Carthusian Saints (PDF) - Charterhouse of the Transfiguration

CARTHUSIAN SAINTS 

By a Carthusian monk 

OUR LADY, QUEEN OF HEAVEN 

WITH CARTHUSIAN MONKS 

Charterhouse of the Transfiguration 

2006

CARTHUSIAN BOOKLETS SERIES, N° 8

CARTHUSIAN SAINTS 

BY A CARTHUSIAN MONK 

2006 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

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INTRODUCTION 5 

1. SAINT ANTHELM - FRANCE - (JUNE 26, 1178) 7 

2. SAINT ARTOLD - FRANCE - (OCTOBER 8, 1206) 10 

3. BLESSED AYRALD - FRANCE 

(JANUARY 2, 1146) 12 

4. BLESSED BEATRICE OF ORNACIEUX - FRANCE 

(NOVEMBER 25, 1303) 14 

5. BLESSED BONIFACE OF SAVOY - FRANCE 

(JULY 14, 1272) 16 

6. SAINT BRUNO FOUNDER OF OUR ORDER 

GERMANY - (OCTOBER 6, 1101) 18 

7. BLESSED MARTYRS DOM CLAUDE BEGUIGNOT 

AND DOM LAZARUS TIERSOT - FRANCE 

(JULY-AUGUST 1794) 24 

8. ENGLISH CARTHUSIAN MARTYRS 

(MAY 4, 1535 TO NOVEMBER 4, 1541) 26 

9. SAINT HUGH OF LINCOLN - ENGLAND 

(NOVEMBER 16, 1200) 29 

10. BLESSED JOHN OF SPAIN - SPAIN 

(JUNE 25, 1160) 33 

11. BLESSED LANUIN - GERMANY 

(APRIL 11, 1120) 35 

3

12. BLESSED NICHOLAS ALBERGATI - ITALY 

(MAY 9, 1448) 37 

13. BLESSED ODO - ITALY - (JANUARY 14, 1200) 39 

14. SAINT ROSALINE OF VILLENEUVE, VIRGIN 

FRANCE - (JUNE 11, 1328) 41 

15. SAINT STEPHEN OF DIE - FRANCE 

(SEPTEMBER 7, 1208) 44 

16. BLESSED WILLIAM OF FENOL - ITALY 

(C.1200) 46 

* 

4

INTRODUCTION 

The Carthusian Order has never been eager to have its members, 

even men and women of manifest holiness, canonized; “Be a Saint 

rather than be called one”, as the Carthusians used to say. The hidden 

life continues even after death, in the cemeteries of our Charterhouses. 

However, some have been recognized as Saints or Blesseds by 

the Church. Usually this took place by a so-called ‘equipollent’ or 

‘equivalent canonization’: “An authorization of public veneration 

pronounced by the Pope in consequence of the existence of certain 

special conditions” (D. Attwater). 

In several cases what brought the Carthusian’s holiness to light 

was that he was taken from the cloister to become a Bishop. It was a 

widespread practice in the Middle Ages to choose Bishops among the 

monks from the religious Orders. The monks accepted out of obedience 

to the Pope and their Superior General. 

To avoid misunderstandings we inform the reader that nowadays 

it would be inconceivable for a Carthusian monk to become Bishop. 

Since our Order is totally dedicated to contemplation, it is 

our duty to maintain strictly our separation from the world; 

hence, we are excepted from all pastoral ministry — no matter 

how urgent the need for active apostolate is — so that we 

may fulfill our special role in the Mystical Body of Christ. 

(Statutes of the Carthusian Order) 

The Church not only knows and respects this, but encourages the 

Carthusian Order to remain faithful to its specific mission “of gratuitous 

contemplation and intercession for the Church and for the world” 

(Pope John Paul II in a letter to the Order, May 2001). 

* 

In this brochure we present sixteen Saints or Blesseds or groups 

of Saints (Martyrs) of the Carthusian Order, officially recognized as 

such by the Church. We have arranged them in alphabetical order. 

5

The date following the name of the Saints and Blesseds in the titles 

is the date of their death, called in Latin dies natalis, which means 

their date of birth into eternal life. This is usually the date we celebrate 

them in our liturgy. 

Before we begin, let us note, however, that all our hermitages are 

dedicated in the first place to the Blessed Mary ever Virgin and Saint 

John the Baptist, our principal heavenly patrons. 

Editor’s Note 

We give here some information on three Charterhouses, which are mentioned 

more than once in our brochure. They are the oldest houses of the Order 

and still exist today. 

1) The Grande Chartreuse, Mother house of the Order, near the city of 

Grenoble in Southeastern France, founded by Saint Bruno in 1084. The 

mountain ridge where the monastery was built, is called in Latin Cartusia; 

Chartreuse is a French version of Cartusia and became the name of the 

monastery itself, today known as the ‘Grande Chartreuse’; the English corruption 

of Chartreuse yields ‘Charterhouse’. 

2) The Charterhouse of Calabria, or Serra San Bruno, in Southern Italy, 

also founded by Saint Bruno, in 1090. 

3) The Charterhouse of Portes, near the city of Lyons, in Southeastern 

France, founded in 1115. Portes is renowned in our tradition as the ‘Charterhouse 

of the Saints’: Anthelm, Artold, Ayrald, and Stephen of Die began 

their monastic life at this House. 

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6

1. 

SAINT ANTHELM 

- FRANCE - 

(JUNE 26, 1178) 

Anthelm of Chignin was born into a noble family of Savoy, 

France, in 1107. He chose the ecclesiastical state, became a canon and 

received important prebends and dignities (1). Nevertheless, by the 

grace of God, he refused to find his joy in these exterior possessions 

and human glory. He had a brother who was Procurator at the Charterhouse 

of Portes. Conversations with his brother when he visited 

him and with the Prior convinced him of the excellence of Christian 

abnegation in the monastic life. He asked for the Carthusian habit (2) 

at Portes in 1135 and soon surpassed the other monks there in the 

monastic virtues. 

This came to the ear of the superior of 

the Grande Chartreuse, Guigo, who asked 

the Prior of Portes to send Anthelm to the 

Mother house, where an avalanche had 

killed seven of the monks a short time earlier. 

So it was at the Grande Chartreuse that 

Anthelm made profession. Under Guigo’s 

successor, Hugh, Anthelm was made Procurator. 

He humbly accepted this charge, 

although he did not feel any attraction to it, 

and fulfilled his office with much profit for 

the House without overlooking his own 

spiritual needs. 

When a new Prior was needed, the 

community, by a unanimous vote, elected 

Anthelm (1139). As Prior, he rebuilt the 

Mother house at a site less susceptible to 

avalanches. But his principal endeavor was the spiritual progress of 

the community which soon experienced his firmness, tenderness, wisdom 

and humility. He visited his monks with frequency in their cells 

and the gentleness of his words filled their hearts with peace. The 

7

sick, both in body and soul, had the particular interest of his fatherly 

care. He had a special gift in providing a remedy for temptations and 

in animating those who were discouraged. As regards those who were 

proficient in the spiritual life, he judged them worthy of all honors. 

He showed to them all the proofs of perfect esteem even going as far 

as to give them the right of way as they passed by and to stand up in 

their presence. 

It was during his priorate that the wish was expressed by the Priors 

of the other Charterhouses for a more stable and more structured 

organization of the Order in the form of an annual General Chapter. 

Anthelm was open to this and welcomed the first General Chapter at 

the Grande Chartreuse in 1140. After the foundation by Saint Bruno 

in 1084, this first General Chapter was like a ‘second starting point’ 

for our Order. 

Humble as he was, he repeatedly asked to be dismissed as Prior. 

After twelve years, in 1151, he finally obtained this. But as the Prior 

of Portes had died at that time, the monks of Portes asked Basil, 

Anthelm’s successor as superior of the Mother house, to send them 

the latter as their new Prior. Anthelm had to accept this. During his 

priorate storms destroying the harvest in the region of Portes caused a 

scarcity of food. Anthelm distributed generously wheat and vegetables 

from the monastery storage rooms to the farmers. He also came 

to the financial aid of other monasteries. 

Two years later the diocese of Belley, (3) in which Portes is located, 

needed a new Bishop. The people there strongly wanted 

Anthelm to become the Bishop. He refused, but to no avail. Pope 

Alexander III ordered him to accept and ordained Anthelm in 1163. 

As Bishop he offered great services to the Church. Within the first 

year of his consecration he launched a reform of the clergy. He defended 

the rights of the Church against the powerful. A bitter conflict 

with Humbert, count of Savoy, ended with Humbert asking the holy 

Bishop’s forgiveness, which the latter granted him with great benignity. 

