SAINT OELBERT, MARTYR - 22 OCTOBER

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN OCTOBER

Saints celebrated on the 22nd of October

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SAINT OELBERT, MARTYR

Saint Oelbert (Oelbertus), who is also known as Olbertus, Albertus, Odelbertus, died according to Molanus* at Oisterheut near Breda, in the bishopric of Antwerp. 

Tradition relates that some assassins caught in the act fled from the scene and, while running through some fields, came across Oelbert, who, exhausted from several hours' farm labour, had dozed off. The murderers placed the incriminating weapon - a bloody dagger - in the sleeping man's hand. When the pursuers came, they killed him as a murderer. 

Oelbert's decapitated body carried the severed head to a nearby chapel. The animals he had used for ploughing miraculously brought the building materials for the erection of a much larger church   - on their own initiative, without a carter. 

At Oisterhout [Oosterhout], St Oelbert is the second patron of the church. The period of his life is quite unknown. Today there is scarcely a trace of his veneration among the people of Oisterhout. Even his relics are long gone. He is indeed mentioned in the Office, but without special lessons. [However, a flourishing St Oelbert Catholic College (Sint-Oelbertgymnasium) in Oosterhout is an ongoing reminder of our Saint.]

St Oelbert is also commemorated on October 18.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 4, Augsburg, 1875 - 🎨 Atlas Shoemaker, Noord Brabant, Oosterhout)

*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 Oelbert 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.