Look Who it Was Random video

St. Romuald: From Noble Violence to Radical Holiness | Founder of Camaldolese Hermits (7 February)

3,570 views · Published 8 February 2018 · 4:05 · Indexed 22 September 2026

Channel: Sensus Fidelium · 2018 · Education

Watch on YouTube

Ave Maria Purissima.

In this video, we look at the powerful and often overlooked life of St. Romuald, the 10th-century Italian saint who went from noble violence to radical holiness and founded the Camaldolese Hermits.

Born near Ravenna, Italy, St. Romuald was the son of a nobleman and witnessed his father kill a relative in a duel over worldly disputes. Serving as his father’s second, Romuald was shaken to the core by the reality of sin, bloodshed, and the emptiness of earthly honor. This moment became the turning point of his life.

Seeking penance, he entered a Benedictine monastery, where he embraced the Rule with such perfection that it actually irritated the other monks. Eventually leaving, Romuald lived the hermit life near Venice, influenced by Irish monasticism, and later traveled to the Iberian Peninsula, where he encountered yet another form of ascetic religious life.

Trained in three great schools of monasticism—Benedictine, Irish, and Iberian—St. Romuald returned to Italy and founded the Camaldolese Order, a unique form of Benedictine life combining obedience, solitude, extreme penance, and contemplation. The Camaldolese monks wore white habits and lived as hermits while remaining under a common rule.

Before founding the order, St. Romuald received a vision of white-clad monks ascending ladders into Heaven, a sign of the holiness to which God was calling this new congregation.

According to the Roman Breviary, St. Romuald lived to the age of 120 years, a testimony preserved by the Church’s liturgy and tradition—something we are reminded we can trust, even when modern skepticism tries to undermine it.

This video is a reflection on:

True penance

Monastic masculinity

The hermit’s vocation

Trust in Sacred Tradition

Radical holiness in a compromised world

St. Romuald reminds us that sanctity is not comfort—it is conversion, discipline, and total surrender to God.

St. Romuald, pray for us.

00:00 Ave Maria Purissima & Opening Prayer
00:11 Who Was St. Romuald?
00:20 Noble Birth Near Ravenna
00:25 The Duel That Changed His Life
00:41 Forty Days of Penance at a Monastery
00:55 Apparition of St. Apollinaris
01:03 Becoming a Benedictine Monk
01:16 Too Holy for the Monastery
01:25 Hermit Life Near Venice
01:44 St. Peter Orseolo & Political Conversion
02:16 Journey to the Iberian Peninsula
02:29 Three Schools of Monasticism
02:45 Founding the Camaldolese Hermits
03:02 Vision of the White-Clad Monks
03:14 The 120-Year Life of St. Romuald
03:36 Trusting the Breviary & Tradition
03:48 Final Thoughts on St. Romuald

Please remember to say 3 Hail Marys for the priest

 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴
Support Catholic Businesses here - https://sensusfidelium.com/catholic-businesses/

Sensus Fidelium Press - https://sensusfideliumpress.com/

Sensus Fidelium Apps - https://sensusfidelium.tv/

Support Sensus Fidelium - https://sensusfidelium.com/donate-support/

                               🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴

#StRomuald
#CatholicSaints
#Camaldolese
#CatholicMonasticism
#CatholicMasculinity
#HermitSaints
#TraditionalCatholic
#Benedictine
#CatholicHistory
#RomanBreviary

More from this channel