Son of an Anglo-Saxon prince, Winebaud dedicated himself to God in Rome before joining Saint Boniface to evangelize Thuringia. He founded the monastery of Heidenheim in Bavaria, where he served as abbot for ten years. Recognized for his apostolic zeal and piety, he died in 760 and his relics were later transferred to escape desecration.
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SAINT WINEBAUD,
ABBOT OF HEIDENHEIM, IN THE PALATINATE OF BAVARIA (circa 760).
Origins and Roman pilgrimages
Son of Prince Richard, Winebaud undertook a pilgrimage to Rome marked by the death of his father in Lucca. He dedicated himself to study and religious life after two stays in the papal city.
Saint Winebaud Saint Winebaud Anglo-Saxon missionary abbot in Germany, founder of Heidenheim. was the son of Richar Richard Anglo-Saxon prince and father of Winebaud, Guillebaud, and Walburga. d, an Anglo-Saxon prince, and the brother of Saint saint Guillebaud Brother of Winebaud, Bishop of Eichstätt. Willib ald and Saint W sainte Walburge Sister of Winebald, abbess of the double monastery at Heidenheim. alpurga. The father, wishing to make a pi lgri Rome Birthplace of Maximian. mage to Rome, took his two sons with him; but he died i Lucques City in Italy where Saint Zita lived and died. n Lucca, around the year 722, and was buried in the church of Saint Frigidian. Winebaud and Willibald continued their journey. The latter, after spending some time in Rome, undertook a voyage to the Holy Land. The former, who was of a weak constitution, remained in that city, where he studied for seven years. He then received the clerical tonsure and dedicated himself entirely to the service of God. Having returned to England, he persuaded several of his relatives and friends to accompany him on a second pilgrimage that he made to Rome. When they had arrived in that city, they embraced the religious state.
Apostolic mission in Germany
At the invitation of his relative Saint Boniface, Winebaud joined Thuringia in 728. Ordained a priest, he took responsibility for seven churches in the region.
Saint Boniface Saint Boniface Apostle of Germany who called upon Burchard to assist him. , a relative of Saint Winebaud, came to Rome in 728. He urged our Saint to follow him to Germany to share in his apostolic labors. They went together into Thuringia. Winebaud Thuringe Region of Germany where Winebaud exercised his priestly ministry. was ordained a priest and charged with the governance of seven churches in that country.
Foundation of the Monastery of Heidenheim
Called by his brother Willibald to Eichstätt, Winebaud founded a double monastery at Heidenheim, directing the monks while his sister Walburga directed the nuns.
Saint Willibald, Saint Guillebaud Brother of Winebaud, Bishop of Eichstätt. having been made Bishop of Eichstätt (Bavaria), drew his brother into his diocese. Winebaud retired into the woods of Heidenhei Heidenheim Site of the foundation of the monastery of Winebaud. m. He cleared a certain portion of land there, built a few cells, and soon after had a monastery built there. He later founded another for women in the vicinity, and the government of it was entrusted to Saint Walburga.
Apostolic zeal and governance
Winebaud reconciled the conversion of pagan populations, despite threats to his life, with a rigorous and exemplary spiritual direction of his community.
He continued to work with zeal for the conversion of the idolaters, who more than once attempted to take his life. But he did not neglect the care of his community for that; he maintained in it the spirit of prayer, humility, and mortification; he proportioned his instructions to the state of each of the brothers; he encouraged the weak and animated the perfect; he was the first to practice the virtues he recommended to others.
Final years and passing
Tested by illness and sustained by his devotion to Saint Boniface, Winebaud died in 760 after ten years as abbot, exhorting his disciples to fervor.
God tested him with various illnesses. When his health did not allow him to go to the church, he would say Mass in a private chapel adjoining his cell. He once found himself so ill that his life was despaired of; but he recovered his health through the intercession of Saint Bon iface, to whom saint Boniface Apostle of Germany who called upon Burchard to assist him. he had a great devotion. Feeling his final hour approaching, he exhorted his disciples to perseverance and fervor. He died on December 18, 760, at the age of sixty, after having been abbot for about ten years. His disciples carried his remains to the church, spent the whole night in prayers and canticles, and then placed the precious relics in a tomb that the holy abbot had had prepared for himself some years earlier.
Translation and fate of the relics
His body was found intact in 776. His relics have traversed the centuries, surviving fires and transfers to Franconia or Flanders to escape desecration.
About sixteen years after the death of Winebaud (776), Willibald exhumed the body of his brother, which had remained intact, and placed it in a reliquary enriched with gold and silver. When in the 12th century the church of Heidenheim was consumed by flames along with the reliquary, the Saint's relics were nevertheless saved; and when the church was restored, they were reburied in 1358 in the new choir. It is said that in the 16th century, they were transferred to Scher, in Franconia, on the lands of the Lord of Truchsess, to preserve them from the desecration to which they were exposed during those troubled times. It is further asserted that, as early as 1109, a portion of them arrived, along with those of Saint Willibald and S aint W Furnes Location where a portion of the relics is preserved in Flanders. alpurga, in Furnes (West Flanders), where this translation is celebrated every year on May 1st.
The monastery of Heidenheim was destroyed by the partisans o f the s Réforme Historical event that led to the destruction of the monastery of Heidenheim. o-called Reformation.
Source
The text is based on the works of Godescard.
Godescard reviewed and corrected.
Annexes & related entities
Structured data for exploration: events, miracles, quotes, places, attributes, patronages, and important entities cited in the text.
Key Events
- Pilgrimage to Rome with his father Richard and his brother Winebald around 722
- Seven years of study in Rome and reception of the clerical tonsure
- Mission to Thuringia with Saint Boniface in 728
- Priestly ordination and governance of seven churches
- Foundation of the monastery of Heidenheim in Bavaria
- Died at the age of sixty after ten years as abbot
Miracles
- Miraculous healing through the intercession of Saint Boniface during his lifetime
- Body found intact sixteen years after his death in 776