He kept up the same monastic fervor as before. Every year he 

would withdraw for a few days at the Grande Chartreuse, where he 

had a cell like the other monks. 

8

Recommending charity and concord to his priests, Saint Anthelm 

died on June 26, 1178, having been a Bishop for eighteen years. Because 

of the many miracles at his tomb he was soon venerated. Today 

he is the patron Saint of the diocese of Belley, where the cathedral 

preciously keeps his relics. His feast is kept both by the Carthusians 

and the diocese of Belley on June 26. 

Prayer 

Lord our God, You love peace and unity. By the prayers of 

Saint Anthelm may we seek always Your kingdom and together 

praise You. 

Editor’s Notes 

1. Some technical terms belonging to ecclesiastical vocabulary: a) a ‘canon’ 

is a clergyman belonging to the chapter or the staff of a cathedral; b) a ‘chapter’ 

is a regular meeting of the canons of a cathedral, or the body of canons 

of a cathedral; c) a ‘prebend’ is a remuneration furnished by a cathedral to a 

clergyman, who is a canon in its chapter. 

2. “Taking the Carthusian habit” is an expression which means joining the 

Carthusian Order, becoming a Carthusian; the ‘habit’ being the religious 

garb the monk wears. 

3. Today this diocese is called ‘Belley-Ars’. 

We have Anthelm’s Life, written by his chaplain William, a Carthusian of 

Portes, in Latin with a French translation: Vie de Saint Antelme: Évêque de 

Belley, Chartreux, edited and translated by Jean Picard, Belley, 1978. 

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2. 

SAINT ARTOLD 

- FRANCE - 

(OCTOBER 8, 1206) 

Saint Artold was born in the early twelfth century. The generally 

approved year of his birth is 1101. As he died in 1206, this makes him 

die very old indeed, at 105! What is certain is that as a young man he 

entered the renowned Charterhouse of Portes. Humble, recollected 

and pious, he so distinguished himself that he was soon judged worthy 

to carry out important pastoral tasks. 

So in 1132 he was designated as the founder and first Prior of the 

Charterhouse of Arvières, in the diocese of Geneva. In order to accomplish 

this mission he chose from the lands of his family a vast 

solitude of extraordinary roughness, covered with snow for the most 

part of the year, and until then inhabited only by bears, foxes and 

other animals. In this remote wilderness 

area Artold and his companions 

built some rudimentary 

wooden constructions and led an 

extremely austere life for ten 

years. Then one day, the Bishop 

of Geneva came to visit them. 

Very impressed, he found a more 

suitable site for them and urged 

well-to-do men of his diocese to 

contribute to the building of an 

appropriate monastery. 

Artold was a good Prior for 

years, but then the Bishop of Belley, 

the diocese in which Portes is 

located, died. The clergy was unanimous that the Prior of Arvières, 

although at this time already advanced in age, ought to become the 

new Bishop. Terrified at this prospect, Artold fled and hid himself! 

However, he was found and had to accept. He accomplished all the 

duties of a Bishop in an exemplary way, but after a few years, in 

10

1190, he managed to obtain his retirement, because of old age, from 

Pope Clement III. 

He returned to Arvières, where he lived for still 16 more years! 

The best-known of all Carthusian Bishops, Saint Hugh of Lincoln, 

visited him in 1200. When they came together to converse with the 

community the former Bishop of Belley asked the Bishop of Lincoln 

to give the brothers an account of the peace treaty between the kings 

of England and France, since he knew that Hugh had been present 

when it was made. The latter replied, half seriously, half joking: “My 

Lord and Father, although it is legitimate for Bishops to hear and relate 

such matters, it is not so for monks. It is not right to bring news 

from outside into the cloister or the cell, and to leave the city in order 

to discuss secular matters in solitude.” Having said this, Hugh turned 

the conversation to a spiritual topic. Artold, in his humility, must have 

been edified by the remark and moved by its wisdom. 

Artold died October 8, 1206. In his last words he recommended 

the community to have recourse to the Holy Spirit for light and comfort, 

to the most Holy Virgin for special protection, and to Saint 

Bruno as model. “Grow in virtue”, he said to them, “in order that the 

sanctity of this House may last forever, passing on its good traditions 

to those who come after you. Love one another that charity may be 

the bond at all times uniting you to all in Jesus Christ.” 

Miracles after his death corroborated his renown for holiness. In 

1834 Gregory XVI authorized his feast for the diocese of Belley and 

in 1857 it was permitted to the Carthusians, who today celebrate him 

with other Carthusian saints on October 13. 

Prayer 

All-powerful God, with the help of Saint Artold’s prayers 

may we so distinguish ourselves in this life’s laborious 

struggle that we may obtain eternal rest. 

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3. 

BLESSED AYRALD 

- FRANCE - 

(JANUARY 2, 1146) 

Ayrald was born to noble parents in Southeastern France toward 

the end of the eleventh century. One tradition makes him a son of 

Count William of Burgundy. This would, if true, make him the 

brother of Archbishop Guido of Vienne who was elected Pope in 

1119 and as Calixtus II governed the Church from 1119 to 1124. In 

any case, Ayrald spurned his wealthy background and entered still 

young at the Charterhouse of Portes. Since his novitiate he stood out 

among the other monks by his monastic virtues. No one could meet 

him without being attracted by his kindness, humility and obedience, 

which were the fruits of his continual union with God. Hence it was 

not surprising that eventually the community elected him Prior. 

The little town of Saint-Jean-de- 

Maurienne, in the French Alps, was in 

those days a bishopric and needed a new 

Bishop. The cathedral chapter could 

think of no one they would rather have 

than Dom Ayrald, the renown of whose 

virtues had reached them. He, of course, 

recoiled, but the Pope and the secular 

overlord, the count of Savoy, insisted 

and thus overcame his hesitations. 

As a Bishop, Ayrald was very faithful 

to his pastoral activities and succeeded 

to combine fidelity to his Carthusian 

monasticism with his new episcopal 

duties. He always wore his hair shirt and 

his white woolen habit and above all, he 

preserved a spirit of silence and solitude 

in the midst of the many concerns the 

spiritual and material administration of a diocese brings with it. 

Whenever possible, he would return to spend a few days at Portes, to 

give himself to prayer and fasting. 

12

With extreme amiability he met the needs of the poor and received 

all those visited by misfortune, consoling them and attending 

to them through ample alms. Like Anthelm and Hugh of Lincoln, Ayrald 

was an ardent defender of the rights of the Church before the 

powerful secular leaders. 

Prematurely worn out by the fatigues of his ministry Ayrald died 

in 1146, with the happiness and peace which always accompanies the 

death of the Saints. At his funeral occurred several miraculous cures. 

The faithful of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne expressed their admiration 

for the Bishop by placing the following epitaph on his tomb: “Here 

lies Ayrald, monk of Portes, honor of the pontificate, luminary of the 

Church, and father of the poor, glorious for his sanctity and for his 

miracles.” 

More miracles took place in the centuries that followed. Finally, 

in 1863 Pope Pius IX approved the cult (1) since time immemorial of 

“Blessed Ayrald, Bishop of Maurienne.” He is now celebrated by the 

Carthusians on October 13, together with other Saints of the Order. 

Prayer 

Lord God, You called Blessed Ayrald to the monastic life 

and have given us in him an example of Your love. Help us 

to reach the heavenly kingdom by rejecting the world’s 

temptations. 


1. ‘Cult’ means religious veneration, worship. 

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4. 

BLESSED BEATRICE OF ORNACIEUX 

- FRANCE - 

(NOVEMBER 25, 1303) 

Beatrice of Ornacieux was born of noble lineage in the second 

half of the twelfth century, in Southeastern France. At thirteen, with 

the precocious maturity of medieval women, she joined the Carthusian 

nuns of Parménie, where she had for novice mistress Marguerite 

of Oyngt, a nun well known even today for the writings she has left 

us. She also wrote the life of her holy novice. 

Beatrice was very charitable and patient, providing help to all the 

necessities of her sisters, working in the kitchen and the infirmary. 

The Evil one tormented 

her with dreadful 

impure fantasies and nocturnal 

phantasms: ferocious 

animals and frightful 

noises. At first her 

reaction was to ask God 

to take her out of the exile 

of this earthly life, but a 

miraculous voice told her 

not to desire anything 

which would not accomplish 

the will of God. 

“Receive the consolations 

that I give you and refuse 

not the sufferings that I 

send you”, the voice 

added. From then on she abandoned herself into God’s hands and she 

only wanted to do His will. 

