Hello and welcome to Saint Stories for Kids, a weekly podcast full of fun stories and

facts about the holy men and women that have come before us. I'm your host

Shontal Barrows. St. Stories for Kids is brought to by Shining Light Dolls.

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Today we'll be telling the story of St. Benese,

whose feast is celebrated on April 14th.

Not much is known about St. Beneses' early life, but scholars believe he was born around

the year 1163 near Avignon, France.

Benese came from a poor family and took care of his mother's flock of sheep.

He was a pious child and spent his days praying while tending to the sheep.

When he was a teenager, Benese constructed a very large

and famous bridge, parts of which still stand today and are considered a World Heritage site.

The bridge known as the Ponte Avignon, or Pont Saint Benese was 980

yards long. St. Benese is also credited with founding a religious order called the

Bridge Building Brotherhood.

An organization made of both clergy and lay people to build bridges wherever they were

needed to help with trade and missionary routes. After his death, St. Beneses was buried in a chapel that had

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