Romedius

Saint Romedius was a hermit of the Tyrol, venerated in the Non Valley (Trentino) in Italy. Tradition tells that he was the son of a noble family, born near a Roman military post close to Innsbruck, in the area of present-⁠day Thaur in Austria. After a pilgrimage to Rome he gave all his goods to the Church and withdrew to the caves of the Non Valley, with two companions, Abraham and David.

The best-⁠known story about him says that, in his old age, he wanted to visit his friend from youth, Saint Vigilius, Bishop of Trent, but his horse was torn apart by a bear. Romedius ordered his disciple David to bridle the bear, and the beast, grown gentle, carried him on its back to Trent. For this reason he is often shown with a bear. It is said that on leaving he told Vigilius they would not meet again before death and that a little bell in his chapel would ring on the day of his repose; after his death the bell rang by itself.

His disciples carved his tomb in the rock next to the cave where he had lived, and the place was soon visited by pilgrims. From that small church grew the sanctuary of San Romedio, near Sanzeno, a complex of several churches from the Romanesque period to the 20th century. The dates are uncertain: tradition places him in the 4th century, but some think he lived in the 7th or 8th century or in the 11th. His local cult consolidated in the 11th century and was recognized by the Bishop of Trent in the 12th. He is honored locally in the Catholic Church, without Orthodox synodal canonization.