Beatrice was an ardent soul, aflame with love for her Bridegroom 

Jesus Christ. This love was the dynamic behind the life of penance 

she led to follow Christ as close as possible in his sufferings. He responded 

to her ardent love and sacrifices by granting her an intimate 

14

knowledge of Himself. Later, however, the apparent abandonment of 

the Lord made her suffer very much. Eventually Beatrice enjoyed full 

union with God and regained her perfect peace of soul, never to lose it 

again. 

In 1300, Parménie made a new foundation at Eymeu, also in the 

Southeastern France. Beatrice was chosen to be its foundress and Prioress. 

There she died a holy death, November 25, 1309. 

When the Order was not able to keep up Eymeu, her relics were 

brought to Parménie. The latter monastery had to be abandoned because 

of an uprising of the Albigensians. (1) Soon after the nuns fled 

from the monastery, the heretics burned the House, and the precious 

relics of Blessed Beatrice got lost in the rubbish of the destruction. 

Yet her cult was never to die, especially in our Order, where she was 

continually honored, as an abundant iconography shows us. In the 

seventeenth century a shepherdess of that region found the relics, and 

in 1697 Cardinal Le Camus declared that they were authentic. They 

were again inspected by the Bishop of Grenoble in 1839, with the 

opening of her tomb. In 1869 Blessed Pius IX permitted her feast 

(November 25) to be celebrated in the Carthusian Order. 

Prayer 

Father, Blessed Beatrice was a virgin consumed by love in 

imitating the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. With the 

help of her prayers and example may we arrive at eternal 

glory by sharing on earth in the sufferings of Your Son. 


1. Albigensians, heretics of twelfth–thirteenth-century Southern France. 

They formed an ascetical and anti-sacerdotal party in permanent opposition 

to the Church of Rome. 

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5. 

BLESSED BONIFACE OF SAVOY 

- FRANCE - 

(JULY 14, 1272) 

Blessed Boniface is usually 

included among the Carthusian 

Saints, although his ties to our 

Order are rather questionable. 

He belonged to the princely 

House of Savoy, and in point of 

fact his tomb is among the 

‘royal tombs’ of that House at 

the abbey of Hautecombe in Savoie, 

France. He is believed to 

have been for some time a novice 

in our Order, at the Grande 

Chartreuse. But not for long! 

Because of his reputation and 

capabilities he had to leave the 

peace of the novitiate to become Bishop of Belley in 1234. He left the 

Mother house “in tears”. From Belley he was asked to go to the more 

important see of Valence, also in Southeastern France. Finally Queen 

Eleanor of England, his close relative, obtained that he be named 

Archbishop of Canterbury. (1) He remained there for about twentyfive 

years. He died during a visit to his native Savoy. In 1838 the family 

of the princely House obtained from Gregory XVI the recognition 

of his reputation for holiness, because of the miracles that took place 

after his death. The Order remembers him, with its other Saints, on 

October 13. 

Prayer 

Lord, You saw fit to make Boniface an example of pastoral 

zeal and love. With his help, may we in our solitude 

contribute towards the salvation of souls. 

* 

16

Modern history has discovered in Blessed Boniface a Churchman 

of large stature. We add to this biographical sketch some passages of 

the appraisal of Boniface by Leland Edward Wilshire: 

The major impression that one gathers is that Boniface was a 

man who through his public life, especially as Archbishop of 

Canterbury, became deeply involved in what he saw as the reform 

of the Church.... 

Although he was in continual conflict with the king over the 

liberty of the Church, there was a continual attempt to come 

to an arbitrated settlement. His letters to the king and queen 

are warm and personal. The continual repetition of reaching 

settlements with the king over finances and having him pledge 

again and again to respect the liberties of the Church, would 

point to a very patient approach by the Bishop. Even when 

stronger measures were taken to protect the Church, leading 

to the Constitutions of Lambeth in 1261, the steps were taken 

in a deliberate and proper fashion.... 

The main concern of Archbishop Boniface was for the reform 

of the Church from an internal renewal, through pastoral 

oversight, to the external attempts to free the Church from political 

influences on the outside that were hindering reform.... 

There have been those Carthusians who have expressed their 

spiritual witness by taking their final vows and withdrawing 

from the world. Boniface of Savoy attempted to be a witness 

for the Carthusian inspired reform in the shifting and tumultuous 

currents of the outside world. The stand taken by this 

prelate should not be left in obscurity but should be known 

and emulated. (2) 


1. Eleanor of Provence, wife of Henry III. 

2. Wilshire, Leland Edward, Boniface of Savoy: Carthusian and Archbishop 

of Canterbury, 1207-1270 (Analecta Cartusiana, 31), Salzburg, 1977, p. 84- 

87, “An appraisal of Boniface of Savoy…” Wilshire notes that “The Constitutions 

of Lambeth and other formal legislation that came out of the conflict 

of the Archbishop and the king were used by the English Church for generations 

in their continual struggle for the freedom of the Church... The Consti- 

17

tutions of Archbishop Boniface are still part of the canonical structure of the 

Anglican Church” (p. 86). 

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6. 

SAINT BRUNO 

FOUNDER OF OUR ORDER 

- GERMANY - 

(OCTOBER 6, 1101) 

Saint Bruno, our holy founder, is definitely the most important of 

the Carthusian Saints. He was born in Cologne, Germany, probably in 

the late 1020s. As a young man he went to Rheims in France, a town 

renowned as center of higher learning. In 1049 Pope Leo IX convoked 

at Rheims a Council for Church reform. Bruno must have been 

there as a young student at the time. In 1056 the Master of studies at 

Rheims retired and Bruno, though not yet thirty, succeeded him. He 

was also a canon at the cathedral. Future Abbots and Bishops, and 

even a future Pope, Urban II, were among his students. 

However, difficulties came when a new Archbishop was installed 

in 1067. This man, called Manasses, turned out to be rather corrupt. It 

was widely understood that he financially bought the office of 

Bishop. This great crime of simony was very widespread at that time. 

Bruno and a few other canons opposed themselves against Manasses. 

In retaliation Manasses deprived them of all their dignities and Bruno 

had to seek refuge with a local count at the end of 1076. Manasses 

made several attempts to justify himself: before a papal legate, a local 

Council, and the Pope himself. In doing so he always tried to discredit 

Bruno by name, whose uprightness and integrity were a thorn in his 

flesh. But finally, in 1080, Gregory VII ordered the clergy of Rheims 

to send away Manasses and elect a worthy Archbishop. “Master 

Bruno” (in Latin Magister Bruno), as he was known, the famous 

scholar, now in his fifties, would be the right man for it. However, in 

the meantime God had spoken to his heart a totally different vocation: 

seeking Him alone, through prayer, in silence and solitude. 

18

Bruno left us a vivid account of this call to solitude in a letter to 

his friend Raoul: 

You remember, after all, the time that you and I, and Fulk 

One-eye, were together in the little garden adjoining Adam’s 

house, where I was staying at the time. We had been discussing 

for some while, as I recall, the false attractions and 

ephemeral riches of this present life, and comparing them 

with the joys of eternal glory. As a result, we were inflamed 

with divine love, and we promised, determined and vowed to 

abandon the fleeting shadows of this world at the earliest opportunity, 

and lay hold of the eternal by taking the monastic 

habit. (1) 

He first left with two companions for a place called Sèche- 

Fontaine, but eventually these two abandoned the solitary life. Then 

he went with six other companions to the diocese of Grenoble, in the 

French Alps, rather far from Rheims. Perhaps he had been attracted 

by its young Bishop, Hugh, who had the reputation of being a ‘friend 

of monks’. The latter had a dream in which he saw seven stars rising 

over a place called Chartreuse, high up in the mountains of his diocese. 

When Bruno and his six companions arrived, the dream’s meaning 

became clear to the Bishop, and he led them up to that place. (2) 

This was in 1084 on the feast of Saint John the Baptist. They built 

their monastery, the first ‘Charterhouse’, which consisted of wooden 

huts joined together by a gallery leading to a stone church. 

God blessed their undertaking and all went well. But a tremendous 

trial awaited Bruno. His former student Eudes, who in the meantime 

had become Pope Urban II, remembered the one who had been 

his teacher at Rheims. He sent a messenger to him and called him to 

Rome, in 1090. This looked like the end of Bruno’s foundation. In 

fact, his companions were so discouraged that they wanted to separate. 

