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SAINT ERMINOLD, ABBOT - 6 JANUARY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JANUARY

Saints celebrated on the 6th of January

SAINT ERMINOLD, ABBOT

In A.D. 1035, Saint Erminold was born in Swabia to godly parents who, for his education, placed him under the monastic care of Hirschau. This Württemberg monastery, not far from Calw, founded in A.D. 830, belonged to the Order of Saint Benedict. Its most famous abbot was William (Wilhelm), who reigned from 1069-1091. It was to this godly abbot that Erminold was entrusted to trained. 

After taking his vows, Erminold showed himself an excellent religious, with a real knack for initiating others into the spirit of the Order, while at the same time being a zealous and capable spiritual father. That is why Emperor Henry (Heinrich V) had him in mind in 1110 when the dignity of abbot was to be awarded at Lorsch (Lauresheim) in the Upper Rheingau. A few months in this his new role, however, the saint found out that his brother had given the emperor a considerable gift for his appointment, saw this as simony, so resigned his office and returned to Hirschau. 

Scarcely had Bishop Otto of Bamberg heard of these new developments, when he immediately asked him to be the abbot of the Prüfing monastery near Regensburg [Ratisbon] that he himself had founded. Erminold saw this request as a sign from God, moved to the new monastery, taking a few monks with him. He laid a firm foundation of evangelical perfection through word and example. 

One fine day, the excommunicated emperor came with his entourage to pay a visit to Erminold's monastery. The courageous abbot, upon hearing of his approach, ordered the gate to be e locked and bolted. He proceeded boldly to meet the ruler face to face and addressed him thus: "I would like to have, o Emperor! received you with royal splendour if I did not know that you are excluded from the communion of the Church by apostolic power." At this frank speech the emperor departed. On a later occasion, when the ruler passed by again and his entourage was preparing to take revenge on the monastery, he said: "Leave off; I know the abbot and the holiness of this man."

Erminold was full of love and forgiveness towards his enemies, full of pity and generosity towards the poor. This was shown particularly during a prevailing famine, when he gave almost the entire monastery property to the hungry, so that he and his fellow monks had to go short of food themselves for a long time.

Since, despite all his mildness, he also strictly adhered to monastic discipline and order, some unrestrained and incorrigible people did not like this trait of his; they detested that Erminold pulled them up when necessary. Some wanted the holy abbot out of the way; therefore they plotted to kill him. Their first attempt failed. The next day, however, a lay brother, whose name was Aaron, lay in wait for him and wounded him fatally with a large log of wood. A day or two later, on January 6, 1121, he the holy abbot went to his eternal reward. He was glorified by numerous miracles. (I. 335)

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 2, Augsburg, 1861, pp. 85-86)

Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Erminold 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.

Sources of these articles (in the original German): books.google.co.uk, de-academic.com, zeno.org, openlibrary.org














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