St. Romanus of Condat

Daily Saint

February 28

St. Romanus of Condat

c. 390–c. 460

Patron Saint of drowning victims, mental illness, mentally ill people

St. Romanus of Condat was an early monastic founder whose life of prayer and solitude helped establish monasticism in what is now eastern France. Born in the late fourth century, he felt drawn from an early age to a life dedicated entirely to God.

Seeking solitude, St. Romanus withdrew to the Jura Mountains at age 35, taking with him the works of Cassian, a theologian and spiritual writer who introduced Eastern monasticism to the Western Church. He found a suitable spot with wild fruit and water and settled there as a hermit. He spent his time praying, reading, and doing manual labor.

His example soon attracted others who desired to follow the same path. Among them was his younger brother, St. Lupicinus, who became his closest collaborator. Together, they organized a monastic community based on prayer, discipline, and fidelity to God. St. Romanus served as abbot, guiding his brothers with humility and spiritual wisdom.

The communities founded by St. Romanus became centers of prayer and Christian life in the region. Over time, additional monasteries were established, spreading the monastic ideal throughout Gaul. St. Romanus emphasized obedience, communal harmony, and perseverance in prayer, helping shape early Western monastic tradition.

St. Romanus lived to an advanced age, remaining faithful to his calling until his death around the year 460. Though he sought a hidden life, his influence endured through the monasteries he founded and the spiritual legacy he passed on. He is remembered as a pioneer of monastic life whose quiet dedication helped transform the spiritual landscape of his time.

St. Romanus died peacefully around the year 460. His brother outlived him by 17 years and continued to grow his legacy, helping spread monastic life throughout the region.

Discover More About St. Romanus of Condat

Where were the monasteries founded by St. Romanus located?

St. Romanus founded monastic communities in the Jura Mountains, a remote and forested region in eastern Gaul. He and his brother St. Lupicinus established at least three monastic communities in the Jura Mountains: Condat Abbey and Lauconne monastery for men, and a convent called La Balme for women, where his sister was abbess. The brothers may also have founded Romainmôtier Abbey in Switzerland, with separate communities for both men and women under the same spiritual guidance.

What type of diet did the monks maintain?

St. Romanus and his brother, St. Lupicinus, maintained a strict, simple diet for their monastic communities, abstaining from meat, milk, or eggs (except for the gravely ill) and focusing on grains (bread, porridge), vegetables (turnips, salad, legumes), and sometimes fish, cheese curds, and ale/mead. The diet reflected early monastic traditions emphasizing abstinence rather than strictness. While St. Romanus maintained a steady, simple diet like that required of the monks, St. Lupicinus was known for extreme asceticism, sometimes eating only hard bread soaked in water or eating only every three days.

Where was St. Romanus buried, and are his relics still preserved?

Upon his death around 460 A.D., St. Romanus was buried as he had requested at the convent of La Balme, an establishment for nuns that he and his brother had founded and which was governed by their sister. In the seventh century, his relics were moved to the church of the Abbey of Condat. A fire in 1522 destroyed the church at the Abbey of Condat and most of the relics of both St. Romanus and his brother St. Lupicinus. The few remains that survived the fire were collected and preserved in the new Church of Saint-Romain-de-Roche, built in the 16th century to replace the original Monastery of La Balme.

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