The founder of the Carthusian Order lived for a while in Molesme under the guidance of St Robert, but then he left in search of a more solitary place The hermit life was his heaven on earth. Before detaching himself from the world, Saint Bruno of Cologne c. The clash with a bishop he accused of simony forced him to leave France in , but he was able to return four years later following the deposition of the prelate.
It was during this difficult period that his vocation for monastic life matured. He lived for a while in Molesme under the guidance of St Robert before the latter founded the Cistercian Order , but then he left in search of a more solitary place.
With six other companions he asked the Bishop of Grenoble, St Hugh , for help. Hugh personally guided them - driven by a dream vision of seven pilgrims and seven stars the symbol of the Carthusian monks is a globe surmounted by a cross surrounded by seven stars - into a valley in the Chartreuse massif. In the Grande Chartreuse, the first monastery of what would become the Carthusian Order, one of the most rigorous monastic orders in the Church, was founded.
Bruno and his confreres began to live in a very austere way. Their days were marked by mainly manual work and prayer, even at night. Urban II wanted to appoint him archbishop, but the saint felt called to something else and obtained permission to return to the contemplative life. Roger of Hauteville gave him a territory in Calabria about metres above sea level, which today is called Serra San Bruno in his honour.
His common iconographic attributes are a skull, a book and a cross. Gospel Pearls. Home Saint of the day. Continue reading. Saint of the day.
