Saint Bruno of Cologne

Bruno was born in Cologne around 1030 and became a distinguished teacher of theology at the cathedral school of Reims. After years of teaching and service to the Church, he longed for a life of greater silence and prayer. In 1084 he settled with six companions in the valley of Chartreuse near Grenoble. Their way of life, joining solitude, liturgy, study and fellowship, became the foundation of the Carthusian Order. Bruno was later called to Rome by his former pupil, Pope Urban II. He eventually returned to the eremitical life in Calabria, southern Italy, where he died on October 6, 1101. His legacy invites us to make room for listening to God in silence.