St. Odo of Cluny

Odo was brought up in noble households before becoming a canon of St. Martin’s church at Tours. He studied at Paris, but gradually sought a life more completely given to prayer and the reading of Scripture. Butler connects his decision to become a monk with his reading of the Rule of St. Benedict and recognition of how far his own life still fell short of it.

He entered the monastery of Baume under Berno, bringing his library with him. When later entrusted with Cluny and other communities, he worked to establish a faithful observance of the Benedictine rule. Silence, humility, obedience and self-denial were central to the reform. The example of the community attracted others who desired a serious religious life.

His responsibilities reached beyond one monastery. Other houses sought his guidance, and popes and princes employed him in difficult negotiations. Butler does not present the reformer simply as an organizer: his authority grew from the life of prayer he expected his monks to share. In his final illness he returned to Tours out of devotion to St. Martin and died there on November 18, 942.