Feast of Saints Romano di Condat and Lupicino Abate

San Romano di Condat and San Lupicino Abate, orate pro nobis

February 28th is the Feast of St. Romanus and his brother St. Lupicinus, fifth-century monks and founders of monastic life in the Jura Mountains, along the borderlands of present-day France and Switzerland. Born into a Gallo-Roman Christian family, Romanus withdrew at a young age into the wilderness to pursue an ascetic life of prayer, fasting, and solitude. His reputation for holiness soon attracted disciples, and a small hermitage grew into an organized monastic community.

Lupicinus later joined his brother and proved to be the sterner and more austere of the two. Where Romanus embodied gentleness and pastoral care, Lupicinus enforced strict discipline and obedience, shaping the communities with a rigorous rule of life. Together, they founded several monasteries, most notably Condat, later known as Saint-Claude, which became spiritual centers of the region and models of Western monasticism before the widespread adoption of the Rule of St. Benedict.

Together, the brother abbots’ differing temperaments forged a durable monastic tradition whose influence endured long after their deaths.

Evviva i Santi fratelli Romano e Lupicino!

On the occasion of their feast, we offer this prayer:

Prayer to Saints Romanus and Lupicinus

Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God, that the examples of Saint Romanus and Saint Lupicinus may effectually move us to reform our lives; that while we celebrate their feast, we may also imitate their actions. Look upon our weakness, almighty God, and since the burden of our own deeds weighs heavily upon us, may the glorious intercession of Saint Romanus and Saint Lupicinus protect us. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.