How Saint Onouphrios Became the Patron Saint of Munich

 

 

 

According to historical sources (Anton Mayer, Münchner Sonntagsblatt, 1863), the founder of the city of Munich, Heinrich der Löwe, Duke of Bavaria, traveled to Jerusalem in 1172 where he visited a monastery containing the relics of Saint Onouphrios. When the monks told him about the life and holiness of the great hermit of the desert, the Duke begged to be given a portion of his sacred relics. As soon as he received the holy relic, he immediately proclaimed Saint Onouphrios the patron saint of his army for their safe return to Munich. When he arrived in Munich, he proclaimed Saint Onouphrios the patron saint of Munich and placed his relic in a special reliquary in the chapel of Munich Palace.

In the year 1416 Heinrich Primat, a native of Munich, made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. For a safe return to Munich he vowed to donate a large iconographic representation of Saint Onouphrios to the main gate of the wall that led to the center of Munich. He made his vow by placing a large statue of Saint Onouphrios next to the gate, in front of his house, in the central square of Munich, which was also the commercial center of Bavaria.

The Skull of Saint Sebastian in Bavaria

 

Saint Sebastian was martyred during the Roman emperor Diocletian’s persecution of Christians, around the year 288. Nearly 80 years after his death, around 367, his remains were moved to a basilica in Rome, built by Pope Damasus I. His body, or at least some relics from his body were reportedly removed and shared with a community of monks in France. His skull was sent to a German monastery in Ebersberg in 934. This monastery became one of the most important pilgrimage sites in southern Germany, as people flocked to venerate the skull of Saint Sebastian, which was believed to have miraculous power. 

 

Saint Eberigisil, Bishop of Cologne (+ 593)

 

St. Eberigisil of Cologne (Feast Day - October 24)

Saint Eberigisil was Bishop of Cologne, being its fifth well-attested bishop, and the first with a Frankish name. He is mentioned by Gregory of Tours but always using the past tense, so it is assumed that Eberigisil died before 594. He was known and loved by the people for his diplomatic skills.

Gregory of Tours writes of him as follows:

"At Cologne there is a church in which the fifty men from the holy Theban Legion are said to have consummated their martyrdom for the name of Christ. And because the church, with its wonderful construction and mosaics, shines as if somehow gilded, the inhabitants prefer to call it the 'Church of the Golden Saints'. Once Eberigisil, who was at the time Bishop of Cologne, was racked with severe pains in half of his head. He was then in a villa near a village. Severely weakened by this pain, as I said, he sent his deacon to the church of the saints. Since there was said to be in the middle of this church a pit into which the saints were thrown together after their martyrdom, the deacon collected some dust there and brought it to the bishop. As soon as the dust touched Eberigisil's head, immediately all pain was gone."

The Relics of the Three Magi

Crowned Skulls of the Three Magi

The Shrine of the Three Kings, also known as the Tomb of the Three Kings or the Tomb of the Three Magi, is a reliquary traditionally believed to contain the bones of the Biblical Magi, also known as the Three Kings or the Three Wise Men. The shrine is a large gilded and decorated triple sarcophagus placed above and behind the high altar of Cologne Cathedral in Germany. It is considered the high point of Mosan art and the largest reliquary in the western world.

According to legend dating to the 12th century, the relics of the Magi were originally situated at Constantinople after being discovered by Saint Helen, but brought to Milan with two small cows which transported a large sarcophagus of marble by Bishop Eustorgius I of Milan in 344, to whom they were entrusted by the Emperor Constans I. Eight centuries later in 1164, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa took the relics of the Magi from the Church of Saint Eustorgio in Milan and gave them to the Archbishop of Cologne, Rainald of Dassel. The Three Kings have since attracted a constant stream of pilgrims to Cologne. A part of these relics were returned to the Basilica of Sant'Eustorgio of Milan in 1904.

Marble sarcophagus of St. Eustorgius in Milan

Parts of the shrine were designed by the famous medieval goldsmith Nicholas of Verdun, who began work on it in 1180 or 1181. It has elaborate gold sculptures of the prophets and apostles, and scenes from the life of Christ. The shrine was completed circa 1225.

Around 1199, King Otto gave three golden crowns made for the three wise men as a present to the church of Cologne. Because of the importance of the shrine and the cathedral for the later development of the city, the Coat of Arms of Cologne still shows these three crowns symbolizing the Three Kings.

Construction of the present Cologne Cathedral begun in 1248 to house these important relics. The cathedral took 632 years to complete and is now the largest Gothic church in northern Europe.

Shrine of the Three Kings

On July 20, 1864, the shrine was opened, and remains of the Three Kings and the coins of Philip I, Archbishop of Cologne were discovered. An eyewitness report reads:

"In a special compartment of the shrine now there showed - along with remains of ancient old rotten or moulded bandages, most likely byssus, besides pieces of aromatic resins and similar substances - numerous bones of three persons, which under the guidance of several present experts could be assembled into nearly complete bodies: the one in his early youth, the second in his early manhood, the third was rather aged. Two coins, bracteates made of silver and only one side stricken, were adjoined; one, probably from the days of Philipps von Heinsberg, displayed a church, the other showed a cross, accompanied by the sword of jurisdiction, and the crosier [bishop's crook] on either side."

The bones were wrapped in white silk and returned to the shrine.

