ST ULRICH OF ZELL, ABBOT - 14 JULY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JULY

 Saints celebrated on the 14th of July

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SAINT ULRICH OF ZELL, ABBOT

(Wulderic; called also Ulric of Cluny, and of Ratisbon). He was born at Ratisbon, at the beginning of 1029; died at Zell, probably on July 10, 1093. Feast, July 14. 

TWO LIVES OF HIM ARE EXTANT

Two lives of him are extant: the first, written anonymously c. 1109 by a monk of Zell at the request of Adalbert, a recluse near Ratisbon; the other, also anonymous, written between 1109 and 1130. Particulars of his life are also contained in his writings.

His parents, pious and rich, were Bernhold and Bucca, niece of Bishop Gebhard II. Ulrich probably received his education at St Emmeram, but in 1044 he was called to the court of his godfather, Henry IV, and acted as page to the Empress Agnes. 

HE GAVE HIS POSSESSIONS TO THE POOR

Ordained deacon by his uncle Nidger, Bishop of Freising, he was made archdeacon of the cathedral. 

On his return from a journey to Rome he distributed his possessions to the poor, made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and, after another short visit to Rome, entered the Abbey of Cluny in 1061, during the reign of St Hugo. 

HE MADE HIS PROFESSION

Here he soon excelled in piety and diligence, made his profession, was ordained priest and appointed confessor to the convent at Mareigny in the Diocese of Autun, and prior of the community of men in the same place. Here he lost an eye and was obliged to return to Cluny.

HE AGAIN WENT TO CLUNY

He was then named prior at Peterlingen (Payerne) in the Diocese of Lausanne, but on account of troubles caused by Bishop Burchard von Oltingen, a partisan of Henry IV, Ulrich again went to Cluny, where he acted as adviser to his abbot. 

A nobleman had donated to Cluny some property at Gruningen near Breisach, and Ulrich was sent to inspect the place and eventually to lay the foundation of a monastery. 

HE RETIRED TO THE BLACK FOREST

Not finding the locality suitable, he with his monks in 1087 retired to Zell (Sell, Sella, Villmarszelle) in the Black Forest, where the report of his virtues soon brought him many disciples. 

He enjoyed the esteem of Blessed Gebhard III, Bishop of Basle, who frequently visited him. 

HE ESTABLISHED A CONVENT FOR NUNS IN BOLESWEILER

In 1090 he established a convent for nuns at Bolesweiler (now Bollschweil), about a mile from Zell. God granted him the gift of miracles. The last two years of his life he was blind. He was buried in the cloister, but three years later his body was brought into the church. His feast was celebrated for the first time July 14, 1139.

HIS WORKS

His life of Hermann von Zähringen, Margrave of Baden, later a monk of Cluny, is also lost. His "Consuetudines cluniacenses" were composed at the request of William, Abbot of Hirschau, in three books. The first two, written between 1079 and 1082, treat of liturgy and the education of novices; the third, written not later than 1087, speaks of the government of monasteries.

(From Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913 - 📷 A manuscript from Cluny)