If you take a magnifying glass to your St. Benedict medal you will see a raven standing at his feet. Or if you don't have a magnifying glass (or a St. Benedict medal) just google "St. Benedict raven", and have a great time looking at all the paintings, icons, statues and Benedictine college sports mascots that depict this bird. Here are a few that I liked:
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| www.desotoexplorer.com |
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| christchurchwindsor.ca |
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| sportslogos.net |
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| www.gifts-of-faith.com
The story is that when Benedict tried to reform a lax monastery, a couple of monks who did NOT want to be reformed tried to do away with him by serving him poisoned bread. But a helpful raven flew in through the window, snatched the loaf out of the saint's hand, and made off with it.
I hope the raven didn't eat it.
Ravens are not generally thought of as "nice" birds, but God seems to like them an awful lot. He sent one to the prophet Elijah with loaves of (non-poisoned) bread while he was hiding out in the desert from his enemies. He inspired the psalmist to marvel at His providence for the "young ravens that call upon Him" in Psalm 147. I'm pretty sure there's a few more Ravens to the Rescue of Saints stories out there, but can't think of them at the moment.
Anyway, it's the kind of thing that animal lovers like myself get excited about.
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