Biography

Odilo was born c. 962. He was descended from the nobility of Auvergne

Auvergne (province)

Auvergne was a historic province in south central France. It was originally the feudal domain of the Counts of Auvergne. It is now the geographical and cultural area that corresponds to the former province....

. He early became a cleric in the seminary of St. Julien in Brioude

Brioude

Brioude is a commune in the Haute-Loire department in the Auvergne region in south-central France. It lies on the banks of the River Allier, a tributary of the Loire.-History:...

. In 991 he entered Cluny and before the end of his year of probation was made coadjutor to Abbot Mayeul.

Shortly before the latter's death (994) Odilo was made abbot and received Holy orders. The rapid development of the monastery under him was due chiefly to his gentleness and charity, his activity and talent for organizing. He was a man of prayer and penance, zealous for the observance of the Divine Office, and the monastic spirit. He encouraged learning in his monasteries, and had the monk Radolphus Glaber write a history of the time. He erected a magnificent monastery building, and furthered the reform of the Benedictine monasteries. Under Alfonso VI

Alfonso VI of Castile

Alfonso VI , nicknamed the Brave or the Valiant, was King of León from 1065, King of Castile and de facto King of Galicia from 1072, and self-proclaimed "Emperor of all Spain". After the conquest of Toledo he was also self-proclaimed victoriosissimo rege in Toleto, et in Hispania et Gallecia...

 it spread into Spain. The rule of St. Benedict was substituted in Cluny for the domestic rule of Isidore. By bringing the reformed or newly founded monasteries of Spain into permanent dependence on the mother-house, Odilo prepared the way for the union of monasteries, which Hugo established for maintaining order and discipline. The number of monasteries increased from thirty-seven to sixty-five, of which five were newly established and twenty-three had followed the reform movement. Some of the monasteries reformed by Cluny, reformed abbey; thus the Abbey of St. Vannes in Lorraine reformed many on the Franco-German borderland.

On account of his services in the reform Odilo was called by Fulbert of Chartres

Fulbert of Chartres

Fulbert of Chartres –10 April 1028) was the bishop of the Cathedral of Chartres from 1006 till 1028. He was a teacher at the Cathedral school there, he was responsible for the advancement of the celebration of the Feast day of “Nativity of the Virgin”, and he was responsible for one of the...

 the "Archangel of the Monks", and through his relations with the popes, rulers, and prominent bishops of the time Cluny monasticism was promoted. He journeyed nine times to Italy and took part in several synods there. Pope John XIX

Pope John XIX

Pope John XIX , born Romanus, was Pope from 1024 to 1032.He succeeded his brother, Pope Benedict VIII , both being members of the powerful house of Tusculum...

 and Benedict IX both offered him the Archbishopric of Lyon but he declined. From 998 he gained influence with the Emperor Otto III. He was on terms of intimacy with Emperor Henry II when the latter, on political grounds, sought to impair the spiritual independence of the German monasteries. For Germany the Cluny policy had no permanent success, as the monks there were more inclined to individualism. Between 1027 and 1046 the relations between the Cluniac monks and the emperor remained unchanged. In 1046 Odilo was present at the coronation of Henry III in Rome. King Robert II of France

Robert II of France

Robert II , called the Pious or the Wise , was King of France from 996 until his death. The second reigning member of the House of Capet, he was born in Orléans to Hugh Capet and Adelaide of Aquitaine....

 allied himself with the Reform party.

The conclusion of the Peace of God (Treuga Dei), for which Odilo had worked from 1041, was of great economic importance. During the great famines of that time (particularly 1028-33), he also exercised his active charity and saved thousands from death.

He established All Souls Day

All Souls Day

All Souls' Day commemorates the faithful departed. In Western Christianity, this day is observed principally in the Catholic Church, although some churches of Anglican Communion and the Old Catholic Churches also celebrate it. The Eastern Orthodox Church observes several All Souls' Days during the...

 (on 2 November) in Cluny and its monasteries (probably not in 998 but after 1030), and it was soon adopted in the whole Western church.

Of his writings we have but a few short and unimportant ones: a life of the holy Empress St. Adelaide to whom he was closely related; a short biography of his predecessor Mayeul; sermons on feasts of the ecclesiastical year; some hymns and prayers; and a few letters from his extensive correspondence.

Odilo and his confreres interested themselves in the church reform which began about that time. They followed no definite ecclesiastico-political programme, but directed their attacks principally against individual offences such as simony, marriage of the clergy, and the uncanonical marriage of the laity. The Holy See could depend above all on the religious of Cluny when it sought to raise itself from its humiliating position and undertook the reform of the Church.

He died while on a visitation to the monastery of Souvigny

Souvigny

Souvigny is a commune in the Allier department in Auvergne in central France.Today the main town of a canton of the Allier department, Souvigny has long been one of the major towns in the Bourbonnais , and the royal House of Bourbon was based there. Ties with the nearby Cluny Abbey add to its rich...

 in late 1048 or early 1049.

Veneration

He was buried in the monastery

Monastery

Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...

 of Souvigny where he died, and soon venerated as a saint.

In 1063 Peter Damien undertook the process of his canonization

Canonization

Canonization is the act by which a Christian church declares a deceased person to be a saint, upon which declaration the person is included in the canon, or list, of recognized saints. Originally, individuals were recognized as saints without any formal process...

, and wrote a short life, an abstract from the work of Jotsald, one of Odilo's monks who accompanied him on his travels.

In 1793 the relics together with those of Mayeul were burned by the revolutionaries "on the altar of the fatherland".

The feast of St. Odilo was formerly 2 January, in Cluny, now it is celebrated on 19 January, and in Switzerland on 6 February. Elsewhere it is on 11 May.

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