Majolus of Cluny
| Saint Majolus of Cluny | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 906 Avignon (sometimes stated as Valensole) |
| Died | May 11, 994 Souvigny |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Feast | May 11 |
Saint Majolus of Cluny (Maieul, Mayeul, Mayeule) (c. 906 – May 11, 994) was an abbot of Cluny.
Majolus' father was from a wealthy provincial family of Avignon and his name was Fulcher. His mother was named Raimodis. They had two sons, named Majolus and Cynricus. It is not known for sure which was the older, but traditionally the younger sons of noble families were given to the church and the elder sons were made the heirs to the father's estate, hence because Majolus became a monk, it is sometimes assumed he is the younger.
As a youth Majolus fled his family's estates near Rietz to stay with relatives at Mâcon due to the Muslim invasions. Both of his parents died while he was young.
Majolus studied the liberal arts at Lyon and later became archdeacon of Mâcon; his ordination to the priesthood was in Mâcon. While in Mâcon he gave classes to a large body of clerks for free, because he wished that the talents God had given him would not go to waste.
He loved to spend time in meditation and solitude, and so he built a small oratory on the opposite side of the river from the town where he would retire for silent prayer. In personal habits he was always kind, never telling lies, detraction or flattery, and he was severe against sinners, if it was necessary to call them to repent. He gained a reputation among the local people as a kind of holy person and so when Besançon needed a new bishop, many people, including princes and priests, called on him to become bishop, but he refused.
He rather decided to go to the famous monastery of Cluny in order to become a monk there. He had visited Cluny before his decision to join the monks there and had been impressed with them.
He became a monk at Cluny when Aymard of Cluny was Abbot. Aymard trusted him greatly and put him in charge of the treasury as well as the offerings of the faithful to the monastery. He was later made librarian of Cluny. He had read the poems of Virgil and he considered that monks should not read these works, but that the Bible alone was enough for them. He was very harsh in the discipline he applied to new monks.
He rose up to become a leader among the monks.
He was sent with a fellow monk from Cluny to Rome, on one occasion, and on the return journey his companion became sick. Majolus waited by the suffering monk for three days with much anxiety, and on the third night he dreamed that he saw a white-haired old man who said 'Why art thou cast down in idle grief? Hast thou forgotten what my brother James orders for the sick?' He then woke up and realized that it was referring to the sacrament of extreme unction mentioned in the letter of James (5:14-15). He then anointed his brother-monk with the holy oil and the sick monk then started to recover from his illness. This miracle was then told at Cluny, and the monks held Majolus in veneration.
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