6 October 2023 - St Bruno of Cologne - Friday of 26th week of Ordinary Time - PSALM 19:8-11

      Today, we celebrate a very interesting saint who was born almost 1,000 years ago, St Bruno of Cologne. Ordained a priest as a young man, he became the head of a prestigious school of philosophy and theology in Reims, in northern France, and later chancellor of the archdiocese there. Refusing an appointment to be ordained a Bishop, he withdrew to a solitary life, which led to the establishment of a monastery in the Chartreuse mountains near Grenoble in France. To this day, this religious order, called the Carthusians, follows the strict rule that Bruno established. The motto of the Carthusians is Stat crux dum volvitur orbit, meaning, "The cross is steady while the world is turning.” Currently, there are 23 charter houses of the Carthusians throughout the world, with one in our country in the state of Maine. The Carthusians are noted for their strict observance of silence. There was a documentary made about the Carthusians about 15 years ago that is entitled Into Great Silence.Indeed, there is little talking in that film. I have been recently reading a book entitled The Power of Silence by Cardinal Robert Sarah of Guinea, West Africa.  In that book, he quotes St Bruno of Cologne often. Here is one of his quotes: “What benefits and divine exaltation the silence and solitude of the desert hold in store for those who love it, only those who have experienced it can know.” St Bruno asserted in this quote from one of his letters that the desire to see God and to experience him is what urges us human beings to seek him out in silence and solitude, for it is in silence that God dwells for God drapes himself in silence. St Bruno is one of the patron saints of Germany and of the region of Calabria in Italy. As we honor St Bruno today, may we lift up the members of the Carthusians in prayer, and thank them for the witness of faith that they bring to the world. 

     Today, we hear in the psalm: “The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart. The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul; The decree of the LORD is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple.”  God’s law and God’s word are to nurture us and guide. St Bruno used silence in a creative way to follow God’s law and precepts.