ST SIMPERT, BISHOP OF AUGSBURG - 13 OCTOBER

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN OCTOBER

Saints celebrated on the 13th of October

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

ST SIMPERT, BISHOP OF AUGSBURG

Simpert (Sympertus, Sindpertus, Sintpertus, Sinprecht and Simbertus) was a son of Duke Ambert (Aubert) of Austrasia and his wife Symphoriana. He was brought up in Murbach Monastery, and later lived there for a long time as a monk and abbot. He had been bishop for at least five years when he resigned from his abbot position. 

He ascended the episcopal chair of Augsburg in A.D. 780. It is said that he ruled this bishopric for almost 30 years (per annos triginta fere). He restored the Basilica of St Afra and the monastery (coenobium) of St Magnus von Füssen.

Following the passing of his ancestor Tosso (Tozo) there was an interruption in the succession and revolts against the Franconian rule, it was his job to reconcile the Bavarians and Franks. He also placed the diocese (parrochiam) under an administration (coadunavit), and obtained the necessary approval of Pope Leo III for this move.

The troubled times at that time forced him to change his whereabouts often. For the years 780 and 791 we have documents mentioning him in Augsburg - the devastation of which by the Huns and Avars must have pained him tremendously - in Neuburg (in the year 798), Füssen, Staffelsee (in the year 800), Benediktbeuren (in the year 804, under the Abbey of Eliland). His name also appears at the Synod of Reisbach (Riesbach) in 799 (under Archbishop Arno of Salzburg) and in 802 at the Council of Aachen. 

His blissful passing occured between A.D. 807 and 809. He was buried at the choir steps of the St Afra Church. As is said in the church prayer in honour of the saint, St Simpert was glorified through amazing miracles. The best known is the rescue of a child dragged away by a wolf. The youngster was brought back unharmed once the holy bishop's prayers had been requested. For this reason, Ranbeck calls him the "emergency helper of the children" (infantium medicus).

A special ornament of the church is the chapel, where his relics rest. The head is encased in a special reliquary, and is - with priestly blessings - touched and venerated by the believers, which is proven to be very effective against various evils. His canonisation by Paul II took place on January 6, 1468. Pope Gregory XV allowed a special office for his veneration.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, 1858)