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Raoul, founder of Vaucelles Abbey or Saint Raoul (a/k/a San Raul, St. Radolph or Dom Rodulphe) (+1152) is a saint of the
Raoul, founder of Vaucelles Abbey or Saint Raoul (a/k/a San Raul, St. Radolph or Dom Rodulphe) (+1152) is a saint of the Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
who founded the famous monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
of Vaucelles
Vaucelles () is a commune located to the west of Bayeux in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France.
Population
left, Vaucelles church
See also
*Communes of the Calvados department
The following is a list of ...
in France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. Raoul was an English Benedictine monk who became a follower of St. Bernard of Clairvaux
Bernard of Clairvaux, O. Cist. ( la, Bernardus Claraevallensis; 109020 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templars, and a major leader in the reformation of the Benedictine Order through ...
(who founded the Cistercian order).
St. Bernard sent Raoul, a "fervent monk", in 1132 to found a monastery at Vaucelles, located in the northwest of France, near Cambrai
Cambrai (, ; pcd, Kimbré; nl, Kamerijk), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department and in the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, regio ...
. By 1145, Raoul had succeeded in building the Abbaye de Vaucelles
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns.
The conce ...
, which over the years grew to hold several hundred monks and became the largest Cistercian abbey of Europe. The restored cloister remains today. Raoul served as abbot for twenty years until his death in 1152. With his monks he dedicated himself to prayer, reading of the sacred books and to teaching agriculture.
As part of his devotions, Saint Raoul said the following prayers daily: (1) Miserere: Have mercy on me, Lord, I am a sinner, (2) the Alleluia and (3) the Te Deum
The "Te Deum" (, ; from its incipit, , ) is a Latin Christian hymn traditionally ascribed to AD 387 authorship, but with antecedents that place it much earlier. It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin Chur ...
or Thanks be to God. Blessed be God.
Canonized for his rectitude and austerity in 1179, St. Raoul can be celebrated liturgically on 30 December.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raoul Medieval French saints French Benedictines 12th-century Christian saints Medieval English saints