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| San Nilo di Rossano, ora pro nobis |
Born in Rossano, Calabria, in 910, some sources claim he was married and had a daughter, but lost them to illness. Devoting himself to a religious life, he entered a local monastery guided by the Rule of St. Basil.
Seeking more solitude, he retired to a remote cavern where he spent his days in prayer, studying and transcribing Scripture. Acquiring a reputation for holiness, he attracts local disciples and instructs them in calligraphy and singing.
When the Archbishop of Rossano died, he was offered the bishopric but he refused, fleeing into the mountains until a replacement was found.
Following the violent incursions of Saracen raiders into the region, he fled north to the Principality of Capua with his most devoted followers. Spending time at the Abbey of Montecassino, he had cordial relations with the Benedictines. For the next fifteen years, he instructed Eastern Rite monks before moving again to Gaeta.
In 996, when Otto III put down the rebellion of Crescentius the Younger in Rome, St. Nilus came to the aid of his countryman Antipope John XVI, who was horribly mutilated and humiliated by the Emperor and Pope Gregory V. Castigated for their cruelty by St. Nilus, John’s life was spared and was sent to the monastery of Fulda in Germany.
Pope Gregory granted St. Nilus a site on the slopes of the Alban Hills where he founded the Byzantine abbey of Grottaferrata, before passing on to his eternal reward on 26 September 1004 in the nearby Greek Monastery of Sant’Agata.
In celebration, we’re posting a prayer to St. Nilus the Younger. Evviva San Nilo di Rossano!
Prayer to St. Nilus the Younger
With the rivers of your tears you made the barren desert bloom; and with your sighs from deep within, you made your labors bear their fruits a hundredfold; and you became a star, illuminating the world by your miracles, O Nilus our Venerable Father. Intercede with Christ our God, for the salvation of our souls.