Saint Wolfgang
(d-994)
Feast day – October 31
Saint Wolfgang erected the first church at the shore
of the Wolfgangsee after he withdrew to the nearby Mondsee Abbey in 976.
According to legend he threw an axe down the mountain to find the site and even
persuaded the Devil to contribute to the building by promising him the first
living being ever entering the church. However Satan was disappointed as the
first creature over the doorstep was a wolf.
After Wolfgang's canonization in 1052, the church
became a major pilgrimage site, as it was first mentioned in an 1183 deed by
Pope Lucius III. In 1481 it was furnished with the famous Pacher polyptych.
There had been several places for lodging around the church since medieval
times, while the Weißes Rössl hotel was not built until 1878.
During World War II, a subcamp of the Dachau
concentration camp was located here.
Saint Wolfgang (or Saint Wolfgang of Regensburg) (c. 934 –
October 31, 994) was bishop of Regensburg in Bavaria from Christmas 972 until
his death. He is a saint of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches
(canonized in 1052). He is regarded as one of the three great German saints of
the 10th century, the other two being Saint Ulrich and Saint Conrad of
Constance.
Wolfgang was descended from the family of the Swabian
Counts of Pfullingen (Mon. Germ. His.: Script., X, 53). When seven years
old he had an ecclesiastic as tutor at home; later he attended the celebrated
monastic school at Reichenau Abbey.
Here he formed a strong friendship with Henry of
Babenberg, brother of Bishop Poppo of Würzburg, whom he followed to Würzburg in
order to attend the lectures of the noted Italian grammarian, Stephen of
Novara, at the cathedral school.
After Henry was made Archbishop of Trier in 956, he
summoned Wolfgang, who became a teacher in the cathedral school of Trier, and
also laboured for the reform of the archdiocese, despite the hostility with
which his efforts were met.
Wolfgang's residence at Trier greatly influenced his
monastic and ascetic tendencies, as here he came into contact with the great
reformatory monastery of the 10th century, St. Maximin's Abbey, Trier, where he
made the acquaintance of Romuald, the teacher of Saint Adalbert of Prague.
After the death of Archbishop Henry of Trier in 964,
Wolfgang entered the Benedictine order in the Abbey of Maria Einsiedeln,
Switzerland, and was ordained priest by Saint Ulrich in 968.
Sources for this article were taken from: Wikipedia.com
Prayer
Lord,
Help us to follow in your footsteps
Just as your Apostles did,
That we may be a good example to others.
Grant us
the graces we need to be good disciples
And always lead our friends on the path
to holiness.
Amen.
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