But Bruno, Saint that he was, obeyed the Pope and left for 

Rome. At the disposition of the Pope, Bruno lived as monastically as 

possible. Then, when the Pope had to flee to Southern Italy, he 

brought Bruno with him. In autumn 1090, Bruno was able to found a 

monastery there, in Calabria. This was the second ‘Charterhouse’. 

19

After a moment of discouragement, his former companions in the 

diocese of Grenoble had resumed their life at Chartreuse. They 

needed guidance from Bruno, their founder. In 1099 their Prior Landuin 

made the long journey to Calabria to confer with him. The letter 

for the community that Bruno sent back with Landuin is a marvelous 

example of spiritual wisdom. 

“Master Bruno” was renowned for his religious fervor and his 

learning, a model of virtue, dignity and maturity. Guigo, his fourth 

successor as Prior of the Grande Chartreuse, called him “a man of understanding 

heart”. An exceptional goodness radiated from him, and 

Goodness was the trait above all that Bruno is said to have loved to 

contemplate and praise in God. Hence his favorite exclamation was O 

Bonitas! (‘O Goodness of God’). 

Bruno died October 6, 1101, and his disciple Lanuin succeeded 

him as superior in Calabria. In 1510, Pope Leo X declared Bruno a 

Saint by ‘equipollent’ canonization. (3) The day of his death, October 

6, is the date of his feast in the calendar of the Universal Church. 

Prayer 

All-powerful, eternal God, You prepare dwelling places in 

heaven for those who renounce the world. Through the 

intercession of our founder, Saint Bruno, may we faithfully 

fulfill the obligations of our monastic consecration, 

and thereby be enabled to attain those things which You 

have promised to all who persevere in Your love. 

* 

21

At Bruno’s death his monks composed the following poem in Latin: 

Laudandus fuit Bruno 

in multis et in uno. 

Vir fuit vitæ æqualis 

vir in hoc specialis. 

Semper erat festo 

vultu, sermone modesto 

Cum vigore patris 

monstravit viscera matris. 

Nullus eum magnum 

sed mitem sensit ut agnum, 

Prorsus in hac vita 

verus fuit Israelita. 

(Bruno deserves to be praised for many things, but especially 

for this: his life was always the same. That was typical of him. 

He always had a smile on his face, always had a prudent 

word. To the severity of a father he joined the tenderness of a 

mother. 

Great he was, but everyone found him gentle as a lamb. In 

truth, he was the Israelite praised in the Gospel.) 

The last strophe refers to John 1:47, where Jesus says of Nathanael: 

“Here is a true Israelite. There is no guile in him.” 

* 


1. Only two letters of Saint Bruno have come down to us: one to the community 

of the Grande Chartreuse, and one to his friend Raoul at Rheims, who 

reneged on the promise he had made to become a monk. Together the two 

letters give us the portrait of an authentic spiritual master and a great Saint. 

The standard hagiography of Bruno is: André Ravier, S.J., Saint Bruno the 

Carthusian, Charterhouse of the Transfiguration, Arlington, Vermont, 2004. 

2. This dream was later embodied in our Carthusian emblem, shown on the 

inside back cover of this brochure. 

3. See the Introduction to this brochure. 

* 

22

The future Saint Hugh, Bishop of Grenoble, played an important 

role in the foundation of the Grande Chartreuse and throughout the 

whole beginning period of our Order. That is why, although not a 

Carthusian, he is sometimes called the ‘co-founder’ of the Carthusian 

Order. He became Bishop of Grenoble in 1080, at the age of 27 and 

died in 1132. In 1084 he received Bruno and his six companions and 

led them to the mountains of Chartreuse. Once the monastery built, he 

used to spend much time with the monks, living in a cell and not shying 

away from the simplest everyday jobs. Indeed, he developed such 

a taste for life in solitude that Saint Bruno often had to send him gently 

away, saying: “Pastor, return to your sheep.” When around 1120 

several Priors asked Guigo, the fifth prior of the Grande Chartreuse, 

to write a Rule, Hugh supported their request with his authority. 

Guigo later wrote Hugh’s life, which we still have. The Carthusians 

celebrate Hugh’s feast April 22, using the following prayer: “Father, 

through Saint Hugh You manifested the Church’s pastoral care for 

our first founders. Through his intercession may our Order continue 

to flourish.” 


The life of Hugh by Guigo, in French translation: Guigues le Chartreux, Vie 

de Saint Hugues, Évêque de Grenoble, Ami des moines (Analecta Cartusiana, 

112:3), translated from the Latin by Marie-Ange Chomel, Salzburg, 1986. 

N 

23

7. 

BLESSED MARTYRS 

DOM CLAUDE BEGUIGNOT 

AND DOM LAZARUS TIERSOT 

- FRANCE - 

(JULY-AUGUST 1794) 

On October 1, 1995, Pope John Paul II beatified sixty-four 

priests martyred in 1794-1795, during the French Revolution. They 

belonged to fourteen French dioceses and twelve religious Institutes. 

Two of them, Blessed Claude and 

Blessed Lazarus, were Carthusians. 

These priests, for refusing to take 

the revolutionary oaths opposed to 

the Church, were in the spring of 

1794 forced to embark on two former 

slave ships anchored at the 

mouth of the Charente River, at 

Rochefort. They were massed together 

in the most appalling conditions 

and, in addition, treated with 

brutality by the crew, forced to 

stand all day and virtually starved. After ten months, all of the sixtyfour 

had died. Their total trust in God is evident in this phrase uttered 

by one of them: “If we are the most unfortunate of men, we are also 

the happiest of Christians.” The Holy Father said in his homily: 

This morning, dear brothers and sisters, we are thinking of 

the sixty-four French priests who died on the ‘decks of Rochefort’. 

They experienced a long Calvary for remaining faithful 

to their faith and to the Church. If they died, it is because they 

did all they could to affirm their close communion with Pope 

Pius VI. 

There were more priests on the boats than the sixty-four, several 

hundred, among whom were eight other Carthusians. However, Rome 

wanted to limit the beatification to those whose individual and holy 

deaths are attested to in documents. 

24

After his Charterhouse of Bourg-Fontaine was suppressed by the 

Revolution, Dom Claude Beguignot (born 1736) withdrew to Rouen. 

April 1793 he was arrested and put on one of the boats. During their 

ordeal Dom Claude was the one the sick turned to for help. A priest 

who survived witnessed as follows to the monk’s manifest holiness: 

“The very view of this man inspired the love of mortification. You 

never tired of hearing him speak of God. He did it so worthily and 

with such unction.” Dom Claude died July 16, 1794. 

Dom Lazarus Tiersot (born 1739), professed and Vicar (1) of the 

Charterhouse of our Lady of Fontenay, withdrew to the town of Avallon 

at the suppression of his monastery. He was arrested in April 

1793, and put on one of the boats. “He impressed the other priests as a 

Saint”, says one who survived. He passed away August 10, 1794, 

having predicted his death. 

The Order celebrates Dom Claude and Dom Lazarus on August 

5, together with other Martyrs of the Order, who are Saints or Blesseds. 

(2) 

We commemorate several other Carthusians killed because of 

their loyalty to the faith and the Church: 

§ other Carthusians, victims of the French Revolution, 

not yet beatified; 

§ the Carthusians of Prague, killed by Hussites in 1421; 

§ Dom Justus van Schoonhoven, sacristan of the Charterhouse 

of Delft (The Netherlands), martyred by Calvinists, 

in 1572; 

§ the monks of the Charterhouse of Roermond (The 

Netherlands), also martyred by Calvinists, in 1572; 

§ the Prior and a donate brother of Montalegre, killed in 

Barcelona during the Spanish civil war, in 1936; 

§ the twelve Carthusians of Farneta, near the city of 

Lucca, Italy, shot by a contingent of SS Nazis because 

they had given refuge to Jews and Italian partisans on 

the ‘wanted list’ of the German army, in 1944. 

25

Prayer 

Father, strengthen our hearts, so that just as our 

brothers consummated their solitary life by bearing all 

their sufferings for the Church, so may we, dwelling hidden 

before Your face, be led to perfect love. 


1. In the Carthusian Order, the sub-prior is known as the ‘Vicar’. 

2. Except for the English Carthusian Martyrs under Henry VIII who are celebrated 

on May 4. 

N 

8. 

