{"id":108774,"date":"2024-07-13T09:49:02","date_gmt":"2024-07-13T16:49:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/?p=108774"},"modified":"2024-07-15T10:07:59","modified_gmt":"2024-07-15T17:07:59","slug":"one-thousand-years-ago-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/one-thousand-years-ago-today\/","title":{"rendered":"One Thousand Years Ago Today"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

O<\/span>ne thousand years ago, the saint we celebrate today died. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that vanishingly few American churches have an image of today’s saint. But our old parish of Holy Rosary does. Let me explain.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

It’s a pretty rare thing when Kings become saints, or at least become canonized<\/em> saints. I can only think of a handful off the top of my head, though I’m sure there are more: Saint Louis IX<\/a> of France, Saint Edward the Confessor<\/a> of Anglo-Saxon England, Saint Stephen<\/a> of Hungary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today is the memorial of the only Western Emperor<\/em> Saint of which I’m aware: Saint Heinrich II, Duke of Bavaria, King of Germany, Holy Roman Emperor<\/span>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span>. In English, he is often called “Henry”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He lived near the start of the high middle ages (my favourite period), from 6 May 972 to 13 July 1024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His cousin, Otto III, was Emperor before him. In 1002, Heinrich was at the head of an army marching into Italy to support his cousin against various rebel Lombard warlords, when he heard the news of the young emperor’s death.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
Map of the Holy Roman Empire,
about AD 1000<\/span><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Heinrich rescued Otto’s isolated court in Ravenna, dispersing rebels and bandits as he went. He then turned his army around, recrossed the alps, and with the help of the powerful Archbishop of Mainz secured his claim to the German throne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was ultimately crowned Emperor by Pope Benedict VIII in Rome in 1014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

None of this, of course, tells us why he is a saint. These bare facts are the circumstances of his life, and they tell us very little about what he chose to do with the life God had given him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Heinrich chose to do was to build up the Kingdom of God within his frail human empire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He took vows as an Oblate of the Order of Saint Benedict, and is now (together with Saint Frances of Rome<\/a>) the patron saint of Benedictine Oblates. Nevertheless, he supported the German bishops in their struggles against the immensely wealthy and notoriously corrupt Benedictine abbeys in Germany at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Of course, some of the Bishops and clergy weren’t exactly spotless paragons of virtue either, and benefices had become hereditary in many parts of Heinrich’s three Kingdoms of Germany, Italy, and Burgundy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To combat this, Heinrich used the full force of his authority to enforce clerical celibacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He and his wife, Saint Cunigunde of Luxembourg<\/a>, endowed many new churches and monasteries. In many ways, he is responsible for the reform movement that culminated in the Church-wide Gregorian Reforms a generation later. Perhaps his most impressive endowment was the creation of the Diocese of Bamberg out of his own personal lands in 1007.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bamberg grew into a center of scholarship and art in the north, a beacon of culture and learning in the rough-and-tumble wilds of Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

H<\/span>e<\/em> arranged everything relating to the glory or advantage of his empire with the greatest prudence, and left scattered throughout Gaul, Italy, and Germany, traces of his munificence towards religion. The sweet odor of his heroic virtue spread far and wide, till he was more celebrated for his holiness than for his imperial dignity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At length his life’s work was accomplished, and he was called by our Lord to the rewards of the heavenly kingdom, in the year of salvation 1024. His body was buried in the church of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul at Bamberg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God wished to glorify His servant, and many miracles were worked at his tomb. These being afterwards proved and certified, Eugenius III inscribed his name upon the catalogue of the saints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Dom Prosper Gu\u00e9ranger O.S.B., The Liturgical Year<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Last year, the Cathedral at Bamberg announced the production of Playmobil figures<\/a> of these two founding saints. I found this idea delightful! My friend Anja, a fellow pilgrim we met in O Cebreiro many years ago, obtained these for me, as she lives very near to the Cathedral. They’re fun!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I first became aware of Saint Heinrich when I worked a marketing contract for the Archdiocese of Seattle Catholic Schools at a former Benedictine church in what was once the Germantown neighbourhood.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Saints<\/a>
Saints Heinrich and Cunigunde at
Holy Rosary in Tacoma<\/span><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The building has magnificent stained glass windows, and after all this time the identity of some of the saints depicted had become a trifle obscure. We were able (finally) to identify the “king and queen window” as depicting Saints Heinrich and Cunigunde. German? Check. Benedictine? Check.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And many years later, we became parishioners of that same church, Our Lady of the Holy Rosary<\/a> in Tacoma. Funny how that works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, let us ask for the prayers of Saint Heinrich, patron of Benedictine Oblates, that we might use the talents and circumstances that God has given us in His Grace and mercy for the building up of His Kingdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

