ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN FEBRUARY
Saints celebrated on the 11th of February
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VENERABLE HUGH OF SAINT VICTOR, MYSTIC
V. Hugo de S. Victore (commemorated on July 5, and also on February 11), also called "Hugh of Paris," is counted among the "Blessed" by Ferrarius* and Migne*, but others, and especially all the French sources, list him as "Venerable." We too give him this title, because the Bollandists* do (II. 215). In their work, they then cite his praise from Saussayus* and remark that they have not come across sources that call him "Saint" or "Blessed," which is why they mention him among their praetermissi. He seems to have been born around the year 1097.
Whether he descended, as is commonly assumed, from the Blankenburg family of counts is as uncertain as his homeland, as he is sometimes listed as a Saxon, sometimes as a Flemishman, a Lorrainer, and a Gaul. According to Mabillon*, he was born in the Ypres region (in the Belgian province of West Flanders). Since he himself indicates in a letter that he once lived in the Augustinian monastery of Hamersleben near Halberstadt, his birthplace was probably in that area. In any case, it is most likely that he received his early education at the Hamersleben monastery.
Around 1115 he came to the Augustinian monastery of Saint-Victor near Paris, founded by William of Champeaux in 1109, from which he takes his nickname, because he entered and remained there as a Regular Canon (Canonicus regularis). Until his death, which occurred in 1141 or 1142, he devoted himself to learning and contemplation.
He was one of the most venerable theologians and Christian philosophers of all time, a man as humble as he was learned, who knew how to combine faith and knowledge in the most beautiful way. In speculative thought he followed
Saint Augustine in particular and is therefore called "the second Augustine," "the tongue of Augustine." In mysticism he followed in the footsteps of Saint Bernard, his friend and contemporary, with whom he frequently conversed. Of his writings, "De Sacramentis," "Summa Sententiarum," and "Didascalion" are the most outstanding.
(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 2, Augsburg, 1861, p. 789)
*A hagiography source used by the authors
Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations
Sources of these articles (in the original German): books.google.co.uk, de-academic.com, zeno.org, openlibrary.org
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