Christ.” A ray of light came upon Anthony, the demons tormenting him vanished, and he was miraculously healed.

The lasting lesson of Anthony’s life and temptation is that of resistance to the devil, and the need to persevere in seeking holiness. To that end, I will leave you with some of Anthony’s own words, advice given in a letter to his brothers: “Truly, my beloved, you know that when there is a fair wind, the captain of the ship boasts; but it is in the time of violent adverse winds that every skilled captain is revealed. Know now of what kind is this time to which we have come.”

— Ian Lasch