Odo of Cluny
For Saint Odo of Canterbury, see Oda the SevereSaint Odo of Cluny (
ca. 878 -
18 November,
942), a
saint of the
Roman Catholic Church, was the second
abbot of Cluny. He enacted various reforms in the Cluniac
monastery system of
France and
Italy.
He was the son of a feudal lord of Deols, near
Le Mans and received his early education at the court of
William the Pious, duke of Aquitaine, then studied at Paris under
Remigius of Auxerre. About
909, he became a monk, priest, and then superior of the abbey school in
Baume, whose abbot, Berno, was the founder of the
abbey of Cluny in
910. Odo followed him to Cluny, bringing his library; there he became abbot on Berno's death in
927.
Authorized by a privilege of
Pope John XI in
931, Odo reformed the monasteries in
Aquitaine, northern France, and Italy. The papal privilege empowered him to unite several
abbeys under his supervision and to receive at Cluny monks from
Benedictine abbeys not yet reformed; the greater number of the reformed monasteries, however, remained independent, and several became centres of reform. Odo became the great reforming abbot of Cluny, which became the model of monasticism for over a century and transformed the role of piety in European daily life (see
clunian Reforms).
Between
936 and
942 he visited Italy several times, founding in
Rome the monastery of
Our Lady on the Aventine and reforming several
convents, e.g.
Subiaco and
Monte Cassino. He was sometimes entrusted with important political missions, e.g., when peace was arranged between
Hugh of Arles and
Alberic I of Spoleto.
Among his writings are: a biography of St
Gerald of Aurillac, three books of
Collationes (moral essays, severe and forceful). a few
sermons, an
epic poem on the
Redemption (
Occupatio) in several books (ed. Swoboda, 1900), and twelve choral
antiphons in honour of St
Martin of Tours.
His
feast day is the 18th of November.
*
Catholic Encyclopedia: Saint Odo
*
St. Odo of Cluny on ewtn.com
