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.

Saint Onouphrios Saves a Child Who Had Fallen Down a Cliff

Mr. Anastasios Soukoulis from Corinth told us the following:

I was a small child, in the early grades of Elementary School, and one day I stayed at home with my grandfather. My parents lived on our estates, far from the village, since it was summer and they were harvesting.

When I woke up in the morning, my grandfather had left to carry the bundles from the fields with the animals, and he had locked the door of our house. Since I had no other way out of the house I tried to get out through the window without thinking that there was a cliff below.

Life of the Holy Hermits John, Andrew, Heraclemon and Theophilos of Oxyrhynchus

 

Below is continued the Life of Saint Onouphrios the Egyptian by Abba Paphnutios, which follows Abba Paphnutios after the burial of Saint Onouphrios (June 12), with his encounter of some anonymous monks, and this is followed by his encounter with the Holy Hermits John, Andrew, Heraclemon and Theophilos, who are commemorated together on December 2nd.

Life of Saint Onouphrios the Egyptian

By Abba Paphnutios

And when I perceived that it was not according to the will of God for me to remain in this place, I spread out my hands, and I prayed unto the Lord; and behold, the man who had come to me at the first, and who had given me strength, came to me again as he had done before. And he said unto me, "My God, our Lord, informed us this day that thou wast coming to us in this place. Behold, for six years we have seen no man except thyself."

Synaxarion of our Venerable Father Onouphrios the Egyptian

St. Onouphros of Egypt (Feast Day - June 12)

Verses

And the commandment of one tunic Father,
You exceeded having gone about naked to the end.
On the twelfth Onouphrios was removed from life without a tunic.

Venerable Onouphrios was from Egypt, who at first was in a coenobium, which was located in Hermopolis of the Thebaid. Having later heard about the quiet and secluded life of the Prophet Elias and John the Baptist, he left the coenobium and found a home in the desert for sixty years, without seeing another person. The Monk Paphnutios found him, having ventured into the innermost desert, in order to find venerable men, and to be blessed by them.

Synaxarion of the Holy Hermits John, Heraclemon, Andrew and Theophilos of Oxyrhynchus

Sts. John, Heraclemon, Andrew and Theophilos (Feast Day - December 2)

Verses

Four men in a land without sorrow,
Full of afflictions they entered the land.

These Saints were from the city of Oxyrhynchus, which is in Egypt, near the Nile River, and were the sons of Christian parents. Because they engaged in reading the divine Scriptures, by this they were moved towards compunction. And leaving the world behind, they went into the deepest desert, being led there by God. 

Monastery of Saint Onouphrios in the Field of Blood of Jerusalem

Akeldama, which in Aramaic means "Field of Blood", is where Judas Iscariot committed suicide by hanging himself, in Jerusalem’s Hinnom Valley — a picturesque setting whose infamous history of child sacrifices caused it to be identified with the hell of unquenchable fire and punishment.

The Greek Orthodox Monastery of Saint Onouphrios now stands on the place where Judas is believed to have hanged himself. The monastery occupies a narrow terrace on the southern face of the valley, facing Mount Zion and the Old City walls.

The Monastery of Saint Onouphrios, built in 1874 over the remains of an earlier church building, is occupied by a small community of Greek Orthodox nuns.

The 15th Century Church of Saint Onouphrios in Herakleion, Crete

The Church of Saint Onouphrios is a one-aisled basilica with a dome located in the city of Herakleion in Crete. It dates probably to the 15th century, and is first mentioned in a catalogue of churches in Handaka, known as Herakleion today, from 1583. It can be found today at the junction of the streets 1866 and Tsikritzis, known as Ladadika.

Saint Onouphrios the Egyptian Resource Page

St. Onouphrios the Egyptian (Feast Day - June 12)

Verses  

 

And the commandment of one tunic Father, 

You exceeded having gone about naked to the end. 

On the twelfth Onouphrios was removed from life without a tunic.

 

Synaxarion of our Venerable Father Onouphrios the Egyptian

 

Life of Saint Onouphrios the Anchorite of Egypt 

 

Saint Onouphrios as a Model for our Lives 

 

June: Day 12: Venerable Onouphrios the Great 

 

Miracles of Saint Onouphrios the Egyptian 

 

A Miracle of Saint Onouphrios in Kerkyra

 

Saint Onouphrios Saves a Child Who Had Fallen Down a Cliff 

 

Monastery of Saint Onouphrios in the Field of Blood of Jerusalem

 

The 15th Century Church of Saint Onouphrios in Herakleion, Crete 

 

Saint Onouphrios Monastery of Jableczna, Poland

 

How Saint Onouphrios Became the Patron Saint of Munich

 

Life of the Holy Hermits John, Andrew, Heraclemon and Theophilos of Oxyrhynchus

 

Saint Onouphrios of Koronisia

 

Recluses and Holy Communion

 

The Role of the Eucharist in the Lives of the Desert Fathers 

Life of Saint Onouphrios the Anchorite of Egypt

St. Onouphrios the Great (Feast Day - June 12)

Life of Saint Onouphrios the Egyptian

Verses

And the commandment of one tunic Father,
You exceeded having gone about naked to the end.
On the twelfth Onouphrios was removed from life without a tunic.

By Abba Paphnutios

Chapter I

One day as I, Paphnutios, was meditating in solitude and silence, it came into my mind that I should make a visit to all the places in the desert where there were holy monks, to shed light on how they habitually lived their lives of devotion, and learn to understand the way in which they served God. So it was that I quietly began my journey, eager to make this pleasurable venture into the desert. I carried some bread and water with me to sustain me in the labor of my journey, but by the end of the fourth day it had all gone. My limbs were beginning to lose their strength for lack of sustenance. However by the light of divine grace my imminent death was staved off, and gathering up my strength I resumed my journey, carrying on for another four days, eating nothing. At the end of this I was completely exhausted, and lay prostrate on the ground as if dead.

Saint Onouphrios Monastery of Jableczna, Poland

The Monastery of St. Onouphrios (Onuphrius, Onufry) is in the village of Jableczna, between Terespol and Koden, near Bug river. St. Onouphrios Monastery in Jabłeczna was built in the 15th century and is dedicated to the Egyptian hermit living in the 4th century. It has been the only Orthodox monastery in the area of the diocese. It played a significant role during the time of the Union of Brest, being an important centre of the Orthodox faith. In the first half of the 17th century the Bishop of Chełm was residing here. This monastery, as one of very few, has always been Orthodox. The beginning of the 20th century was the greatest in the monastery’s history, where there were 80 monks, 5 schools, a patient’s clinic as well as a farm was operating there. The major feast is on June 12/25 - in honor of St. Onouphrios. Today there are 10 monks in the monastery and is under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan of Warsaw and All Poland.


Read more here and here.