Viæ Sancti Romualdi 2026
Spiritualità francescana e romualdina
with
Pietro Maranesi Franciscan friar
and Alessandro Barban Camaldolese monk
in collaboration with VSR and Associazione Romagna-Camaldoli
In the early centuries of the late Middle Ages, Saints Romuald (c. 951–1027) and Francis (c. 1181–1226) became models of intensely lived evangelical lives. It is no coincidence that Dante Alighieri dedicated significant sections of the third Canto of the Divine Comedy to these two saints. Despite their significant differences, they share some important similarities, which we will explore today. In extremely complex historical contexts, characterised by deep divisions, they displayed courage in embodying the Gospel and offering an alternative lifestyle to political and ecclesiastical authorities. Romuald chose monastic life, living in solitude yet open to communion. Francis sought to innovate religious life by cheerfully embracing poverty as a form of fraternity shared with the poorest of the poor.
