In the Benedictine calendar today (EF calendar Jan 15), today is the memorial of St Paul the first hermit.
But the martyrology also recalls today another hermit, this time a Benedictine, in the form of St Peter Orseolo, a Doge of Venice who became a simple monk of the Order of St Benedict.
St Peter was a Doge of Venice, and lived between 928 and 987.
He was married at 18 and had one son, who also eventually became a Doge of Venice.
At 20, he led the Venetian fleet against Dalmatian pirates.
In 976 he became Doge after a revolution against the sitting Doge's attempts to create a monarchy. In that position he started the rebuilding of St Mark's, as well as building hospitals and supported other social programs.
Two years later, he quietly left town and joined a Benedictine monastery in the South of France, living a life of great asceticism.
He subsequently became a hermit with the encouragement of St Romuald, living in the forest surrounding the monastery.
He was acclaimed a saint some forty years after his death, and the canonization was ratified in 1731 by Pope Clement XII.
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