St Romuald
(c. 951– traditionally June 19, c. 1025/27)[1] was the founder of the Camaldolese order and a major figure in the eleventh-century "renaissance of eremitical aesceticism".[2]
According to the vita by Peter Damian,[3] written about fifteen years after Romuald's death,[4] Romuald was born in Ravenna to the aristocratic Onesti family. As a youth, according to early accounts, Romuald indulged in the pleasures and sins of the world common to a tenth-century nobleman. After watching his father, Sergius, kill an opponent in a duel, however, the 20-year old Romuald was devastated, and fled to the Abbey of Sant'Apollinare in Classe. After some indecision, Romuald became a monk there. Led by a desire for a stricter way of life than he found in that community, three years later he withdrew to become a hermit on a remote island in the region, accompanied solely by an older monk, Marinus.
Apparently having gained a reputation for holiness, the Doge Pietro Orseolo of Venice accepted his advice to become a monk, abdicating his office, and fleeing in the night to Catalonia to take the monastic habit. Romuald and his companion, Marinus, accompanied him there, establishing a hermitage near the Abbey of Sant Miguel de Cuxa which Orseolo entered.
In his youth Romuald became acquainted with the three major schools of western monastic tradition. Sant' Apollinare in Classe was a traditional Benedictine monastery under the influence of the Cluniac reforms. Marinus followed a much harsher, ascetic hermit lifestyle that was originially of Irish eremitic origins. The abbot of Sant Miguel de Cuxa, Guarinus, also began reforms but mainly built upon the Christian tradition of Hispania. Romuald was able to integrate these different traditions and establish his own monastic order.
In San Romualdo, painted for the Church of San Romualdo, Ravenna, by Guercino, 1641, an angel uses the abbot's baton to chastise an errant figure (Pinatoceca Comunale, Ravenna).
In San Romualdo, painted for the Church of San Romualdo, Ravenna, by Guercino, 1641, an angel uses the abbot's baton to chastise an errant figure (Pinatoceca Comunale, Ravenna).
A friend of the Emperor Otto III, Romuald was persuaded by him to take the office of abbot of an ancient monastery to help bring about a more dedicated way of life there. The monks, however, resisted his reforms, eventually causing Romuald to resign his office, hurling his abbot's staff at Otto's feet in total frustation. He then again withdrew to the hermitic life. He was drawn, though, throughout his life to help in the establishment of monasteries and hermitages throughout Italy. The most prominent of these are the hermitages of Fonte Avellana (around 1012) and Camaldoli (around 1023), both located in Tuscany, where Romuald's daunting charisma awed Rainerius, marquis of Tuscany, who was neither able to face Romuald nor to send him away.[5] Romauld founded several other monasteries, including the monastery of Val di Castro, where he died in 1027.
Romuald's feast day was fixed as February 7, the day of the translation of his relics by Pope Clement VIII in 1595. In the liturgical reform of 1971, authorized by Pope Paul VI, it was changed to June 19, the actual date of his death. Traditional Roman Catholics continue to celebrate his feast day on February 7 (see Traditional Catholic Calendar).
From Wikipedia
According to the vita by Peter Damian,[3] written about fifteen years after Romuald's death,[4] Romuald was born in Ravenna to the aristocratic Onesti family. As a youth, according to early accounts, Romuald indulged in the pleasures and sins of the world common to a tenth-century nobleman. After watching his father, Sergius, kill an opponent in a duel, however, the 20-year old Romuald was devastated, and fled to the Abbey of Sant'Apollinare in Classe. After some indecision, Romuald became a monk there. Led by a desire for a stricter way of life than he found in that community, three years later he withdrew to become a hermit on a remote island in the region, accompanied solely by an older monk, Marinus.
Apparently having gained a reputation for holiness, the Doge Pietro Orseolo of Venice accepted his advice to become a monk, abdicating his office, and fleeing in the night to Catalonia to take the monastic habit. Romuald and his companion, Marinus, accompanied him there, establishing a hermitage near the Abbey of Sant Miguel de Cuxa which Orseolo entered.
In his youth Romuald became acquainted with the three major schools of western monastic tradition. Sant' Apollinare in Classe was a traditional Benedictine monastery under the influence of the Cluniac reforms. Marinus followed a much harsher, ascetic hermit lifestyle that was originially of Irish eremitic origins. The abbot of Sant Miguel de Cuxa, Guarinus, also began reforms but mainly built upon the Christian tradition of Hispania. Romuald was able to integrate these different traditions and establish his own monastic order.
In San Romualdo, painted for the Church of San Romualdo, Ravenna, by Guercino, 1641, an angel uses the abbot's baton to chastise an errant figure (Pinatoceca Comunale, Ravenna).
In San Romualdo, painted for the Church of San Romualdo, Ravenna, by Guercino, 1641, an angel uses the abbot's baton to chastise an errant figure (Pinatoceca Comunale, Ravenna).
A friend of the Emperor Otto III, Romuald was persuaded by him to take the office of abbot of an ancient monastery to help bring about a more dedicated way of life there. The monks, however, resisted his reforms, eventually causing Romuald to resign his office, hurling his abbot's staff at Otto's feet in total frustation. He then again withdrew to the hermitic life. He was drawn, though, throughout his life to help in the establishment of monasteries and hermitages throughout Italy. The most prominent of these are the hermitages of Fonte Avellana (around 1012) and Camaldoli (around 1023), both located in Tuscany, where Romuald's daunting charisma awed Rainerius, marquis of Tuscany, who was neither able to face Romuald nor to send him away.[5] Romauld founded several other monasteries, including the monastery of Val di Castro, where he died in 1027.
Romuald's feast day was fixed as February 7, the day of the translation of his relics by Pope Clement VIII in 1595. In the liturgical reform of 1971, authorized by Pope Paul VI, it was changed to June 19, the actual date of his death. Traditional Roman Catholics continue to celebrate his feast day on February 7 (see Traditional Catholic Calendar).
From Wikipedia
