St. Bruno
Priest and Founder of the Carthusians
Feast Day: October 6
Biography
St. Bruno (c. 1030–1101) was born in Cologne and became one of the leading scholars of his age, teaching for many years at the cathedral school of Reims, where one of his students was the future Pope Blessed Urban II. As chancellor of the diocese, he opposed the simoniacal Archbishop Manasses and lost his position for it. Turning away from a promising ecclesiastical career, Bruno sought a life wholly given to God. In 1084, with six companions, he was welcomed by St. Hugh, bishop of Grenoble, who gave them a remote valley in the Chartreuse mountains. There they founded the Grande Chartreuse, the first house of the Carthusian Order, uniting the solitude of hermits with a shared life of liturgy and prayer. In 1090 Urban II summoned his former teacher to Rome as an adviser. Bruno obeyed but declined the archbishopric of Reggio and received permission to found a new hermitage in Calabria, in southern Italy, where he died on October 6, 1101. Bruno was never formally canonized; Pope Leo X approved his cult for the Carthusians in 1514, and Pope Gregory XV extended his feast to the whole Church in 1623. The Carthusians remain among the most austere contemplative orders in the Church.
Patronages
Symbols
Prayer
St. Bruno, you left the honors of the world to listen for God in silence. In the noise and busyness of my life, help me to make room for prayer and to hear the quiet voice of the Lord. Obtain for me a humble heart that seeks God above every success, and teach me to find true peace in Him alone. Amen.
Asking for Intercession
Catholics ask saints to pray with us and for us, as we ask friends on earth. St. Bruno, who lives in God's presence, intercedes before His throne. Speak from your heart: “St. Bruno, please pray for me…” You may also pray the prayer above or include this intention in your Rosary.