Blessed Benedict Daswa was born  Tshimangadzo Samuel Daswa in 1946 in Limpopo Providence, South Africa . He was the oldest in a family of 4 boys and 1 girl. His family was a member of the small Lemba tribe which claim Jewish ancestry and observed Jewish diet laws, but their main religion was the traditional animism - ancestor veneration. At 17 years old he was influenced by a teacher who was also a Catholic catechist. He took classes from him and was baptized at 17. The teacher, Benedict Risimati, had a great devotion to teaching the lives of the saints and spoke about St. Benedict as a role model. That is why Bl. Benedict Daswa took that name at baptism. He also took St. Benedict’s motto - work and prayer- as his own. After baptism he grew steadily in his faith with an intense love for Jesus and a devotion to the Blessed Mother Mary. He started in his teen years nourishing his faith by daily prayer, reading the Bible, Daily reception of the Eucharist, frequent confession and helping the poor in several charitable activities.
   When married, he became a devoted husband and loving father. He was considered an excellent role model for Christian families. He built up his family as a little domestic church where the bible was read and all prayed together daily. There in the heart of a loving family Benedict made sure that the basic truths of the Catholic faith, as well as the commandments of God and the sacraments of the Church, were taught and explained to the children. Blessed Benedict knew this was the way for Christian families to initiate the next generation into the Christian way of life and give them strong Catholic identity. Benedict was an active member of his parish, involved in service activities, voluntary catechist, and the Youth Leader. When no priest was available for Sunday Mass, they turned to him to conduct a Sunday Service in his own, and neighboring parishes.
    Benedict’s employment was a High School principal, which lead him to promote the welfare of his community. The prevailing ‘religion’ of his community was witchcraft and sorcery. These promoted a lot of violence and even the deaths of innocent people. He took a public stand against them, and this was resented by some members of the community. He realized that this public stand against the violence of these ‘religions’ involved a risk for himself and his family. On February 2^nd, 1990, while driving home from his high school, he was ambushed and clubbed to death. He was survived by his wife and seven young children- his eighth child was born a few months after his death. He was beatified as a martyr for the faith in 201, the final stage for sainthood.
   He is considered a role model of the faith, a courageous witness of living out the faith, and a great example for Catholic Parents. His Feast Day is February 1^st since the 2^nd is already the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus.