SAINT MODOALD, ARCHBISHOP OF TRIER

SAINT MODOALD, ARCHBISHOP OF TRIER - 12 MAY

Saints celebrated on the 12th of May

SAINT MODOALD, ARCHBISHOP OF TRIER

Saint Modoald (Modoaldus), bishop of Trier [Treves], earned the honorary title of "father and protector of the miserable" from the citizens of the city owing to his charity and apostolic self-sacrifice.

Relics of him are found in Trier at St Matthias outside the city, in Cologne at St Gereon and at St Jacob in Liège.

Variants of his name are Modowaldus and Rodoaldus. However, the year of his death is not known. The Bollandists* place his episcopal activity between A.D. 622 and 640; so does the Gall. Christiana*. But according to the annals of Lobbach (Pertx, mon. hist. Germ. VI. script. IV. 11) St Modoald was still alive in the year 647, as this sentence proves: "Modoaldus, brother of Itta, Gertrude's mother, Archbishop of Trier, and his sister, the abbess Severa, shine through their sanctity."

Some of his episcopal duties are also chronologically fixed. He took part in a council at Reims in 625 and received a letter of thanks from Bishop Desiderius of Cahors (Cadurcum) for the benefits he had received. He also founded the monastery of Horreum near Trier (later St Irmina). Moreover, he built the St Martin's Church (Martinskirche) in Münster-Maienfeld. The founding of the "Pfalzl" (Palatiolum) monastery, formerly a villa on the Moselle belonging to King Pepin, is also attributed to him. Butler* states that his death occurred on May 12, 640, as do the Bollandists*. On this date his name is also listed in the Roman Martyrology*.

The saint's tomb was first located at St Symphorian. When, in April 882, the Normans devastated the area, the nuns prayed at the tomb of St Modoald asking for a speedy death for their innocence to be preserved. They were heard; they all died on the same day by the sword of the Normans.

St Modoald is also commemorated on February 15, April 16, and May 16.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 4, Augsburg, 1875)

*A hagiography source used by the authors

Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Modoald may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

WELCOME

Please pick your saints: January - Saints by date 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 February - Saints by date 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 ...

BL. LUKE KIRBY, PRIEST AND MARTYR - 30 MAY

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MAY Saints celebrated on the 30th of May WELCOME! BLESSED LUKE KIRBY, PRIEST AND MARTYR 16th century houses, painted by Auguste Mayer He was born in the bishopric of Durham, according to Raissius ; others say at Richmond, in Yorkshire. He was master of arts in one of our universities; but going abroad to Douay, in Flanders, was received into the English college there, 1576, and made priest in 1577; and the year following sent upon the mission. Where he had not been long before he again went abroad, and travelled to Rome, partly for devotion, and partly for further improvement in learning. Here he remained in the English college till 1580, when he returned into England, and was not long after apprehended: for I find by a printed diary of things transacted in the Tower of London from 1580 till 1585, that on the 5th of December, 1580, Luke Kirby, Thomas Cottam , and other priests, were brought to the Tower from other prisons; and that these two, on the 10th...

BL. RICHARD NEWPORT, PRIEST AND MARTYR - 30 MAY

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MAY Saints celebrated on the 30th of May WELCOME! BLESSED RICHARD NEWPORT, PRIEST AND MARTYR Richard Newport, alias Smith , was born in Northamptonshire and performed his studies abroad, partly in the college of Rheims (if he be the Richard Smith whom I find in the Douay diary sent to Rome in 1586) and partly in that of Rome, where he was made priest. From thence he was sent upon the English mission, and behaved himself in such a manner as justly to acquire the character of a laborious missionary; being withal remarkably successful in bringing home many strayed sheep to the fold of Christ, to which his apostolical way of living did not a little contribute. He was several times apprehended and cast into prison, and twice banished. His name occurs amongst those who were transported in 1606; at which time, we are told, he took that opportunity of making a pilgrimage to Rome, there to pour forth his prayers at the tombs of the apostles, in behalf of thi...

SAINT FEAST DAY FOR EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR

Search This Blog