Saint Nilus the Younger | |
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Portrait of Nilus, Sanctuary of San Nicodemo in Mammola, which is dedicated to Saint Nicodemus of Mammola.
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Abbot and Confessor | |
Born | 910 AD Rossano, Byzantine Theme of Calabria (now Calabria, Southern Italy) |
Died | December 27, 1005 Abbey of Sant'Agata, Tusculum, Latium, Papal States |
Venerated in |
Roman Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church |
Major shrine | Abbey of Grottaferrata, Province of Rome, Lazio, Italy |
Feast | September 26 |
Saint Nilus the Younger, (Italian: San Nilo di Rossano, Greek: Όσιος Νείλος, ο εκ Καλαβρίας), (910 – December 27, 1005), was a monk, abbot, and founder of Italo-Greek monasticism in southern Italy. He is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, and his feast day is celebrated on September 26 in both the Byzantine Calendar and the Roman Martyrology.
Born to a Greek family of Rossano, in the Byzantine theme of Calabria, for a time he was married (or lived unlawfully) and had a daughter. Sickness brought about his conversion, however, and from that time he became a monk and a propagator of the rule of Saint Basil in Italy.
He was known for his ascetic life, his virtues, and theological learning. For a time he lived as a hermit, later he spent certain periods of his life at various monasteries which he either founded or restored. He was for some time at Monte Cassino, and again at the Alexius monastery in Rome.
When Pope Gregory V (996–999) was driven out of Rome, Nilus opposed the usurpation of Philogatos of Piacenza as antipope. Later when Philogatos was tortured and mutilated he reproached Gregory and the Emperor Otto III for this crime.