Bobolenus of Bobbio

Saint Bobolenus of Bobbio was abbot of the monastery of Bobbio in northern Italy and reposed around 652-653. He was a monk of the Columbanian rule, perhaps of Greek origin, and takes his name from the town of Bobbio, where he took his vows. He succeeded the third abbot, Saint Bertulf, in 639.

On 23 November 642 he prepared the canonization of Saint Columbanus, taking part in the drafting of the Edict of Rothari, which came into force at midnight between 22 and 23 November 643 in honor of Columbanus. He was made a mitred abbot, obtaining from Pope Theodore I constitutions that confirmed this privilege already granted to the abbots of Bobbio by Pope Honorius I. The good relations of the monastery with the court of Pavia, under King Rothari, continued and grew, and through the king's intercession with the pope the monastery obtained notable privileges. Pope Theodore renewed the protection of the Holy See and forbade bishops to usurp the goods of the abbey, to demand tithes from it, or to interfere, especially in the election of the abbot.

With the pope's consent he reformed monastic life: the Benedictine rule was joined in mixed form to the Columbanian. He wrote a rule that combined the precepts of Italian and Irish monasticism, sometimes wrongly identified with the famous Regula Magistri, which is a century older. Under him the monastery grew greatly, to 150 monks, and besides the internal school it ran an external school, one of the very first for boys, so that he was called the "master of children". He is honored as a saint of the undivided Church.