St. Romuald embarked upon the monastic life because he witnessed his father kill someone.

He was born in northeastern Italy in 951 to an aristocratic family. As a young man with plenty of means, Romuald had many pleasures at his disposal and he took advantage of them all.

His father fell into a dispute with someone and a duel was arranged. He demanded that Romuald attend and observe the event. When his father won the duel, killing his adversary, Romuald was devastated.

He was so moved by the event that he left his former lifestyle and took on penances in an attempt to make reparation for the death. He was tempted in many ways to give up this new faithfulness, but he persevered in prayer and remained ever vigilant against situations that might test his virtue.

He went so far as to move into a monastery to spend time in prayer and penance, and he decided to stay there and permanently join the community. In fact, he lived for some time in solitude as a hermit.

Years later, he was named abbot of the monastery, and went on to establish several other monasteries and a new rule of life for monks. He encapsulated part of this rule of life in a short collection of sayings, which include these words:

Sit in your cell as in paradise. Put the whole world behind you and forget it. Watch your thoughts like a good fisherman watching for fish. The path you must follow is in the psalms—never leave it. … Empty yourself completely and sit waiting, content with the grace of God, like the chick who tastes nothing and eats nothing but what his mother brings him.

He was asked by the pope to take on a very old monastery and to reform it in a stricter observance of their austere way of life. The changes he introduced angered many of the monks there, and several even tried to kill him. His adversaries slandered him with lies, but he bore it all with silent patience.

He died on this date in 1027, and his relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.

St. Romuald, you who were traumatized by witnessing a duel and became a monk who reformed the Church, pray for us!