ENGLISH CARTHUSIAN MARTYRS 

(MAY 4, 1535 TO NOVEMBER 4, 1541) 

The Martyrs of our Order in England — Saints John, Augustine 

and Robert and their Blessed companions, to be entirely correct — 

were victims of the persecutions under King Henry VIII. His unlawful 

marriage to Anne Boleyn put him in conflict with the Church. In early 

1535 he had Parliament pass an “Act of Supremacy” making him 

Head of the Church of England. Those who remained loyal to the 

Pope were to be considered guilty of high treason. The Prior of the 

London Charterhouse, John Houghton, together with two other Carthusian 

Priors who happened to be in London at that time, Robert 

Lawrence of Beauvale and Augustine Webster of Axholme, (1) went 

to see the king’s vicar, Thomas Cromwell, to ask to be excused from 

the unlawful oath of loyalty. In response, they were imprisoned in the 

Tower of London. They were tried, and the same royal official bullied 

the jury into declaring them guilty of high treason, for which the punishment 

was to be “hanged, drawn and quartered.” 

26

On May 4, 1535, together with Richard Reynolds, a Bridgittine 

priest, (2) and John Haile, a secular priest, they were dragged lying 

bound on a “hurdle” (3) through the muddy streets of London to Tyburn, 

the place for execution of criminals. These five were the very 

first of the many Catholics to be martyred for the faith in sixteenth 

and seventeenth century England. They were first hanged, then cut 

down when still half alive, disemboweled and cut into four pieces, all 

the while praying for their executioners. 

After their holy deaths, 

the question for the London 

Carthusian community was: 

shall we follow our holy 

Prior? Some thought that 

with some mental restriction 

they could swear the oath of 

supremacy “in order to save 

our monastery”, but most of 

the community took the 

right decision. Seven cloister 

monks and six brothers, 

thirteen in all, suffered mar- 

27

tyrdom, some of them in the same way as the three Priors, but others 

died from ill-treatment in prison, thus being spared from the gruesome 

ordeal. The three Priors are among the “forty Martyrs of England 

and Wales” canonized by Paul VI; the others are Blesseds. We 

celebrate the English Carthusian Martyrs on May 4. 

Brother William Horn deserves particular mention. He was imprisoned 

in Newgate Prison in London, with nine other Carthusians, 

in 1537, to be starved to death. Only William survived and was transferred 

from Newgate to the Tower, eventually winning his martyr’s 

crown by being “hanged, drawn and quartered” at Tyburn on the 4 th of 

August 1540. 

Prayer 

All-powerful God, You sanctified by martyrdom John and 

his companions because of their fidelity to the Pope. Following 

the example of their unshakeable attachment to 

the unity of the See of Peter, may we be able thus to 

serve You in peace. 


1. In pre-Reformation England, the Carthusian Order had no less than ten 

monasteries. 

2. Bridgittines: a religious Order founded by Saint Bridget of Sweden (1303- 

1373). 

3. A ‘hurdle’ is a frame or sled without wheels, formerly used in England for 

dragging traitors to execution. 

N 

28

9. 

SAINT HUGH OF LINCOLN 

- ENGLAND - 

(NOVEMBER 16, 1200) 

Hugh of Avalon was born to noble parents in Southeastern 

France in 1140. Showing inclinations for the ecclesiastical state from 

childhood, his father, rather than bringing him up at home in his castle, 

entrusted him for upbringing to a monastery of canons regular in 

the neighborhood. There the canon who was given this responsibility 

loved the boy tenderly. “Hugonete” he would say, “Hugonete, 

Christo te enutrio” (“Little Hugh, it is for Christ that I bring you up”). 

And in fact, when still a teenager, as was not unusual at that time, he 

made profession as a canon in his turn. 

Up in the mountain chain next to his priory, however, there was a 

monastery founded some sixty-five years earlier: the Grande Chartreuse. 

Hugh heard about it, and after visiting was spellbound: that 

was the place for him! 

Their rule encouraged solitude, not isolation. They had separate 

cells but their hearts were united. Each of them lived 

apart, but had nothing of his own, and did not live for himself. 

They combined solitude with community life. They lived alone 

lest any should find his fellows an obstacle to him; they lived 

as a community so that none of them should be deprived of 

brotherly help. 

Thus his biographer sums up Hugh’s impressions of the life in 

the Charterhouse. (1) Although the Prior of the canons entreated him 

with tears to wait until after his death, Hugh understood that God 

wanted him to leave right away, and was accepted at the Grande 

Chartreuse. He had a difficult novitiate, marked by many temptations 

stirred up by the Evil one, but Hugh resisted victoriously. After his 

profession he was appointed Procurator and held that office for ten 

years. 

King Henry II of England (1154-1189) had promised to build a 

Carthusian monastery in England in compensation for having failed to 

29

go on the Crusade imposed as a penance for the murder of Saint 

Thomas Becket. (2) He had found a suitable property for the monks, 

Witham, in the diocese of Bath. But who should be the Prior? A 

Frenchman advised him to ask the Grande Chartreuse for the renowned 

Procurator there. The king agreed and sent the Bishop of 

Bath on that errand. The community was not very willing to give its 

Procurator up but at last consented. So Hugh went to England for the 

rest of his life. His relationship with 

the king was good, and he was not at 

all afraid to say what he meant. In 

order to construct the buildings of 

the monastery it was necessary to 

use some of the land which was 

rented out to local people. Saint 

Hugh compelled the King to reimburse 

the tenants in full for their inconvenience. 

In 1186 the diocese of Lincoln 

needed a Bishop and the Prior of 

Witham was, at the king’s suggestion, 

elected by the cathedral chapter. 

Of course he refused, saying he 

could only accept if the Prior of the 

Grande Chartreuse told him to. A 

delegation from the diocese did not 

hesitate to sail over to France, travel 

to the French Alps and obtain the authorization. 

His ordination as Bishop 

took place in Westminster Abbey, 

London. 

As Bishop (1186-1200) he was 

a friend of the poor. A chief royal 

forester who was a notorious oppressor of the poor soon came into 

conflict with Hugh who came to their rescue and did not relent, even 

when the man got the king on his side. He also was remarkable in his 

charity for the lepers, established several leprosaria in his diocese, 

visited them and even embraced them. Hugh was prominent in trying 

30

to protect the Jews, great numbers of whom lived in Lincoln. He put 

down popular feelings against them in several places. 

He had no scruple in following the custom of the times and admitting 

married women and widows to sit at his table; his biographer 

tells how he would sign their foreheads with the sign of the Cross as 

they knelt before him and gently press their heads between his two 

palms. 

“God”, he would say, “well deserves to be loved by women, 

for He did not shun to be born of a woman. Marvelous and 

precious was the privilege He thus gave to all women. It was 

not granted to a man to be or to be called father of God, but it 

was given to a woman to bear God.” (3) 

Hugh rarely left the Diocese, became personally acquainted with 

all his clergy, held regular canonical visitations and was most careful 

to choose men worthy of the care of souls. Once a year he returned to 

Witham Charterhouse to give himself to prayer. 

As pointed out already, with the kings Hugh was absolutely fearless. 

(During his episcopacy England had Henry II till 1189, then 

Richard The Lion-Heart, 1189-1199, then John Lackland from 1199.) 

He stood up to Richard’s violent temper when everybody else was 

afraid. In 1194 Saint Hugh excommunicated John Lackland. (4) Saint 

Hugh did not have a stern and gloomy character. His fearlessness 

made him relaxed when he was with kings. With a witty repartee he 

knew how to turn the royal anger into laughter. 

Another element of his life still should not be left out: Hugh had 

a special affinity with animals. Birds and squirrels seemed attracted to 

his company. The most famous example of this affinity is the swan in 

his manor at Stow. This swan became both a pet and watchdog. From 

medieval to modern times artists have depicted Hugh with his pet 

swan. (5) 

He had poor health and in 1200 he had a premonition that his 

time was running out. He made a pilgrimage to the places in France 

where he had spent the first part of his life: the Grande Chartreuse, the 

castle Avalon where he was born, and the canons regular. As we saw 

above, he also visited Saint Artold at Arvières. After returning to 

England, he did indeed become ill and died in London on November 

31

16, 1200. At his death he was mourned by all, especially by the Jews, 

whom he had always defended and befriended. His funeral bier was 

carried by the kings of England and Scotland. 

Miracles happened immediately and his cause for canonization 

was introduced. He was the earliest of all Carthusian saints to be canonized 

(1220). He is remembered not only by Carthusians but also by 

Anglicans of the diocese of Lincoln, who are now in possession of the 

beautiful Lincoln cathedral begun by Hugh. Our present Charterhouse 

in England, Saint Hugh’s in Sussex, is dedicated to him and celebrates 

his feast, November 17, each year as a solemnity. 

Prayer 

Lord, You adorned Saint Hugh with outstanding virtues 

and the gift of working miracles. May we learn to imitate 

his virtues and be encouraged by his example. 


