ST RUPERT OF BINGEN, HERMIT - 15 MAY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MAY

Saints celebrated on the 15th of May

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ST RUPERT OF BINGEN, HERMIT

Saint Rupert (Rupertus, Ropertus. Robertus), who lived in the 9th century, was the son of a pagan father, Roboldus (Robolaus), and a pious, Christian mother named Bertha, After the death of her husband, she devoted all her care to the boy, who had been blessed with great gifts, and at the age of seven, when he wanted to learn the sciences, she entrusted some pious and experienced men with his education. With her inherited wealth, his mother built a church and houses for the poor and infirm. Rupert heard a voice saying to him: "You will build yourself a ladder to heaven, where you will be a companion of the angels." 

Fifteen years old, he made a pilgrimage to Rome to pray for himself and his mother. Rupert is therefore often depicted as a pilgrim. After his return home, he built several churches, gave up all his belongings and settled on a mountain near Bingen (Rupertsberg), where his mother also retreated. There he spent the short days of his life in burning love for God.

When he was twenty years old he became very ill with fever, from which he died after thirty days. St Hildegard of Bingen, who received revelations about his life, adds that Rupert had fulfilled all the inspirations of the Holy Spirit from the first to the last. 

His body was ceremoniously buried in the oratory of the women's monastery, which he and his mother had built nearby, amid a large crowd of people. His mother Bertha survived him for almost 25 years, which she sanctified through fasting, prayer and almsgiving, until finally, stricken by physical weakness, she commended her spirit, which had long longed for heaven, into the hands of God. She was buried next to her saintly son.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 4, Augsburg, 1875 - 🎨 Monastery Saint Rupert during the Thirty Years' War)

Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations

PRAYER:

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