San Rolando was a man who lived almost all his life alone, one day he was taken in by a marquise when he was already quite old and in a very depressed state, because he had to live in the midst of penance and many shortages.
The story of Saint Rolando
San Rolando, his story unfolds in the midst of hardship, he is a hermit like San Felipe de Jesus, born in a noble family in the city of Italy, it was the family of the Medicis, he was always a man who lived in deep solitude and if it had not been for a marquise named Antonia Pallavicini, in the year 1386, who one day was hunting in the forest and by chance found him in that place.
At that time, San Rolando had a decrepit and cadaverous appearance, all a consequence of the way he lived, the penances and the hardships he suffered.
When the Marquise found him, his situation was very pitiful and San Rolando told her that when he arrived in the country he was dressed in mourning, and that was about twenty-seven years ago, over the years the clothes he had brought with him had been destroyed and gradually worn out, so he decided to make clothes of goatskin to cover himself, always in summer the food was based on herbs and fruits.
When winter came, he had to go out to beg and be a beggar, because the season did not allow him to eat what he was used to, and he could die because he had nothing to eat, sometimes he would stay for hours without being able to move a foot, with his arms outstretched just looking at the sky and the sun, it was a way of mortification, in many of his paintings and photographs he appears like this.
The beautiful Marquise was moved by the story and the situation of Saint Rolando and wanted to take him to her castle so that he would not suffer so much and be much better off, but Saint Rolando did not want to, the only thing he gave in to was to receive real spiritual help from the Marquise’s personal confessor.
Saint Rolando was placed on a stretcher and taken to the nearest church, where the priest in charge received him and administered the sacraments; he was cared for for more than a month; there, on the stretcher on which he lay, he always said that all his life he had lived in total silence, devoted to prayer and fasting, and that he had always fled from the company of people in order to avoid sin altogether.
This idea was understandable if you know the family that this Saint came from, because they were wealthy and could put other kinds of influences on him that would lead to sin, and he never wanted that for his life, but to serve and please God above all, he could tell with great emphasis that on several occasions God had given him the grace of several visions that came from him.
St Rolando lived his whole life full of sacrifices, like St Francis of Paola, because he wanted to please God and be special in His eyes, he always wanted to be alone for fear that his life would become sinful, he dedicated long hours to prayer and penance, which left satisfaction in his spiritual life and his personal relationship with God. This woman was perhaps the one entrusted by God to give this man a period of rest before the time came for him to leave.
He was a man who sacrificed himself in every way, he lived as a hermit for many years, he was hungry and naked, but this did not prevent him from fulfilling his destiny of going forward with the plan of honouring God above all things, a great example of service and perseverance in the circumstances he chose to live to please with his life the Creator and Lord of our lives.
St. Rolando died on the 15th of September 1386 and he always loudly declared that he could see St. Michael the Archangel and many other angels, he said that they had come for him to take him to Paradise where the Heavenly Father was waiting to enjoy with him his wonders.
In this way we can see how years ago there were people with the ability to believe in God and to honour Him until the day they died, it is the conviction of knowing that beyond the earthly there is a kingdom promised by God where evil will not exist and we can live in full and total blessing. Watch this video.
