Nilus the Younger

For the elder Nilus (died c. 430), see Saint Nilus.

Saint Nilus the Younger
Portrait of Nilus, Sanctuary of San Nicodemo in Mammola, which is dedicated to Saint Nicodemus of Mammola.
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
Honored 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) (910 – December 27, 1005)^[1] was an Italian saint.

Biography

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 at 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.

Nilus' chief work was the foundation in 1004 of the famous Greek monastery of Grottaferrata, near Frascati, on lands granted him by Gregory, count of Tusculum; he is counted the first abbot. The abbey continues in the Byzantine rite. He spent the end of his life partly in St. Agata monastery in Tusculum and partly in a hermitage at Valleluce near Gaeta.

He died in the Sant'Agata monastery in 1005. His feast is celebrated on September 26, in both the Byzantine Calendar and the Roman Martyrology.

Notes

1. ^ The official site for the Abbey of Grottaferrata gives September 26

References

• Santa Maria di Grottaferrata

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed (1913). "Nilus the Younger". Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company. 

Persondata
Name	Nilus The Younger
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	910
Place of birth	Rossano, Byzantine Theme of Calabria (now Calabria, Southern Italy)
Date of death	December 27, 1005
Place of death	Abbey of Sant'Agata, Tusculum, Latium, Papal States