1. When Hugh was Bishop he had as secretary a Benedictine monk who later 

wrote his life, a very interesting book-length account, which we still have: 

Magna Vita Sancti Hugonis (The life of Saint Hugh of Lincoln), Latin and 

English, edited by Decima L. Douie and David Hugh Farmer, 2 volumes, 

London, Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1961-1962. Other literature on Saint 

Hugh: Farmer, David Hugh, Saint Hugh of Lincoln (Cistercian Studies Series, 

87), Kalamazoo, MI, Cistercian Publications, 1985; O’Malley, Vincent 

J., Ordinary suffering of extraordinary Saints, Huntington, IN, Our 

Sunday Visitor, p. 191-192; Lee, J.D., Carthusians: An historical and spiritual 

study, Devised and compiled from Carthusian sources, London, 

Henry VI Society, 1981, p. 47-49. 

2. Thomas Becket c. 1118-1170; canonized 1173: chancellor of England 

(1155–62) and Archbishop of Canterbury (1162–70) during the reign of King 

Henry II. His career was marked by a long quarrel with Henry that ended 

with Becket’s murder in Canterbury cathedral. 

3. Dom David Knowles, O.S.B., quoted in Lee, Carthusians…, p. 49. 

4. Webster’s Biographical Dictionary, entry “Hugh of Lincoln”. 

5. See Farmer, Saint Hugh of Lincoln, p. 109-111. 

N 

32

10. 

BLESSED JOHN OF SPAIN 

- SPAIN - 

(JUNE 25, 1160) 

Blessed John was born in 1123 in the kingdom of Leon in Spain. 

At the age of thirteen he left his country for France, both to escape the 

Moslems and for the purpose of studies. He settled in the town of Arles, 

in Southern France. At sixteen he felt drawn to the monastic life 

and entered a monastery in the vicinity. After some years, he heard 

about the recently founded Order of the Carthusians and their monastery 

of Montrieux (1) not far away, founded in 1118, 5 years before he 

himself was born. Drawn to their austere and entirely contemplative 

life, he joined the Carthusians there. 

Once a Carthusian, he was ordained a 

priest, was named sacristan and eventually 

— still a man in his twenties! — 

elected Prior. We may assume he was 

precocious on the natural level, but even 

more so by the early maturity of his virtues. 

The nuns of the monastery of Prébayon 

in the vicinity, following the 

Rules of Saint Caesarius of Arles and of 

Saint Benedict, (2) were so impressed 

with the fervor of Montrieux under 

John’s leadership that they asked to be 

admitted to our Order, which till then 

had consisted only of monks. The Prior 

of our Mother house, la Grande Chartreuse, 

and Superior General of the Order, 

Saint Anthelm, authorized this. He 

asked John to adapt the Customs of 

Guigo, which were our Rule at that 

time, to the nuns. He did so and this was the beginning of the female 

branch of our Order (1145). 

33

Various difficulties at Montrieux lead to his retirement from the 

priorship and he moved to la Grande Chartreuse in 1150. Just then, a 

noble lord in neighboring Savoy asked for a monastery of Carthusians 

on his lands. Saint Anthelm saw in Blessed John the man of Providence. 

He sent him to make the foundation in Savoy, which was eventually 

given the name of le Reposoir (3). There he governed wisely as 

Prior for some years. 

On June 25, 1160 John died, not yet forty years old. Through unusual 

circumstances he was interred not inside the enclosure, as the 

custom is, but outside. In fact, during his priorate, two servants of the 

monastery, having died in the mountains, under an avalanche of 

snow, had been interred in an inappropriate place, outside the enclosure, 

for which John had been reproved. To make amends he had 

made his monks swear that after his death, they would bury him at the 

same place as the two servants. This, however, permitted John’s tomb 

— with his renown for sanctity — to become the object of popular 

pilgrimages. The faithful prayed at his tomb and many miracles occurred 

in the course of the centuries, particularly cures of malignant 

fever. In 1864 Blessed Pius IX approved the cult of Blessed John of 

Spain, venerated since time immemorial. The Carthusians celebrate 

his feast on July 14. 

Prayer 

God our Father, You called on Blessed John to help draw 

up a Rule for our nuns. May we who have eagerly embraced 

the monastic life arrive also at the perfection of 

charity. 


1. This Charterhouse still exists today. 

2. Saint Caesarius of Arles, c. 470-542, was a leading prelate of Gaul 

(France) and a celebrated preacher. Saint Benedict of Nursia, c. 480-c. 547, 

is the founder of the Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino and Father of 

Western monasticism. The Rule that he established became the norm for 

monastic living throughout Europe. In 1964, in view of the work of monks 

following the Benedictine Rule in the evangelization and civilization of so 

34

many European countries in the Middle Ages, Pope Paul VI proclaimed 

Saint Benedict the patron Saint of all Europe. 

3. This House still exists but is today a monastery of Carmelite nuns. 

N 

11. 

BLESSED LANUIN 

- GERMANY - 

(APRIL 11, 1120) 

Two men of a very similar name are among the early companions 

of our holy founder, Saint Bruno. Landuin (with a ‘d’) was the 

monk who, after Saint Bruno’s departure for Rome (see Saint Bruno’s 

life, above) and the dispersion of his first companions, led a group of 

monks back to the Grande Chartreuse, the cradle of our Order, and 

there became the second Prior. Lanuin (without a ‘d’), of whom we 

now speak, was our founder’s faithful companion all through his stay 

in Italy, assisted at his deathbed and became his successor at the 

Calabrian foundation. 

This Lanuin was not 

one of the seven who had 

founded the first monastery 

with Bruno in France 

in 1084, but joined himself 

to that group three or 

four years later. Like 

Saint Bruno himself, he 

was a German. When in 

1090 Saint Bruno was 

asked by Pope Urban II to 

leave his new foundation 

in the French Alps in order 

to help the Pope in 

Rome, Lanuin went with 

him. Clearly our founder was impressed with his deep spirituality and 

unusual gifts. In Rome he lived with Saint Bruno and a few others as 

monastically as possible. When Saint Bruno was able to go to 

35

Calabria, Lanuin went with him. From this time on, we see him appearing 

in the documents alongside Saint Bruno. Thus the deed from 

Count Roger gives the site for a monastery to “Bruno and Lanuin”. A 

papal bull of 1098 has “to our very dear and honorable sons, Bruno 

and Lanuin.” At Saint Bruno’s death, October 6, 1101, Lanuin was 

elected his successor as Prior, which Pope Paschal II warmly approved. 

Known for his reputation as a holy and a prudent man, Urban II 

had already given to Lanuin an important mission at the service of the 

Church. Paschal II entrusted to him even more responsibilities, charging 

him among other things with the delicate mission of reforming 

monasteries of other Orders in the region. At this occasion the Pope 

wrote to Lanuin: 

The sanctity, the sincerity and the religious zeal of which you 

have given proof in the reform of churches and monasteries, 

urges us strongly to regard you in high esteem and to render 

acts of thanksgiving to the Almighty. We, then, are moved by 

your piety and to confide fully to your fervor, we exhort and 

oblige you to take to your charge the care of monasteries belonging 

to our jurisdiction, which are in your vicinity. Examine 

that in these there would be nothing contrary to the monastic 

discipline and enforce to reform all abuses with great 

moderation and discretion.... 

Hence Paschal II constituted Lanuin arbitrator on all questions 

that pertain to the reform of the monasteries. 

Great and many occupations did not impede the recollection of 

our Blessed and his high gift of contemplation. It has been said that 

exterior activities were imposed on him as a penance; while in solitude 

it was given him to experience how sweet the Lord is. Returning 

as promptly as he could to the silence of his desert, he gave to his 

monks an example of virtue and of perfect fidelity to monastic observance. 

What was admirable above all was his gentleness. 

Surviving our holy founder by nineteen years, Lanuin died April 

11, 1120 and was buried in Saint Bruno’s tomb, leaving behind a 

great reputation of sanctity. In 1893 the Holy Father Leo XIII officially 

confirmed the cult given to our Blessed since time immemorial. 

Since his feast in April so often came in Holy Week or Easter, the 

36

Carthusians now celebrate him on October 13, together with other 

holy monks and nuns of the Order. 

Prayer 

Lord God, You called Lanuin to be one of Saint Bruno’s 

companions in solitude. Through the merits of these our 

first fathers may we also reach the eternal glory of 

heaven. 

N 

12. 

