Saint Bruno the Great

In 927, he went to the court, summoned by his brother Ott o who had just ascended the throne, and there he demonstrated wisdom, piety, and a great spirit of justice. The hours he could steal from prayer he devoted to the study of the classics. He achieved the most brilliant successes, but was not dazzled by them. Far from letting himself be caught by flattery, a pitfall to which very few escape, he found in the praises showered upon him a motive to humble himself and to distrust his own strength.

In 950, Saint Bruno embraced the ecclesiastical state and, in 953, he was named Archbishop of Cologne . He was caught up in the troubles that took place in Germany at that time. He became Duke of Lorra ine in p lace of his brother, who was forced to retreat before the enemies who were waging war against him. When he had the Lorrainers renew their oath of fidelity, he wrote to Pope A gapetus II to assure him of his loyalty, and the Pope, in return, sent him the pallium and granted him several privileges.

Saint Bruno displayed great solicitude for the government of his diocese, but he turned his attention above all to the religious communities, which he caused to flourish and prosper and into which he brought back fervor. He possessed tireless activity and was sufficient for everything. He gave himself so entirely to every detail of his administration that one would have said he had only that matter to attend to. The cares of government never made him neglect or forget his flock. His wise conduct made him loved by the good and feared by the wicked. One of the objects of his solicitude was, above all, to provide holy pastors to the churches that were under his jurisdiction.

To his great joy, he succeeded in bringing about a sincere reconciliation between Liudolf, his nephew, the cause of all th e troubles, and Emperor Otto, his brother, who, in 965, returned to Germany after having acquired the reputation of a skillful warrior and having won brilliant victories over his enemies. He spent Lent in Mainz with Bruno in the exercises of piety; then they went to Cologn e where they entered in triumph, and after having celebrated the feast of Pentecost together, they parted in tears. Otto was leaving for northern Germany where the affairs of the State called him, and Saint Bruno was going to Compièg ne in ord er to smooth out, to the advantage of the Church and the State, difficulties that were still pending. Struck on the way by a violent fever, he had himsel f tra nsported to Reims where he expired in 965. His body was taken back to Cologne where he was buried in th e church of Saint-Pantaleon. The Saint had made a will by which all his fortune was devoted to pious works. One can see this will in the Bollandi sts.

Acta Sanctorum .