Your Faith Journey with EWTN
As we deepen our relationship with the Eternal Word, Jesus Christ, we grow in grace and are transformed by His love and mercy.
c. 951–June 19, 1027
Patron Saint of Camaldolese Order, hermits
St. Romuald was a monk, abbot, and reformer who transformed the monastic life of Italy in the tenth and eleventh centuries.
Born around 951 in Ravenna to a noble family, he experienced the harsh realities of political violence during his youth, when his father killed a relative over property rights. Devastated, he sought to atone for his father’s sin at a monastery and became a monk.
After studying under experienced monastic leaders, Romuald embraced a hermitic life of strict prayer, fasting, and solitude. His piety and discipline attracted followers. He founded multiple hermitages, creating communities that balanced solitary contemplation with communal religious life.
Romuald’s reforms emphasized spiritual integrity and fidelity to the monastic rule. He encouraged monks to lead ascetic lives through fasting, prayer, and penance. His efforts revived monasteries and led to the formation of the Camaldolese Order, a branch of the Benedictine tradition combining hermitical and communal practices.
St. Romuald died on June 19, 1027. His order remains active today, with monasteries and hermitages in Europe, North and South America, and Africa.
The Camaldolese Order uniquely blends eremitical (hermitic) and cenobitic (communal) monastic life. Monks live in small hermitages to cultivate solitude, prayer, and ascetic discipline, yet they gather periodically for common liturgy and support. This balance allows deep personal contemplation while fostering a sense of community, reflecting Romuald’s vision for a spiritually rigorous yet connected monastic life. Known for strict fasting, a white habit, and profound silence, the order has missionary roots, and Camaldolese monks and nuns strive to live out a “Triple Good” that unites the monastic, solitary, and missionary life.
While specific miracles are not well-documented, numerous accounts describe Romuald’s life of extraordinary sanctity. The gifts of prophecy, visions, and healing were attributed to him. Witnesses spoke of his profound prayer life, discernment, and influence over those around him. Later reports attribute to him profound spiritual gifts, including intense mystical prayer and spiritual graces bestowed on those who sought his guidance or visited his hermitages, highlighting the deep holiness recognized by his contemporaries and subsequent generations.
Romuald revitalized monasteries through strict adherence to the Rule of St. Benedict, holiness, and rigorous spiritual discipline. He founded hermitages that became centers of reform, inspiring other communities to adopt his practices of prayer, fasting, and solitude. Throughout his life, he traveled in Italy, reforming existing, neglected Benedictine monasteries and founding new ones, creating a model that influenced future contemplative orders. His influence helped renew Italian monastic life at a time when some monasteries had grown lax, leaving a lasting impact on the Church’s spiritual and ascetic traditions. His reforms restored primitive monastic rigor, thereby raising the bar for personal holiness in Italian monasteries. St. Romuald established more than one hundred hermitages and monasteries focused on silence, deep prayer, and spiritual discipline.
Jesus revealed Twelve Promises for those who honor His Sacred Heart. Learn what these promises mean for you as you grow in your faith and devotion to Our Lord. Get the free eBook The Twelve Promises of the Sacred Heart of Jesus using the form below.
Be inspired to follow in the footsteps of the saints. Subscribe to receive the Daily Saint, featuring a brief biography delivered to your inbox each day.
Start now and let the intercession and witness of the saints draw you closer to God.
As we deepen our relationship with the Eternal Word, Jesus Christ, we grow in grace and are transformed by His love and mercy.
STEP 1
We’re here to serve you. Let us help you complete your gift with confidence.
Send a message to Mission Advancement.
Guidance for DAFs, stock, IRA, and more.
Manage your gifts and preferences.