BLESSED NICHOLAS ALBERGATI 

- ITALY - 

(MAY 9, 1448) 

Nicholas was born in Bologna, Italy, in 1375. Having obtained 

his degrees in law at the University of his native city, he was heading 

for a brilliant career in law, but a providential circumstance moved 

him to embrace the monastic life in our Order. Once visiting the Charterhouse 

of Bologna, he was detained by a storm and attended the 

night Office, or Matins, as the Carthusians call it. He was so impressed 

by the way the monks sang the Office that he could not but 

ask to be admitted among them. He made profession and was ordained 

a priest, always giving an excellent example of the monastic 

virtues. Unhesitatingly his fellow monks elected him their Prior in 

1407, after he had been among them for twelve years. 

Ten years later the diocese Bologna needed a Bishop. Nicholas 

was the one all the magistrates unanimously voted for! But he firmly 

declined. “Only if the Reverend Father Prior of the Grande Chartreuse 

orders me to accept, will I do so”, he said. Undeterred, the city magistrates 

sent a delegation to the far-off monastery in France. Reverend 

Father Dom John Griffenberg consulted his community. All thought 

Dom Nicholas should accept. So he became Bishop, but did not abandon 

the monastic observance, practicing it in the same manner as 

when he was still in the cloister. He was devout, humble and depreciated 

what is only transitory. He wore the same rough habit as before, 

37

with the hair shirt, observing all the fasts of the Order and making abstinence 

on bread and water on all Fridays. He had a deep interior life, 

spending long hours of prayer at night. Even in the midst of numerous 

religious and secular affairs which could have likely been obstacles, 

he was nonetheless able to live according to the spirit of our vocation. 

In everything he appeared as a true son of Saint Bruno. 

But his services for 

the Church were not to 

remain limited to his diocese 

of Bologna. Two 

Popes, Martin V (1417- 

1431) and Eugene IV 

(1431-1447) used him in 

important roles for the 

good of the Universal 

Church. After a mission 

trying to make peace between 

France and England, 

he was given the 

cardinal’s hat in 1426. 

As Cardinal “de Sancta 

Cruce” (because his titular 

Church was Santa 

Croce, Holy Cross, in Rome) he made peace between the duke of 

Burgundy and the king of France (peace of Arras, 1435). Later, at the 

Council of Basel-Ferrara-Florence, he had a role of the very first order. 

He always showed a profound humility, prudence and simplicity. 

But what most distinguished him was obedience. He did not forget 

that our founder Saint Bruno, in order to put himself under the immediate 

service of the Pope, had also left the desert of the Charterhouse, 

the place he cherished above anything else. 

A trial struck him from his own townspeople, who rebelled 

against him as Bishop. He had to flee Bologna and took refuge with 

his fellow Carthusians in the Charterhouse of Florence. The Bolognese 

repented of their action however, and Pope Eugene IV insisted 

that Nicholas be restored to his see. Toward the end of his life, 

38

he had only one wish: to return to the Charterhouse. He died however 

on a diplomatic mission to Siena, where he had to accompany the 

Pope in 1443. On May 9, he breathed his last in that city. After his 

death, he appeared to his assistant Tommaso da Sarzano and predicted 

to him that he would become Pope, which soon happened, for he became 

Pope Nicholas V (1447-1455). Three centuries later, Pope 

Benedict XIV, who had also formerly been archbishop of Bologna, 

confirmed the cult of our holy fellow Carthusian with Mass and Office 

in our Order and some Italian dioceses. 

The Carthusians celebrate his feast today on October 13, together 

with other Saints and Blesseds of the Order. 

Prayer 

Lord, give us that simplicity of life by which Blessed 

Nicholas was able to persevere in the Carthusian ideal 

even in the midst of so many external cares. 

N 

13. 

BLESSED ODO 

- ITALY - 

(JANUARY 14, 1200) 

Odo, not to be confused with the better known Benedictine Saint 

of that name, had a most unusual life pattern. He was born in Novara 

in Northern Italy. We don’t know what made him prefer to enter at 

the Carthusians’ Mother house in the French Alps, the Grande Chartreuse. 

From there he was sent to Seitz in today’s Slovenia, the Carthusian 

Order’s first foundation in a Slavic country. He ended up 

Prior of the Charterhouse of Geirach in Austria, a little to the North of 

Seitz. 

Very serious difficulties awaited him in the Austrian House. The 

local Bishop made life almost impossible for the Carthusians, eventually 

taking their land by violence and turning their monastery over to 

another Order. Odo saw no other solution than to go to Rome and 

39

plead his cause before the Pope, Clement III (1187-1191). He also 

humbly asked the Pope to be discharged from his office of Prior, 

which he obtained. 

Relieved of his pastoral duties, he returned to the Charterhouse 

of Geirach. On the way back, he lodged for the night at a monastery 

of Benedictine nuns, Tagliacozzo, in the Abruzzi Mountains, Italy. 

The nuns were impressed with the obvious holiness of the monk and 

asked him if he could not stay with them as chaplain and confessor? 

Odo refused this request, saying he had to return to his monastery. 

Now the Abbess happened to be the Pope’s niece. She wrote at once 

to her illustrious uncle who acceded to her wishes. A solemn letter 

came from the Pope ordering Odo to stay for the rest of his life with 

the nuns as chaplain! This time there was no choice but to obey. 

The nuns had a little cell made for him near the cloister. He was 

careful to observe his Rule, for example, never eating meat. After finishing 

his daily spiritual practices he served the monastery dedicating 

himself to manual labor, thus providing alms for the poor of the vicin- 

40

ity. He left the solitude of his cell only to celebrate Mass or hear confession. 

For the nuns, he was exactly the holy chaplain and confessor 

they had thought he would be. 

The situation lasted for ten years or so until his death, January 

14, 1200. The old monk, transformed in Christ, had already done 

some miracles in his lifetime but did even more so after his death. 

Forty years after his death there was a movement to have him canonized, 

but Pope Gregory IX, who had been interested, died. In consequence 

of this the cause fell into oblivion, but not the devotion of the 

faithful. In 1859 Blessed Pius IX confirmed the cult of which Odo 

since time immemorial had been the object. The Carthusians celebrate 

him on October 13, together with other Saints of the Order. 

Prayer 

Lord, as we celebrate the feast of Blessed Odo, grant us 

to contemplate Your glory. By persevering faithfully on 

our way through life may we be rewarded by beholding 

You in the heavenly homeland. 

N 

14. 

SAINT ROSALINE OF VILLENEUVE, VIRGIN 

- FRANCE - 

(JUNE 11, 1328) 

Rosaline belonged to the noble Southern French family of the ‘de 

Villeneuve’, which still exists today. She was born in 1263. When the 

Bishop of Fréjus gave her the sacrament of confirmation in 1270 in 

the chapel of the family castle, a supernatural light seemed to envelop 

the child. At a very young age she made a private vow of virginity. 

She loved more than anything else to take care of the poor, distributing 

generously from the family provisions, which alarmed the servants 

of the castle. Once, after having filled her skirt with bread, 

Rosaline was on her way to the poor grouped together at the doors of 

the castle. She was suddenly stopped by her father who asked her 

41

what she was carrying. She answered: “These are the roses I just finished 

picking.” Extending her skirt she showed the said roses to the 

astonished eyes of her father. It is to recall this miracle that Rosaline 

is often represented in portraits with her skirt full of roses. 

When she was sixteen years old she wanted to become a Carthusian 

nun. She knew their life from the Charterhouse of la Celle- 

Roubaud close by, where her aunt Jeanne de Villeneuve was Prioress. 

Since that House had no novitiate, it was at Saint André de Ramires 

that she entered, and then she moved to the chief Charterhouse for 

women, Bertaud, not far from the city of Gap, in the French Alps. She 

made profession there in 1280. 

Her aunt at Celle- 

Roubaud was getting on 

in age, so after a few 

years the Superior General 

of our Order permitted 

Rosaline to go to 

that House to help her 

aunt. In 1288 she received 

virginal consecration 

at the hands of 

the Bishop of Fréjus. (1) 

It is told that this grace 

put her into a state of 

ecstasy which lasted the 

whole day. Although 

she assisted in the choir 

and followed all the activities 

of the community, 

her soul was united 

with the Lord. She was 

known for her inclination 

towards asceticism. 

For example, she reduced her sleep, and lived only on bread the days 

when she went to communion. (2) Prayer was for her most important 

in Carthusian life. Each night she used to spend long hours in prayer, 

thus obtaining special graces for the Order, her family and town, and 

for the entire Church. Owing to her purity of heart God granted her 

42

the gift of reading what is in other people’s heart. At the death of her 

aunt in 1300 the Superior General appointed Rosaline as Prioress. She 

held that office for twenty-nine years. It was during this time that her 

friend, the Bishop of Fréjus, became Pope as John XXII. (3) 

She died at the age of sixty-six with a great renown for holiness. 

