June 19th - Saint Romuald By: Jaiden Puthenkalam

St. Romuald grew up in a wealthy and very comfortable environment, where he didn’t learn anything about religion. When St. Romuald was young, he wanted to be well behaved but he chose not to and did what pleased him. When St. Romuald was 20 years old, he saw his father kill one of his relatives in an argument over land. Ashamed by the crime he had experienced, he went to the Monastery of St. Apollinaris to do 40 days of penance for his father. These 40 days proved St. Romuald’s monastic calling, as they became the base for his life as a monk. Peter Urseolus, a political leader was convinced by St. Romuald and Marinus, his teacher, to become a monk. Peter was later canonized as a saint. When Peter joined a French Benedictine monastery, St. Romuald followed his lead and lived in a hermitage for five years. St. Romuald’s father Sergius had followed his son’s course, repenting of his sins and becoming a monk himself. Romuald returned to Italy to help his father, after learning that Sergius was struggling in his vocation. Through his son’s guidance, Sergius found the strength to persist in religious life. After a long life of merit, he died in the monastery of Castro, which he founded in the Marquisate of Ancona. 
INTERCESSORY PRAYER
O dearest St. Romuald, you prayed for those who did wrong things and still loved them. Help us also to forgive others, in Jesus name we pray amen.