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BL. FREDERICK, ABBOT - 3 MARCH

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MARCH

Saints celebrated on the 3rd of March

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BLESSED FREDERICK, ABBOT


Blessed Frederick (Fredericus), commemorated on March 3, was born in the village of Hallum, two hours from Leeuwarden or Liewerden in Friesland. He lost his father Dodo at an early age, but retained a God-fearing mother in Suitberga (Sibrich), under whose watchful eye he grew up in innocence and simplicity of heart, to the joy of all around him. 

For his scholarly education he went to Münster and made admirable progress there in virtue and learning. A particular lover of virginal purity, he chose Saint John the Evangelist as his preeminent patron, and after the Blessed Virgin, he also had a fervent veneration of the angelically pure Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr. 

After completing his studies, he returned home and remained there, edifying the community with his example of virtue, until he reached the age necessary to receive priestly ordination. 

As a newly ordained priest, he was assigned as an assistant to the pastor of Hallum and, after his death, was appointed his successor. However, he soon decided to combine pastoral care and preaching with the duties of canons and monks, for which he requested permission from Bishop Godfrey of Utrecht. He then spent some time at the Premonstratensian monastery of Marienwerdt, not far from Utrecht, which Herman of Cuyk had founded in 1129.

Here he truly immersed himself in the spirit of the order, which he also zealously strove to revive in others. Supported by the generosity of noblewomen, he built a church near Hallum in 1163, which was consecrated on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

Afterwards, he built a monastery there, which was soon populated by pious Premonstratensian monks, over whom Frederick presided as the first abbot; the house was then named "Mary's Garden" (Hortus S. Mariae). Soon, the new establishment became too small, and the monk Tacho or Dadacho, a man of remarkable eloquence, founded two more abbeys: one in the Gröningen region by the sea, called Olde-Cloister (Old Monastery), which was later converted into a community of nuns; the other on Marienberg near Dockum in honour of Saint Boniface, who was martyred there. Three pious matrons also founded a women's monastery, to which Blessed Frederick appointed a virtuous virgin, Gertrudis von Dresum, as superior.

Another convent was erected not far from the En River, which was given the name Bethlehem. Frederick lived for another 13 years as abbot of the Mary's Garden monastery and passed away peacefully in the Lord on March 3, 1175. Miracles before and after his death testify to the godliness of his pious conduct. (I. 289. But. XIX. 307.)

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 2, Augsburg, 1861, p. 312)

*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 Blessed Frederick 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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