St. Benedict exudes serenity and authority as he raises his right hand in a gesture of exhortation. He holds in his other hand the book of His Rule, upon whose pages are inscribed its first three words: “Listen, O Sons.” His Rule was meant to be a fatherly guidebook for any beginner in his quest for holiness.

At Benedict’s feet is a raven, reminder of a famous tale about the saint in which a bird saved him from poisoned food; also an Abbey, indicating the hundreds of monastic strongholds that have speckled the earth’s surface, shining like beacons of prayer and peace to a troubled world.