Saint Romanus of Condat ( – ) is a saint of the fifth century. At the age of thirty five he decided to live as a

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite ( adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a C ...

in the area of Condat. His younger brother Lupicinus followed him there. They became leaders of a community of monks that included Saint Eugendus. Romanus and Lupicinus founded several monasteries. These included Condat Abbey, which was the nucleus of the later town of

Saint-Claude, Jura Saint-Claude () is a commune and a sous-préfecture of the Jura department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. It lies on the river Bienne. History The town was originally named ''Saint-Oyand'' after Saint Eugendus. H ...

), Lauconne (later

Saint-Lupicin Saint-Lupicin () is a former commune in the Jura department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises ...

, as Lupicinus was buried there), La Balme (Beaume) (later Saint-Romain-de-Roche), where Romanus was buried, and Romainmôtier (''Romanum monasterium''), now in the

canton of Vaud Vaud ( ; french: (Canton de) Vaud, ; german: (Kanton) Waadt, or ), more formally the canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts and its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat of arms ...

in Switzerland. Romanus was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform var ...

a priest by

St. Hilary of Arles Hilary of Arles, also known by his Latin name Hilarius (c. 403–449), was a bishop of Arles in Southern France. He is recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, with his feast day celebrated on 5 May. Life In ...

in 444.

Sources on Romanus

Two lives of him are in existence: one by

Gregory of Tours Gregory of Tours (30 November 538 – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of the area that had been previously referred to as Gaul by the Romans. He was born Georgius Florent ...

in the ''Liber vitae patrum'' ( Mon. Germ. Hist.: Script. Merov., I, 663), and an anonymous '' Vita Sanctorum Romani, Lupicini, Eugendi'' bid., III, 131 sqq.; cf. Benoît, "Histoire de St-Claude", I (Paris, 1890); Besson, "Recherches sur les origines des évêchés de Genève, Lausanne, et Sion" (Fribourg, 1906), 210 sqq.

External links

Romanus of Condat
5th-century Christian clergy French hermits 5th-century Christian saints Gallo-Roman saints 463 deaths {{Switzerland-bio-stub