The Sandal of the Apostle Andrew in Trier

By Anatoly Kholodiuk

When you ascend the winding stone staircase leading to the sanctuary containing the robe of Jesus Christ in the Cathedral of Saint Peter in the German city of Trier, you’ll definitely stop to catch your breath on the spacious landing half way up. Here, to the left of the little table where they sell books and Catholic souvenirs, is a door with a turnstile to the vestry (built in 1450 and rebuilt in 1900). Here they explain that one can enter for a small fee. A special key sets in motion a metal “spinner” and the pilgrims are allowed in to look at the remarkable treasures of the vestry, and venerate the relics safeguarded there.

Synaxarion of the Holy Martyr Pancharios

St. Pancharios the Martyr (Feast Day - March 19)

Verses

Pancharios had all the riches of grace,
Anointed by God's grace on the way to being beheaded.

When the emperors Diocletian and Maximian reigned, from the years 286 to 305, which totaled nineteen years, the entire ecumene was full of the delusion of the idols, and every Christian that confessed Christ, was not only deprived of their property and belongings, but they even lost their lives, having first been tried with many and various tortures. At that time lived also Pancharios the Martyr of Christ, who was from the land of the Ousanon, from the city known as Villapati,* and was the son of Christian parents. He was tall and mighty in stature and handsome in appearance. Having gone to Rome, he became friends with Diocletian, became first of the ruling Senators, and was exceedingly loved by the emperor. Because of the exceeding love each shared for one another, Panacharios - alas! - disowned his faith in Christ, and became like-minded with the emperor. The emperor therefore arranged for Pancharios to receive provision-money every year from the empire, some by written apportionment, others by imperial edict, in order that by this he would have every manner of rest and relaxation. This bitter news reached the blessed mother and sister of Pancharios, and they wrote him a letter, advising him to first remember the fear of God, then to remember the fearsome judgment of God, at which time, those who recognized Christ, and boldly confessed Him before emperors and rulers, they will in turn confess on behalf of the Master Christ, and will receive the promise and rest of eternal good things. These were all things he knew very well. To the contrary, those who defied and denied the divinity of Christ, they will receive many judgments against them on that fearsome day of judgment. This also he knew very well. "Whoever confesses Me before others, I will also confess before my Father in heaven. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before My Father in heaven" (Matt. 10:32-33). These are the things they wrote him, as well as the other saying of the Lord which says: "What will it benefit a man, if he gains the whole world, and loses his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matt. 8:36).

Saint Boniface, Apostle to the Germans (+ 754)

St. Boniface, Archbishop of Mainz (Feast Day - June 5)

Our father among the saints Boniface (c. 672 - June 5, 754 or 755), the Apostle of the Germans, born Winfrid or Wynfrith at Crediton in Devonshire, was a missionary who propagated Christianity in Germany during the 8th century. His feast day is celebrated on June 5, the day of his repose.

He was of good family, and it was somewhat against his father's wishes that he devoted himself at an early age to the monastic life. He received his theological training in the Benedictine monasteries of Adescancastre, near Exeter and Nursling between Winchester and Southampton, under the abbot Winbert, taught in the abbey school and at the age of thirty became a priest. He wrote the first Latin grammar produced in England.

Saint Symeon of Trier, known as the Five-Tongued (+ 1035)

St. Symeon of Trier (Feast Day - May 1);
Icon in the Orthodox Chapel of Saint Athanasius the Great in the Cathedral of Trier.

Saint Symeon was born in the late 10th century in Syracuse, Sicily, to a Greek father and a Calabrian mother, during the period of Arab rule of the island. His father, who had been a soldier of the Byzantine army, sent him to Constantinople when he was seven years old to learn to read and write their native Greek language. As he grew older, Symeon decided to lead a life of a monk, so he set out on a pilgrimage to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Afterwards, for seven years, he became a guide, leading pilgrims to the holy places, before tiring of this life and preferring instead to live as a recluse.

Having heard of a holy recluse who lived in a tower on the bank of the Jordan River, Symeon went to work as his servant, living in the lower room of the tower, while learning from his new master how to practice the life of a recluse. Forced to depart, he realized after reading and re-reading the Lives of the Fathers, that in order to become a recluse he should train for a time in a monastery. As a result, he entered the Monastery of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem and became a monk. After two years there, he transferred to the famed Saint Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai in Egypt. While he was a member of that community, he was ordained as a deacon.

A Rotten Fruit of Ecumenism - Metropolitan Symbolically Baptized By Catholic Bishop

Ecumenism Day (May 5) was established in Germany in 2003 to bring together divided German Christians of various denominations and churches who believe in the Holy Trinity to symbolically celebrate their mutual cooperation. This year on Ecumenism Day thousands of pilgrims gathered in Trier to venerate an alleged robe of Christ, probably of medieval origin, which is seamless and came to symbolize on this day the seamless unity of Christians which is desired. However when the various Christian representatives, among whom was Metropolitan Augoustinos of Germany, gathered at the Basilica of Constantine, things went a little too far and the representatives got ahead of themselves with a symbolic baptism of each member by another member. They dipped their hand in water and symbolically baptized each other on the forehead with an open hand, saying: "You are baptized in the Name of the Triune God". Then, as a reminder of the theme of the pilgrimage, a white baptismal stole with the theme written on it was put on each representative. This was done to Metropolitan Augoustinos by Bishop Karl Heinz Wiesemann of the Catholic Church. Such are the unfortunate situations an Orthodox participant can get into when Ecumenism goes too far and the program is beyond their control and not properly evaluated beforehand to avoid a scandalous incident.

Many photos can be seen here and here.