ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN APRIL
Saints celebrated on the 30th of April
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| A page of one of Fortunatus Hueber's Saints' books, "Stammenbuch..." (1693) |
Saint Wolfhard of Augsburg, also known as Gualfardo of Verona (Gualfardus) was born in Augsburg [South Germany] and is therefore mentioned in the Augsburg Missal as an "Augsburg citizen" (civis augustanus).
He was a saddler (ephippiarius) by profession. Around the year 1096 Wolfhard and a fellow journeyman called Sieghard (according to Butler* - XIX. 479), or Licko or Ziaso (according to Khamm* - Aug. II. 242) joined some Augsburg merchants on their travels to Verona, where Wolfhard practiced the trade he had learned. He gave to the poor what he earned by his handiwork in excess of his necessities.
Since he led a very pious life, the locals called him a saint. Such publicity was incompatible with our saint's humility. In pursuit of greater solitude he proceeded to a wood not far from Verona. Near the river Etsch (Athesis) he built himself a hut with a little garden and served God by prayer, fasting, and vigils. In addition, he crucified his flesh (1 Cor. 9:27) by wearing a mail shirt (thorax) right next to his skin.
Khamm* relates that Wolfhard lived there, unknown to all, for 20 years, before he was finally discovered by boatmen on the river. Against his will he then was brought back to Verona, where his countrymen recognised him. They persuaded Wolfhard to settle at a monastery near Saint Peter's Church.
A violent flood hit Verona in the year 1117, therefore Saint Wolfhard took to the monastery of the Most Holy Trinity, which was outside the city on a hill. After the danger was over, he returned to the city at the request of his devotees, where he lived ten more years - now in a cell built for him near the Saint Salvator Church.
God also bestowed on him the power of miracles . Before his death, in his humility, he decreed that he should not be buried in the church, as was customary at the time, but outside the door of the church, so that passers-by should step over his grave.
But when he died on April 30, 1127, the citizens instead laid his mortal remains in a most magnificent marble coffin, which had arrived at Verona under strange and wonderful circumstances. It was then placed next to the high altar in a specially built crypt at Saint Salvator Church.
The miraculous power that accompanied him in life still rested on Wolfhard's grave. Khamm* cites several miracles wrought by his intercession during his lifetime and after his death that are mentioned by the Bollandists*. Many blind people regained their sight through him. This attracted crowds of pilgrims who came to his tomb, often from far away, who obtained numerous graces from God.
In many Italian cities, the saddlers celebrate his festival as that of their guild patron on April 30 or May 1. On December 25, 1507 his relics were solemnly raised and exposed for veneration by the faithful on an altar built by this guild.
Eventually, some relics of Saint Wolfhard found their way back to his native Augsburg. In 1602, Bishop Johannes Valerius of Verona, Cardinal of the holy Roman Church, sent several larger relics to Bishop Henry V (Heinrich V) of Augsburg, and confirmed their authenticity with his own document. Around this time the Counts Fugger had just built a new church and monastery for the Capuchins at Augsburg, and Bishop Henry undertook the inauguration on October 27, 1602. On the same day he also had the relics of Saint Wolfhard, as well as those of Saint Lucius, which arrived at about the same time from Bishop John of Chur, brought in a solemn procession to the new Capuchin church, accompanied by a large crowd of people, and buried them on the high altar on either side of the tabernacle.
To commemorate this grand and inspiring event, the diocese of Augsburg celebrates Saint Wolfhard's feast on October 27. When the Capuchin monastery in Augsburg was dissolved at the beginning of this century [the 19th century], the last provincial, P. Florinus, migrated with the saints' relics and the relevant documents to the central monastery in Dillingen and placed them in the Capuchin church there. On September 5, 1858, with an enormous throng in attendance, the same were solemnly transferred to the Augsburg monastery church of Saint Sebastian. The proceedings were led by the Reverend Bishop Michael, now [in the 19th century] Archbishop of Bamberg, who also held a solemn pontifical office after the sermon.
(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 2, Augsburg, 1861, pp. 531-32)
*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 Wolfhard 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.
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