As you consider your options, remember that everything you own may be subject to federal estate tax. Charitable deductions allow you to deduct every dollar you give to charity through an outright bequest. In addition, property placed in a charitable trust generally will not be subject to federal estate tax.
$500,000+
Friends of St. Scholastica
A twin sister of St. Benedict, St. Scholastica (born c. 480) consecrated her life to God from her earliest youth. After her brother established Montecassino Abbey, his famous monastery at Monte Casino, she founded and governed a monastery of nuns in Plombariola, about five miles away. Tradition says that Benedict was a counselor and teacher for the nuns.
$250,000-$499,999
Friends of St. Benedict
Benedict (born c. 480) is viewed as a monastic leader whose Rule manifests his genius in bringing together the best of the monastic tradition and passing it on to the European West. Through a balanced pattern of living and praying that he urged upon the monasteries he founded Benedict sought a way of life that freed him to be attentive to God.
$100,000-$249,999
Friends of St. Maurus
St. Maurus (born c. 510) was twelve years old when, to secure his education, his father placed him under the care of St. Benedict at Monte Casino. After he had grown up, St. Benedict chose him as his coadjutor in the government of the monastery. He was a model of perfection to all his brethren, but especially in the virtue of obedience.
$50,000-$99,999
Friends of St. Gregory the Great
St. Gregory (born c. 540) was born into wealth but later renounced it to become one of the seven deacons of Rome. The monastery he built in his own house in Rome became the Benedictine Monastery of St. Andrew where he assumed the monastic habit at the age of thirty-five. Gregory was chosen Pope by the unanimous consent of priests and people. He is known above all for his magnificent contributions to the Liturgy of the Mass and Office and is one of the four great Doctors of the Latin Church.
$25,000-$49,999
Friends of St. Placid
A disciple of St. Benedict at Monte Cassino, Placid was placed into the care of St. Benedict at Subiaco, reportedly being saved miraculously from drowning through the aid of St. Maurus.
$10,000-$24,999
Friends of St. Gertrude
Born at Eisleben in Saxony (1256), Gertrude was placed in the care of the Benedictine nuns at Rodalsdorf at the age of five and later became a nun and abbess in the same monastery and later at the monastery at Helfta. Outwardly her life was that of the simple Benedictine nun whose boundless charity embraced rich and poor, learned and simple, the monarch on his throne and the peasant in the field. At the same time, she is known primarily as a mystic and a scholar.
$5,000-$9,999
Friends of St. Hildegard of Bingen
Benedictine abbess and mystic Hildegard (1098-1179) was born in Bockelheim, Germany, and founded Rupertsberg Convent near Bingen around 1147. Her music and poetry, part of her recorded mystical experiences, have remained popular over the centuries. Her best known work is Scivias, relating twenty six of her visions. Never formally canonized, Hildegard is regarded by many as a saint.
$2,500-$4,999
Friends of St. Boniface
Apostle of Germany (born c. 680), Boniface was likely a native of England and was professed as a Benedictine at Abbey of Nhutscelle between Winchester and Southampton. While advancing rapidly in sanctity and knowledge, he felt a profound call to bring the light of the Gospel to his kindred, the Old Saxons, in Germany, where he served as bishop and was eventually martyred.
$1,000-$2,499
Friends of St. Lioba
Lioba was a relative of St. Boniface who sent her with twenty-nine companions to become abbess of Bischofheim Monastery in Mainz, Germany. She was a skilled Classicist, learned in the Scriptures, the Church Fathers, canon law and the decrees of all the councils. In fact, she was never without a book in her hand, reading at every possible opportunity, and she never forgot what she read. She founded numerous other convents during her life.
