Saints celebrated on the 16th of June
WELCOME!
SAINT GEBHARD, ARCHBISHOP OF SALZBURG, CONFESSOR
 |
| Saint Gebhard |
The name Gebhard is derived from Old High German words meaning "strong (tireless) in giving."
Saint Gebhard (Gebhardus), Archbishop, Confessor, is commemorated on June 16. He was a descendant of the family of the Counts of Helffenstein, who resided between Ulm and the former Duchy of Württemberg. His father was named Chadold, his mother Azala. He had a sister, Dietberga, who married Werner of Reichersberg, the founder of Reichersberg Abbey, around 1070 or 1084. Saint Gebhard studied in Paris at the same time as the future bishops Altmann of Passau and Adalbero of Würzburg. In March 1055, Saint Gebhard was ordained a priest and a canon at Salzburg Cathedral by Archbishop Baldwin. During Henry III's reign he received the office of imperial chancellor. When Archbishop Baldwin died in 1060, he was appointed his successor. On June 11, he received the investiture with ring and staff from Emperor Henry III; on July 20, he was canonically installed in the archbishopric by his friend, the blessed Bishop Adalbero of Würzburg, and on the 30th of the same month, he was consecrated in Regensburg in the presence of the six bishops: Gebhard of Regensburg, Engelbert of Passau, Ellinhard of Freising, Altwin of Seben, Adalbero of Würzburg, and Gunzo of Eichstätt (Butler XIX. 577). In 1062, he received the archiepiscopal pallium.
As bishop, nothing was closer to his heart than the salvation of souls, the adornment and decoration of churches, the purity and integrity of the clergy, and the care of the poor and sick.
It is no wonder that the Apostolic See in Rome placed its utmost trust in him, appointing him apostolic legate to Germany and raising him to the rank of Primate of Germany in 1062. After the death of Bishop Engelbert of Passau in 1055, Saint Gebhard consecrated his fellow student, Blessed Altmann, as the head of this diocese.
In the Investiture Controversy, Saint Gebhard naturally sided entirely with the Pope, as the father of Christendom. Without hesitation, he signed the decrees of the Council of Mainz against the simony Bishop Charles of Constance (See Saint Cumdecarus) in 1071. Because he did not want to serve two masters, he also declined the honour of imperial archchaplain that had been offered to him. Gebhard founded the Diocese of Gurk for Carinthia and Pannonia, which remained subordinate to the Archbishop of Salzburg. According to the decree of Emperor Henry IV, the canons living there first had to be asked for their consent, which they readily granted (Hansizius, Part II, Germania Sacra, p. 175). The founding charter states the reasons that prompted his undertaking: the rugged, often very difficult roads in the mountains, the turbulent times, and various hardships and business matters that prevented him from remaining in Carinthia for an extended period. Then there was the vast extent of the diocese, "so that we," as he himself says, "could in no way fulfill the Church of God in the exercise of our divine calling (in divinis) and were very anxiously concerned for the salvation of our souls in this regard" - words that offer a deeper glimpse into his pious, God-fearing soul than the most extensive description can provide. That Saint Gebhard also reserved for himself the appointment of the bishops of Gurk, as has been claimed (W. W. IX. 593), may be doubted, since the first bishop, Gunter von Kraphelt, was elected by the canons of Gurkhofen, received the ring from Saint Gebhard, and the staff from the prelate (Hansizius, ibid). Emperor Henry IV confirmed the foundation in 1072.
Soon after, our Saint had to go through a time of external anxieties and suffering. The Investiture Controversy broke out with full force and poured a great deal of its severe afflictions upon the head of Saint Gebhard. He may have foreseen this; therefore, he first sought to make the ground as fertile as possible for the Kingdom of God and especially also for his archdiocese, so that he could then water the new seed with his tears and sorrow. In 1074, he founded the Abbey of Admont (Ad montes) in a dreadful region, where he chose to designate his burial place.
After his return from the Council of Rome, he consecrated the abbey church on September 29 in honour of Mary and Sain Blaise, Bishop and Martyr. He appointed the monk Arnold Isengrim as the first abbot and called twelve monks to sing the praises of God, care for the poor and sick, and educate the youth as well as adults. The Michaelbeuern and Heglwerth monasteries owe their origins to Saint Gebhard, too.
However, as time went on, the struggle between the Pope and the Emperor intensified. The decree of deposition against the latter had already been issued. Naturally, Saint Gebhard did not want to attend the shameful after-council of Worms (1076); but he was one of those who worked for the elevation of Duke Rudolph of Swabia at the assembly of Forchheim (1077). “Now,” writes his unnamed biographer in Butler* (XIX. 584), "extremely dangerous times were approaching, since apart from the fighters of Christ, Gebhard, Altmann of Passau, Adalbero of Würzburg, Hermann of Metz and Meginwardus of Freising, no Catholic bishop could be found in the whole German Empire, as almost all the others wanted to surrender and subordinate the ecclesiastical power entirely to secular power."
At that time, our holy Archbishop stood out as a faithful defender of the Roman Church and Catholic truth, who, girding himself with the armour of faith, protected the Church's stronghold throughout the German Empire with the sword of his word. The voice of our Lord in the Gospel, "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters" (Luke 11:23), had penetrated the ear of his heart. He was firmly resolved to follow Christ the Lord, who hung on the cross for the salvation of the Church, with sincere fidelity. Much that was shameful to him personally and to his station he had to endure from Henry's followers, who collectively plundered the possessions of his church, each stealing what was within his reach, as it were with the king's permission, despite the excommunication of the Pope and our Lord. The emperor went so far in his hostility that he appointed Count Berthold of Moosburg archbishop and expelled Saint Gebhard.
The exile lasted nine full years. The invader managed the church in an abysmal manner. He squandered the great church treasury (at that time, it was said, the richest in Bavaria, indeed in all of Germany) to such an extent that scarcely anything was left of it after Berthold's departure. Nevertheless, Gebhard sought in every way to bring about peace within the church. It pained him to see himself portrayed as a sower of discord: "Because we refused to make common cause with the enemies of the Apostolic See, we are blasphemed and persecuted, we and our property are exposed to every neighbour as if we were the originators of such a disastrous rift," he wrote to Bishop Henry of Metz.
Several talks intended to bring about peace proved unsuccessful. In 1085, he attended the Synod of Quedlinburg, presided over by the papal legate Leo of Ostia. The following year, he was forced to flee as far as Denmark. However, finally, circumstances changed. Duke Welf I of Bavaria sided with the Pope, expelled the invading Berthold, and restored the archiepiscopal see to Saint Gebhard.
Gebhard died at Werfen Castle on June 16, 1088, and was buried in the abbey church at Admont. Several miracles occurred there. A formal canonization did not take place. He is neither included in the Salzburg Properium* nor is he honoured with any kind of public or ecclesiastical veneration, even at Admont Abbey. Nevertheless, an old catalogue of the archbishops of Salzburg, kept at Mölk Abbey, refers to him as "saint," as did Canisius* and Ferrarius*. Baronius* included him in the list of saints not found in the Roman Martyrology*. Based on these authorities, we likewise believed ourselves entitled to use that designation (VI. 147).
(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 2, Augsburg, 1861, pp. 360-62)
*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 Gebhard 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
Comments
Post a Comment