Bruno Who?

I will admit...I did not know a lot about this saint when I decided to paint this doll.  However, that just shows the vastness of the inspiration that God has given us in the saints.  I love learning about new saints and how they gave their lives to God.   This helps to keep focused in a fallen world.  Praise God for the saints!

Feast Day:  October 6
Born: 1030 in Cologne, Germany
Died:  1101 at Calabria, Italy
Parents are St. Matilda and King Henry I
Established the Carthusian monks
Patron saint of diabolic possession

Bruno became a priest at the age of 25 and then taught theology at the university.  After many years in this position, he decided to leave the world and pursue a life of complete solitude and prayer. (some say he did this after rejecting the position of archbishop).  In 1084, he joined with a small group of men to establish the first Carthusian monastery.  They built an oratory and individual cells, roughly followed the rule of St. Benedict, and thus began the Carthusian Order. They embraced a life of poverty, manual work, prayer, and transcribing manuscripts.

In 1090, he was called to Rome by Pope Urban II, as Papal Adviser in the reformation of the clergy, against his best efforts to refuse.  After some time, Bruno convinced the pope that he should return to his hermit style life.  He established another monastery in Calabria.  He became very ill and called all his followers together to hear his public confession before his death.

He was never formally canonized because of the Carthusians' aversion to public honors but Pope Leo X granted the Carthusians permission to celebrate his feast in 1514, and his name was placed on the Roman calendar in 1623.