ST FULRAD, ABBOT OF SAINT-DENIS

ST FULRAD, ABBOT OF SAINT-DENIS - 16 JULY

SAINT FULRAD, ABBOT OF SAINT-DENIS

Saint Fulrad, Abbot, commemorated on July 16, alternatively February 17, was born in Alsace, where his parents - the nobles Riculf and Ermengarda - held significant estates that later enabled him to found several monasteries. He achieved great renown through his piety, his superior intellect, and the positions of honour and office entrusted to him by popes and kings.

According to historical records, he was the fourteenth Abbot of Saint-Denis (Dionysius) in France, an advisor to King Pepin, a palace chaplain, and archpriest of the kingdoms of Austrasia, Neustria, and Burgundy; he also served as arch-chaplain (or Grand Almoner) of France, a role he retained under Carloman and Charlemagne. In 744, he requested from Pope Zachary the pallium for the Archbishop of Reims; in 749, he was sent to Rome alongside Bishop Burchard of Würzburg to consult with the Holy Father regarding the French crown. Around 753, he began using the title of Abbot for the monasteries he had founded in the Diocese of Strasbourg - Leberau and Saint-Hippolyte - as well as the Priory of Salona in the Diocese of Metz; in his will of 777, he later placed these houses under the authority of the Abbey of Saint-Denis. Pope Zachary granted him the privilege allowing Saint-Denis and its dependent monasteries to elect their own bishop from among their monastic brethren - a bishop who would be subject directly to Rome. When Pope Stephen arrived in France toward the end of 753 for the King's coronation, Abbot Fulrad went out to meet him, accompanied him to the King, and, after the festivities had concluded, returned with him to Rome. In the year 755, he helped humble the Lombard King Aistulf and subsequently, in the king's name, gifted the Exarchate and the Pentapolis to the Pope. He received from Rome the relics of Saints Vitus, Alexander, and Hippolytus; these, along with the relics of Saint Veranus and Saint Cucufas (the latter obtained from Barcelona), he distributed among the churches and monasteries he had founded.

Abbot Fulrad died on July 16, 784, and was laid to rest in the church of Saint-Denis; however, his remains were later transferred to the monastery of Leberau - possibly on February 17, which is why his feast day was celebrated on that date for a considerable time. In the Buc. Suppl.*, he is also listed on February 17. Some sources have regarded our saint as an uncle of Charlemagne, but in doing so, they confused him with the Abbot Fulrad of Saint-Quentin in Vermandois, who lived about fifty years later.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 2, Augsburg, 1861, p. 332)

*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 Fulrad 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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