Benedict of Szkalka

Saint Benedict of Szkalka
St. Benedict of Szkalka and St. Andrew Zorard
Born	10th century Nitra, Kingdom of Hungary (today: Slovakia)
Died	1012, 1033 or 1037 Mount Zobor, Tribeč, Kingdom of Hungary (today: Slovakia)
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church
Canonized	1083 or 1085 by Pope Gregory VII
Major shrine	St. Emmeram's Cathedral
Feast	1 May; 13 June or 17 July on some calendars
Patronage	Sailors of the Vah River, Diocese of Nitra, Diocese of Tarnów, St. Andrew Abbey in Cleveland

Benedict of Szkalka or Skalka (10th century – 1012, 1033 or 1037 AD), born Stojislav in Nitra (Nyitra), Hungarian Kingdom, was a Benedictine monk and Roman Catholic saint.

Saint Benedict became a monk at the St. Hippolytus Monastery on Mount Zobor near Nyitra (today: Nitra in Slovakia) in the late 10th or early 11th century. He later became a hermit with his fellow saint and spiritual teacher Andrew Zorard, where they lived an austere life in a cave along the Vah River near Trenčín in modern Skalka nad Váhom—then part of the Kingdom of Hungary. Andrew died in 1009 (or 1030 or 1034), but Benedict continued to live in the cave for three years until he was strangled to death in 1012 (1033 or 1037) by a gang of thieves looking for treasure. The thieves dumped his body in the Vah River, but his body was found perfectly preserved a year later. In 1083 his relics were translated to the St. Emmeram's Cathedral in Nitra where they remain to this day. A biography of St. Benedict and St. Andrew was written by St. Maurus, Bishop of Pécs.

St. Benedict is venerated especially in Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland, but also in the United States. His feast day is 1 May, but in some calendars he is venerated together with St. Andrew on 13 June or 17 July.