Immediately there were miracles: blind received their sight and sick 

were cured. Five years after her death, in 1334, Pope John ordered to 

open her tomb. Her body was found entirely incorrupt and it is still so 

today. In 1602 it was transferred from the crypt to a newly built 

chapel. In 1851 Blessed Pius IX authorized her feast for the diocese of 

Fréjus, and in 1857 for the Carthusian Order. Today, the Carthusians 

celebrate her on July 6, and her feast is a solemnity for the nuns of the 

Order. 

Prayer 

Lord God, for love of You Saint Rosaline trampled underfoot 

the flattering allurements of the world, that she 

might adhere only to You. Help us to follow her example 

and, turning away from things of earth, find our joy in 

sharing Your heavenly gifts. 


1. After their solemn profession Carthusian nuns may receive virginal consecration. 

Through this consecration the nun belongs in a new way to God and 

follows Christ more closely. She becomes a symbol of the union of Christ 

and the Church. The rite is accomplished by the Bishop who confers to the 

consecrated virgin the veil, the stole, and the ring, which are the exterior 

signs of her indissoluble union with the divine Spouse. 

2. At that time, daily communion is not yet a custom. 

3. Pope John XXII was one of the Popes of the so-called ‘Avignon papacy’, 

the Roman Catholic papacy during the period 1309–1377, when the Popes 

took up residence at Avignon (France) instead of at Rome, primarily because 

of the current political conditions. 

N 

43

15. 

SAINT STEPHEN OF DIE 

- FRANCE - 

(SEPTEMBER 7, 1208) 

Stephen de Châtillon was 

born in Lyons into a wellknown 

noble family in 1150. 

From early childhood he stood 

out as someone not made for 

the world and its pleasures. 

We know little about his early 

life, but at twenty-five he 

came to try the Carthusian life 

at the Charterhouse of Portes. 

He was favorably impressed 

and asked to be admitted. The 

monks accepted him gladly. 

He soon stood out for his 

great fervor and self-denial. 

He radiated piety. When saying Mass, he had the gift of tears. The 

sight of a crucifix was sufficient to carry him into ecstasy. His spirituality 

can be summarized as follows: ardent devotion to the Passion of 

our Lord Jesus Christ, to the holy Eucharist, and to our Lady, and also 

zeal for the liturgy. All of his piety was manifested in a vibrant atmosphere 

of love of God and of neighbor. So it was not astonishing 

that when the Prior of Portes died, the monks elected Stephen as his 

successor. As Prior he fulfilled the expectations of the community, 

putting all his gifts into service of a prudent leadership, while maintaining 

his union with God. His reputation soon spread beyond the 

Charterhouse. 

In 1202 the little French diocese of Die, not very far from Portes, 

needed a new Bishop. The officials of that diocese were unanimous in 

their choice of Stephen. At first he refused energetically, but when 

they drew his attention to the example of Hugh, the Carthusian 

Bishop of Lincoln in England, who had died two years earlier, he finally 

accepted. As Bishop he kept up monastic prayer and austerities, 

44

while at the same time, by preaching and good example, he worked 

tirelessly and fruitfully for the salvation of souls. Just like other Carthusians 

who became Bishops, Stephen used to take a retreat from 

time to time in his monastery, refreshing mind and body in solitude. 

He always did so without showing in any way the high dignity with 

which he was invested. 

He was well aware of the fact that the responsibilities of a 

Bishop are not without risks. That is why, although still only in his 

fifties, he said one day to a dying Carthusian brother: “Brother, this 

infirmity will take you to the Lord. When you are with Him, please 

pray for me and ask Him for the grace not to allow me to continue in 

my episcopal ministry.” Remarkably Stephen died twelve days after 

the brother died. He had been a Bishop for six years. After his death, 

there occurred so many miracles that in 1231 seven Bishops of that 

region wrote to Gregory IX asking for his canonization. He is celebrated 

with other Carthusian Saints on October 13. 

Prayer 

All-powerful God, it is not our frail body but our ardent 

spirit which can reach Your eternal glory. Make us, like 

Saint Stephen, strive always for those heavenly realms. 

N 

45

16. 

BLESSED WILLIAM OF FENOL 

- ITALY - 

(C.1200) 

William was born in the early twelfth century, in the township of 

Monferrato, in the diocese of Alba, in Northern Italy. His family was 

no doubt an ordinary, but very devout family. He was drawn to solitude 

and did in fact become a hermit. We may think that his life of 

prayer as a hermit deeply united him to God. However, a woman of ill 

repute came to disturb him in his hermitage. He was able to resist her 

temptations, but afterwards he realized that he needed the protection 

of a cloister. 

So he took the road to the nearby 

Charterhouse of our Lady of Cazotto, 

Asti, and asked to be admitted as a 

brother. As brother William, he became 

an outstanding member of the 

community. He faithfully followed the 

observance of the Rule. He looked 

upon his superiors only with the eyes 

of faith and was always disposed to 

obey them immediately. The virtue by 

which he shone the most was that of 

simplicity. “If the eminent practice of 

virtue is admirable when joined to the 

splendor of doctrine, better still is its 

charm when it has for its company the 

ingenuity, the candor, the simplicity of soul. This simplicity must 

serve as the supreme wisdom especially for those called to live in the 

obscurity of the cloister” (statement of the Postulator; see note 1). 

How well Saint Bruno’s words to the lay brothers of the Grande Chartreuse 

apply to William: 

As regards you lay monks, brothers so close to my heart, I 

have only this to say: My soul glorifies the Lord, since I can 

perceive the glories of His mercy toward you from the ac- 

46

count of your beloved father and Prior, who boasts a great 

deal about you and rejoices over you. I share in this joy, since 

God in His power never ceases to inscribe on your hearts, 

however little education you may have, not only love, but understanding, 

of His holy law. For you show by your lives what 

it is you really love, and what you know. That is to say, when 

you are careful and zealous to observe a genuine obedience, 

conceived not only as the carrying out of God’s commands, 

but as the original key to the spiritual life and its final stamp 

of authenticity, demanding as it does deep humility and outstanding 

patience, as well as sincere love for the Lord and 

our brothers, then it is clear that you are gathering with relish 

no less than the most delectable and life-giving fruits of 

Holy Scripture. (2) 

His simplicity of heart was a great preparation for contemplation. 

His piety focused on Christ crucified and he could not think of the 

Passion of our Lord without becoming deeply afflicted. And so, freed 

from all fear and earthly plans, his only desire was for Eternity, preparing 

himself for it with constancy until his death, which occurred 

around the year 1200. 

He was buried in the cloister cemetery of the Charterhouse, but 

God let it emphatically be known that He wanted him to be buried at 

the gatehouse, outside the enclosure, so that the faithful could come to 

pilgrimage to his tomb. It is this popular veneration century after century, 

with accompanying miracles, which are the proof of the sanctity 

of this humble brother of whom we know so little. Pope Saint Pius V 

authorized the transfer of his relics in 1568, and Pope Blessed Pius IX 

authorized in 1862 the veneration of brother William, whose body 

was still incorrupt. His feast used to be December 16, but according to 

the spirit of Vatican II it has been moved outside of Advent and the 

Carthusians now celebrate him on May 24. 

Prayer 

Lord God, You are the nobility of the truly humble, and 

to serve You is to reign. May we imitate the simplicity of 

our brother Blessed William, and thus attain the kingdom 

You have promised to the lowly. 

47


1. The Postulator is an official who presents a plea for beatification or canonization 

in the Roman Catholic Church. 

2. From Saint Bruno’s letter to the monks of the Grande Chartreuse, France, 

written from the Hermitage Of The Tower in Calabria, Italy at about 1099. 

N 

48

Charterhouse of the Transfiguration 

Carthusian Monastery 

1800 Beartown Road 

Arlington, VT 05250 

Fax: 802-362-3584 

E-Mail: carthusians-in-america@juno.com 

www.chartreux.org

CARTHUSIAN EMBLEM 

13 TH CENTURY 

A GLOBE SURMOUNTED BY THE CROSS 

-“THE CROSS STANDS FIRM, WHILE THE WORLD TURNS”- 

WITH SEVEN STARS SYMBOLIZING ST. BRUNO 

AND HIS FIRST FOLLOWERS

SAINT BRUNO

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