February 28 — Romain and Lupicin are from a family known for its dignity, they were brothers and born towards the end of the fourth century.
The youth of Romain was marked by a period of social corruption. To preserve himself, he took an interest in the monks' way of life with the help of a priest known for his virtue. At the age of 35, Romain went to Condat in the forest of Jura to live as a hermit and practice asceticism among wild animals and far from the worldliness. But God's will was very different, it was for Romain an obligatory passage to prepare him for another purpose because later he founded a monastery where his first disciple was none other than his brother Lupicin.
They lived there together, despite the obvious differences in character. Romain is both gentle and compassionate while Lupicin is rather rough and brutal, but this did not prevent them from leading a harmonious life. They were even complementary: when Lupicin was too intransigent towards his confreres of the order, Romain calmed the sensibilities to avoid clashes. When the work seemed too hard for Romain, he turned to Lupicin because he had the strength to endure everything.
Roman and Lupicin founded two monasteries including that of Condat, which will become the town of Saint-Claude in the Jura. The second is in Lauconne, now Saint-Lupicin. In addition, Roma also founded monasteries from the Vosges to Germany and another one for his sister which is currently surrounded by the town of Saint-Romain-de-la-Roche.
It was a year when the harvest was particularly abundant. The monks of the order no longer respected the rules of fasting and austerity and mocked the Roman gaze to make them aware of their error. Impotent, Romain entrusted Lupicin with the task of putting them back on the right path. Lupicin served them only boiled barley without any condiments for a long time. Twelve monks left the order, but the others eventually corrected themselves. Saddened by the departure of his twelve confreres, Romain prayed intensely for their return.
RRomain died in 468 while Lupicine is in 480
