Romuald
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Saint Romuald (c. 951–June 19, 1027) was born in Ravenna, Italy, to an aristocratic family. As a youth, Romuald supposedly indulged in the "pleasures" and sins of the world common to a 10th century nobleman. After watching his father, Sergius, kill an opponent in a duel, however, Romuald was devastated, and fled to the Abbey of San Apollinare-in-Classe in Venice. After some indecision, Romuald became a monk there. Led by a desire for a stricter way of life than he found in that community, he later withdrew to become a hermit on a remote island in the region, accompanied solely by an older monk, Romanus.
Apparently having gained a reputation for holiness, the Doge Peter Orsoleo 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, Romanus, accompanied him there, establishing a hermitage near the abbey which Peter entered.
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 hermit 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 (1012?) and Camaldoli (1023?), both located in Tuscany. 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 7th, the day of the translation of his relics by Pope Clement VII in 1595. In the liturgical reform of 1971, authorized by Pope Paul VI, it was changed to June 19th, the actual date of his death.
