San Bruno, Saint of the day for 6 October
(c. 1030 - October 6, 1101)
History of San Bruno
This saint has the honor of having founded a religious order which, as they say, never had to be reformed because it never deformed. Undoubtedly both the founder and the members would reject such praise, but it is an indication of the saint's intense love for a penitential life in solitude.
Bruno was born in Cologne, Germany, became a famous teacher in Reims and was appointed chancellor of the archdiocese at the age of 45. He supported Pope Gregory VII in his fight against the decay of the clergy and took part in the removal of his scandalous archbishop, Manasses. Bruno suffered the sacking of his home for his pains.
He dreamed of living in solitude and prayer and convinced some friends to join him in a hermitage. After a while the place felt unsuitable and, through a friend, he was given a piece of land that would become famous for its foundation “in the Charterhouse”, from which the word Carthusians derives. The climate, the desert, the mountainous terrain and the inaccessibility guaranteed silence, poverty and small numbers.
Bruno and his friends built an oratory with small single cells distant from each other. They met every day for Matins and Vespers and spent the rest of the time in solitude, eating together only at great feasts. Their main job was to copy manuscripts.
Hearing of Bruno's holiness, the pope asked for his assistance in Rome. When the pope had to flee Rome, Bruno withdrew the stakes again and, after refusing a bishopric, spent his last years in the Calabrian desert.
Bruno was never formally canonized, because the Carthusians were against all opportunities for publicity. However, Pope Clement X extended his feast to the whole Church in 1674.
Reflection
If there is always a certain disturbing questioning about the contemplative life, there is even more perplexity about the extremely penitential combination of community life and hermit lived by the Carthusians. May we mirror Bruno's quest for holiness and unity with God.