O<\/span><\/em> God, whose abundant grace
prepared Saint Henry to be raised by you
in a wonderful way
from the cares of earthly rule
to heavenly realms,
grant, we pray, through his intercession,
that amid the uncertainties of this world
we may hasten towards you
with minds made pure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amen.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One thousand years ago, the saint we celebrate today died. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that vanishingly few American churches have an image of today’s saint. But our old parish of Holy Rosary does. Let me explain. It’s a pretty rare thing when Kings become saints, or at least become canonized saints. I can only […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6065,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[46,10,7,90,3,19,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-annual","category-fun","category-history","category-holy-rosary-parish-tacoma","category-moments-in-time","category-pray","category-saint"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Kronung_Heinrich_II.jpg?fit=453%2C600&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1aGBK-siq","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":88634,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/changes-2017-farewell-to-father-wichert\/","url_meta":{"origin":108774,"position":0},"title":"Changes 2017: Farewell to Father Wichert","author":"Thom","date":"29 June 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning, the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Father Nicholas Wichert celebrated his last Mass at Holy Rosary as its thirteenth pastor. The Mass was celebrated for the fathers of our parish on the Saint Joseph altar. I served at the Mass, and I was able to make good\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2017 transitions - Holy Rosary \/ Visitation"","block_context":{"text":"2017 transitions - Holy Rosary \/ Visitation","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/2017-transitions-holy-rosary-visitation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/2017-06-29-09.59.58.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/2017-06-29-09.59.58.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/2017-06-29-09.59.58.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/2017-06-29-09.59.58.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/2017-06-29-09.59.58.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":106472,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/emperor-oblate-saint\/","url_meta":{"origin":108774,"position":1},"title":"Emperor, Oblate, Saint","author":"Thom","date":"13 July 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"going to go out on a limb and say that vanishingly few American churches have an image of today's saint. But our old parish of Holy Rosary does. Let me explain. It's a pretty rare thing when Kings become saints, or at least become canonized saints. I can only think\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Annual"","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/w1a.jpg?fit=875%2C1172&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/w1a.jpg?fit=875%2C1172&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/w1a.jpg?fit=875%2C1172&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/w1a.jpg?fit=875%2C1172&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":107065,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/saint-heinrich-2022\/","url_meta":{"origin":108774,"position":2},"title":"Emperor, Oblate, Saint","author":"Thom","date":"13 July 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"going to go out on a limb and say that vanishingly few American churches have an image of today's saint. But our old parish of Holy Rosary does. Let me explain. It's a pretty rare thing when Kings become saints, or at least become canonized saints. I can only think\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Annual"","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/w1a.jpg?fit=875%2C1172&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/w1a.jpg?fit=875%2C1172&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/w1a.jpg?fit=875%2C1172&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/w1a.jpg?fit=875%2C1172&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":97165,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/emperor-saint-2019\/","url_meta":{"origin":108774,"position":3},"title":"An Emperor Saint","author":"Thom","date":"13 July 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"going to go out on a limb and say that vanishingly few American churches have an image of today's saint. But ours does. Let me explain. It's a pretty rare thing when Kings become saints, or at least become canonized saints. I can only think of a handful off the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Annual"","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/HRR_10Jh.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/HRR_10Jh.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/HRR_10Jh.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/HRR_10Jh.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/HRR_10Jh.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/HRR_10Jh.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":84120,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/ad-multos-annos-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":108774,"position":4},"title":"Ad Multos Annos!","author":"Thom","date":"13 June 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Today on the Feast of Saint Anthony of Padua, I was privileged to serve at Mass for the fifth anniversary of the ordination of a good and holy priest, Rev Jacob Maurer. I rearranged my work from home day to be at the 8:00AM Mass. Our visiting seminarian, Peter Guthrie,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Chant"","block_context":{"text":"Chant","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/chant\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Fr-Maurer-with-Saint-Anthony-of-Padua.jpg?fit=526%2C526&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Fr-Maurer-with-Saint-Anthony-of-Padua.jpg?fit=526%2C526&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Fr-Maurer-with-Saint-Anthony-of-Padua.jpg?fit=526%2C526&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":106373,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/a-corpus-christi-invitation-to-holy-rosary-parishioners\/","url_meta":{"origin":108774,"position":5},"title":"A Corpus Christi Invitation to Holy Rosary Parishioners","author":"Thom","date":"21 May 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"brothers and sisters in Christ, It is now more than ten months since our last parish Mass was celebrated in our parking lot by Archbishop Etienne. Several months ago, the Archbishop announced that the four parishes of Holy Rosary, Saint Ann, Saint Rita, and Visitation would be merging into a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2021 Transitions in Tacoma"","block_context":{"text":"2021 Transitions in Tacoma","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/2021-transitions-in-tacoma\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/cc01-by-Emily-Gossard.png?fit=825%2C551&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/cc01-by-Emily-Gossard.png?fit=825%2C551&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/cc01-by-Emily-Gossard.png?fit=825%2C551&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/cc01-by-Emily-Gossard.png?fit=825%2C551&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108774"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108777,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108774\/revisions\/108777"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}