Feast of the Holy Abbots of Cluny

I‘m a frustrated Oblate today. Perhaps I should explain. Today is the (combined) feast of four great Abbots of the Benedictine Order: Saints Odo, Majolus, Odilo, and Hugh.

They were all good and holy men, and during the course of their reigns over the Abbey of Cluny and its associated priories, they reformed western monasticism – indeed, it could be fairly said that together they saved western monasticism.

Here they are, in various contemporary depictions:

Biographical sketches follow at the end of this post for the curious, but the point is that these are pretty heavy hitters in the history of monasticism, and particularly of the Benedictine Order.

They are, in fact, personal favourites of mine as well.

I’m frustrated, though, that there does not seem to be an Office for this feast – not in the modern Liturgy of the Hours, nor in the older Divine Office.

For four saints who did so much to reform the Order and, indeed, the Church by their strict hewing to the liturgical line and their re-dedication to the Divine Office, you’d think that there would be an Office for their feast.

So you liturgical scholars will no doubt point out that today is also (in the older calendar) the feast of Saint Peter of Verona and (in the newer calendar) the Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena, and that either of these may very well trump what today would be an optional memorial.

Well, fair enough.

I’m sure it has nothing to do with both of them being Dominican saints.

You would think, though, that a Monastic Breviary would list the feast and provide a proper office. But no. I have two Monastic Breviaries in my possession published by Saint John’s Abbey in Minnesota, one published in 1961 and one published in 2005.

Neither of them have it.

(As an aside, I much prefer the translation and format of the older versus the newer book, but the older book does have its problems… like lacking an office for the Feast of Saint Benedict for example.)

To be scrupulously fair, the community at Saint John’s is a member of the American-Cassinese Congregation, and the different Benedictine Congregations have different Ordos. Honestly, there are half a dozen Benedictine Ordos out there; some have the feast, some don’t, and some have inexplicably moved it to May 11.

Unfortunately, the monks at Saint John don’t observe the feast – I can’t imagine why, but there you go. Since they’re the only ones printing monastic breviaries in English, these four great Benedictine Abbots are barely remembered, much less celebrated, by those in the English-speaking world who wish to pray the monastic office.

It really does irk me. I suppose it shouldn’t, but it does.

For these four great champions of monastic and liturgical reform, I’m reduced to praying from the Common of Holy Men.

Ever-living God,
the signs of your love are manifest
in the honour you give your saints.
May their prayers and their example encourage us
to follow your Son more faithfully.

We ask this through Jesus Christ your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

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Saint Odo was the second abbot of Cluny. He was born circa 878 near Le Mans, and he died on 18 November, 942.

He was initially a librarian, but after the death of the founding Abbot of Cluny, Saint Berno, in 927 Odo was elected Abbot.

It was he who truly began the monastic reform in earnest.

Abbot Odo was authorized by Pope John XI in 931 to enact the Cluniac reforms throughout the Benedictine houses of Aquitaine, France, and Italy.
 
 

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Saint Majolus was the fourth abbot of Cluny. He was born in 906 in Avignon and died in 994.

Continuing the work of Saint Odo, he reformed many German monasteries at the request of Emperor Otto the Great. Emperor Otto II wanted to make him pope in 974, but he refused.

Saint Majolus has the distinction of having been captured by Saracen pirates in 972. He was ransomed back, and the local nobles were so outraged that they finally wiped out the pirates that had been plaguing the area for generations.

 
 

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Saint Odilo was fifth abbot of Cluny. He born around 962 and died on the last day of 1048.

Under his stewardship, the number of monasteries in the Cluniac congregation increased from 37 to 65.

He is responsible for a truce system the peace of God that restricted warfare; he saved thousands during a time of famine through his charity; and he is primarily responsible for introducing the Feast of All Saints into the calendar.

In 1793 his relics, together with those of Saint Majolus, were burnt by the French revolutionaries “on the altar of the fatherland”.

 
 

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Saint Hugh the Great the sixth abbot of Cluny. He was born at Semur in 1024 and died at Cluny on 28 April, 1109.

Abbot Hugh built the third abbey church at Cluny, the largest structure in Europe at the time.

With the Congregation of Cluny reaching now even into Spain, the funds for the construction were provided by King Ferdinand I of León.

A friend and ally of Pope Saint Gregory VII, Abbot Hugh played a key role in the reform of the clergy, and he was widely recognized for his sanctity even during his lifetime.