St. Bruno

Bruno left honor and influence behind because his heart longed for God alone. After years as a renowned teacher at Rheims, he and six companions entered the wilderness of Chartreuse in 1084 to seek Christ through silence, prayer, poverty, and penance.

That hidden beginning became the Carthusian way of life. Bruno did not write a rule for it. His example taught his sons to unite the solitude of hermits with the stability and worship of a monastic community.

In 1090 his former pupil Pope Urban II called him to Rome for counsel. Bruno obeyed even though he grieved to leave Chartreuse. When he was permitted to return to solitude, he founded another hermitage in Calabria and spent his remaining years there. His life shows that silence bears fruit when it is joined to obedience, charity, and a joyful desire for God.