NILUS OF ROSSANO, SAINT

born c. 905, , Rossaro, Calabria, Kingdom of Naples died Dec. 29, 1005, Abbey of Santa Agata, near Rome; feast day September 26 also called Nilus The Younger abbot and promoter of Greek monasticism in Italy, who founded several communities of monks in the region of Calabria following the Greek rule of St. Basil of Caesarea. A supporter of the regular successors to the papal crown in their controversies with antipopes, he also helped establish (1004) the noted abbey of Grottaferrata, near Rome, that remains today the centre of Greek monasticism and liturgy in Italy.