St. Romuald
Abbot
In 976, Sergius, a nobleman of
Ravenna, quarrelled with a relative about an estate, and slew him in a duel.
His son Romuald, horrified at his father's crime, entered the Benedictine
monastery at Classe, to do a forty days' penance for him. This penance ended in
his own vocation to religion. After three years at Classe, Romuald went to live
as a hermit near Venice, where he was joined by Peter Urseolus, Duke of Venice,
and together they led a most austere life in the midst of assaults from the
evil spirits. St. Romuald founded many monasteries, the chief of which was that
at Camaldoli, a wild desert place, where he built a church, which he surrounded
with a number of separate cells for the solitaries who lived under his rule.
His disciples were hence called Camaldolese. He is said to have seen here a
vision of a mystic ladder, and his white-clothed monks ascending by it to
heaven. Among his first disciples were Sts. Adalbert and Boniface, apostles of
Russia, and Sts. John and Benedict of Poland, martyrs for the faith. He was an
intimate friend of the Emperor St. Henry, and was reverenced and consulted by
many great men of his time. He once passed seven
years in solitude and complete silence.
In his youth
St. Romuald was much troubled by temptations of the flesh. To escape them he
had recourse to hunting, and in the woods first conceived his love for solitude.
His fathers sin, as we have seen, first prompted him to undertake a forty days'
penance in the monastery, which he forthwith made his home. Some bad example of
his fellow-monks induced him to leave them and adopt the solitary mode of life.
The penance of Urseolus, who had obtained his power wrongfully, brought him his
first disciple; the temptations of the devil compelled him to his severe life;
and finally the persecutions of others were the occasion of his settlement at
Camaldoli, and the foundation of his Order. He died, as he had foretold twenty
years before, alone, in his monastery of Val Castro, on the 19th of June, 1027.
St. Romuald
Abbot
Double
White vestments
Missa
‘Os justi’
INTROIT
Psalm 36: 30, 31
Os justi meditabitur
sapientiam, et lingua ejus loquetur judicium: lex Dei ejus in corde ipsius Ps. Noli æmulari in malignantibus: neque zelaveris
facientes iniquitatem. Gloria Patri.
The mouth of the just shall
meditate wisdom, and his tongue shall speak judgment: the law of his God is in
his heart. Ps. Be not emulous of evildoers: nor envy them that work
iniquity. Glory be to the Father.
COLLECT
May the intercession of the
blessed Abbot Romuald, we beseech Thee, O Lord, commend us unto Thee, that what
we cannot have through our own merits, we may obtain through his patronage. Through
our Lord.
EPISTLE
Ecclesiasticus
45: 1-6
He was beloved of God and men,
whose memory is in benediction; He made him like the saints in glory, and
magnified him in the fear of his enemies; and with his words he made prodigies
to cease; He glorified him in the sight of kings, and gave him commandments in
the sight of his people, and showed him his glory; He sanctified him in his
faith and meekness, and chose him out of all flesh; for He heard him and his
voice, and brought him into a cloud; and He gave him commandments before his
face, and a law of life and instruction.
GRADUAL
Psalm 20: 4-5
O Lord, Thou hast prevented him
with blessings of sweetness; Thou hast set on his head a crown of precious
stones. He asked life of Thee, and Thou hast given him length of days for ever
and ever.
ALLELUIA
Psalm 91: 13
Alleluia, alleluia. The just
shall flourish like the palm tree; he shall grow up like the cedar of Libanus.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL
Matthew 19: 27-29
At that time, Peter said to
Jesus: Behold we have left all things, and have followed Thee: what therefore
shall we have? And Jesus said to them: Amen I say to you, that you who have
followed Me, in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit on the seat of
His majesty, you also shall sit on twelve seats judging the twelve tribes of
Isræl. And every one that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father,
or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a
hundredfold, and shall possess life everlasting.
OFFERTORY
Psalm 20: 3,4
Thou hast given him his heart’s
desire, O Lord, and hast not withholden from him the will of his lips: Thou
hast set on his head a crown of precious stones.
SECRET
May the holy Romuald, we
beseech Thee, O Lord, obtain by his prayers that the Sacrifice laid on Thy holy
altar may profit us unto salvation. Through our Lord.
COMMON PREFACE
It is truly meet and just,
right and for our salvation that we should at all times and in all places, give
thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, eternal God: through Christ our
Lord. through Whom the Angels praise Thy Majesty, Dominations worship, Powers
stand in awe. The Heavens and the Heavenly hosts together with the blessed
Seraphim in triumphant chorus unite to celebrate it. Together with them we
entreat Thee, that Thou mayest bid our voices also to be admitted, while we say
in lowly praise:
COMMUNION
Luke 12: 42
This is the faithful and wise
steward, whom his lord setteth over his family: to give them their measure of
wheat in due season
POST COMMUNION
May the pleading of blessed
Romuald for us, as well as the reception of Thy Sacrament, protect us, O Lord,
that we may both share in the glory of his works, and receive the help of his
intercession. Through our Lord.
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