June 19: Saint Romuald, Abbot
From the Liturgy of the Hours:
Saint Romuald was born in Ravenna in the middle of the tenth century. He embraced the hermit's life and for many years traveled through various lands seeking solitude and establishing small monasteries while directing himself to a life of perfection by the practice of virtues. He fought strenuously against the depraved habits of the monks of his day. He died around the year 1027.
From the life of Saint Romuald by Saint Peter Damian:
Frequently he was seized by so great a contemplation of divinity that he would be reduced to tears with the boiling, indescribable heat of divine love. In this condition he would cry out: Beloved Jesus, beloved, sweet honey, indescribable longing, delight of the saints, sweetness of angels, and other things of this kind. We are unable to express the ecstasy of these utterances, dictated by the Holy Spirit.
Prayer:
Father, through Saint Romuald you renewed the life of solitude and prayer in your Church. By our self-denial as we follow Christ bring us the joy of heaven. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Further reading
This page remembers Saint Romuald’s solitude as a place of ardent love for Christ. The Privilege of Love, edited by Peter-Damian Belisle, explores the Camaldolese tradition’s relationship between solitude, community and witness, offering a thoughtful continuation of that theme.