“Do you ever get the feeling you could make great strides spiritually if you could just have some time to yourself? It’s a real temptation to believe we would continually concentrate on the essentials if we weren’t distracted by all the demands of life.
St. Romanus thought the same thing. At the age of thirty-five he headed to the Jura Mountains between Switzerland and France to live as a hermit. For a time, he was blissfully alone, then his brother arrived, followed by a couple of other men. Then his sister and a group of women joined them. Soon there were enough men and women to build two monasteries and a nunnery. St. Romanus, who wanted nothing more than to be left alone, spent the rest of his life surrounded by people.
The lesson St. Romanus learned is one that many of us must also learn: Most spiritual development takes place in the crucible of everyday existence. It’s easy to feel kind and generous when there’s no one else around. But what good does feeling kind do if we have no one else with whom to be gentle? How can we be generous when no one challenges our selfishness? Unlike vice, which grows best in the dark, dim corners of our soul, virtue requires interaction with others to blossom and flourish.”
St. Romanus (c. 460) in 365 Saints: Your Daily Guide to the Wisdom and Wonder of their Lives by Woodeene Koenig-Bricker (San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1995), February 28 reading.