Saint Romuald of Ravenna - An Ordinary Man

Today we celebrate the life of Romuald, a saint of Ravenna.

I lift up his memory for one reason in particular, which is this: he was a realist and encouraged a sense of realism among his followers, especially as it attaches to religious zeal.

Romuald was an outspoken critic of the way in which the lives of Catholic saints were written about and disseminated. He could not tolerate the popular tradition of hagiography, a genre of literature replete with embellishment, fantasmagoria and pure fiction. He called out these articles of propaganda for the lies they were (and are).

His criticism of the tradition merits our respect.

Romuald belonged to an aristocratic family. He lived between the mid-tenth and early eleventh centuries CE, and he was the founder of the Camaldolese order, in the Benedictine tradition.

Romuald was wild in his youth. It is said that he had given himself over to the sins of the flesh, but later, as a hermit, he breathed new life into eremitical and aesthetic monasticism.

History reports that Romuald founded and or reformed many monastic institutions, though not all of his work was successful. Through the promulgation of his rule he encouraged monks under his care to lead solitary lives, engaged in mediation and the interior reflection on the self.

He was interested in the process of a person’s inner thoughts, encouraging his followers to watch and be mindful of theirs as if they were watching fish in a stream.

In this way Romuald’s ministry was akin to that of a Zen master.

Romuald was heavily influenced by the Orthodox practice of hesychasm, known in the west as quietism, a traditional (though controversial) mode of deep-meditation, much like the meditative practice of Buddhist monks in the Himalayas and Japan.

Today we celebrate the man, Romuald of Ravenna for his service to the truth, which is the Spirit of God.

We tell no lies about him, he was an ordinary, though interesting man.