Vigilius of Trent
Vigilius of Trient (* around 355 in Rome or Trient ; † probably June 405 in the Trentino Rendenatal ) was Bishop of Trient and is venerated by the Catholic Church as a martyr and saint. He worked as a missionary mainly in the upper Adige Valley , also toured the wider area of Trento (to the south of Lake Garda) and initiated the construction of numerous parishes and churches . When he destroyed a statue of Saturn in the wild Rendenatal , indignant residents beat him to death with clubs and wooden shoes.
Life and legend
Family and education
Vigil's father is not known for certain by name (Theodosius according to some sources). His mother's name was Maxentia, his brothers Claudian and Magorian (398) are also considered saints . Vigilius came with his parents from Rome (the presumed place of birth) to Trento at an early age, but supplemented his theological and philosophical training in Athens , where a friendship with John Chrysostom evidently developed, and later in Rome. Around the year 380 he returned to Trento, where his education and humility at the same time aroused admiration and was therefore elected bishop in 385 by acclamation .
Missionary work as a bishop
The episcopal ordination Vigilius received by Valerian , the spiritual leader of Aquileia . But Ambrosius of Milan is also mentioned in this context, who donated the episcopal insignia and became a fatherly friend to the still young bishop. Among other things, he convinced Vigil, the Christians of his effective range of the marriage with non-Christians discouraged what the local development of early Christianity zugutekam. A difficult problem was dealing with the schism in the church by the Arians , many of whom he won back for the Catholic Church through personal commitment .
Tradition speaks of Vigil's convincing sermons in the regions of Brescia and Verona , which English sources also characterize as gospel . They led to the foundation of about 30 new congregations , for which he installed his deacons and companions as pastors and later consecrated some as bishops. Three of his missionaries were killed by non-Christian locals after a relatively short evangelism : the deacon Sisinnius, the Ostiarius Alexander and the lector Martyrius (the three saints ). Sisinius and Alexander, who Vigil had brought with them from Milan, came from Cappadocia . Their relics came to Milan and Constantinople after Vigil reported the incidents to Simplicianus , the successor of St. Ambrose as Bishop of Milan, and reported to John Chrysostom in Constantinople. Because of this report, the exact circumstances of the triple martyrdom - in contrast to Vigil's own death - are precisely known: It was on May 29, 397 in Sanzeno in the Non Valley ( Latin Anaunia , Italian Val di Non ), a valley landscape northwest of Trento.
Vigilius was also active as a writer . His report De Martyrio SS. Sisinnii, Martyrii et Alexandri about the untimely death of three of his collaborators has survived to this day (see literature).
death
Vigilius devoted a lot of effort to the violent struggle against indigenous, non-Christian cults, which ultimately led to his death: At the beginning of the 5th century, he moved to the “wild west” of the province, accompanied by his brothers and a priest named Julian Trent. In the Rendenatal Vigil began to preach the Christian gospel among the followers of the Saturn cult . According to legend, he celebrated a Christian service in Spiazzo . He destroyed the Saturn cult site by throwing the Saturn statue into the Sarca river . Outraged cult supporters stoned him (according to tradition, also with heavy wooden shoes ). Vigil's body was brought back to Trento and buried in the Cathedral of San Vigilio in Trento, which he built .
Adoration
development
News of these events soon reached Rome , and Pope Innocent I passed the reports on Vigil's martyrdom to Emperor Honorius , who took them on a punitive military expedition . He is likely to have promoted formal canonization with the Pope ( De canonis. SS. , Prato 1839?), So that with Vigilius a martyr was officially canonized for the first time , after the worship of martyrs by Cyprian of Carthage († 258) that flourished in the 3rd century certain rules and papal consent had been bound.
Eugippius , Vigil's successor in the Tridentine diocese , consecrated the Trento Episcopal Church in the name of St. Vigil and soon had to enlarge it because of the rapidly increasing veneration. The church building was later renewed in the Lombard - Romanesque style and reminds of the patron saint of the country with the vigil grave and a statue looking down from the south portal. In 1386 the right hand was separated from the body and placed in an ornate reliquary .
Patronages and memorial days
Vigilius is one of the patrons of South Tyrol and Trentino and patron of the mines and their workers (see also Barbara ). He is the patron saint of the Archdiocese of Trento . His Protestant and Roman Catholic memorial day is June 26th , his attributes in artistic representations are the bishop's staff and a wooden shoe , with which, according to tradition, he was hit to death.
Today he is especially venerated in South Tyrol and Trentino , where there are several St. Vigil (ius) churches and some places with this name. The most famous of them is 10 km south of Brunico in Vigiltal, a branch of Val Badia . There is also a place named after him on Lake Garda , Punta San Vigilio .
The name Vigilius is Latin and means "the watchful one ". The liturgical name “Vigil” (from Christmas, from Easter, etc.) is also derived from this word.
The information about the year of birth of Vigilius varies between 353 and about 360, and his murder could also have been just before 405 , although his term of office as bishop is usually given as 385 to 405. This uncertainty, which is also common in other personalities, is due on the one hand to the oral tradition that prevailed in this turbulent time, and on the other hand to the year counting , which was only determined more clearly later.
June 26th is generally celebrated as the name festival , Vigil's presumed death date. The diocese of Bozen-Brixen celebrates the feast of its two patrons Kassian and Vigilius together on the second Saturday after Easter, which usually falls in April.
See also
- Vigilius letter
- St. Vigil
- St. Vigil am Joch
- St. Vigil (Altenburg)
- St. Vigil under Weineck am Virgl
- St. Vigil Church (Kastelruth)
- Parish Church of Perdonig
literature
- Bardenhewer: Patrology, tr. SHAHAN (St. Louis 1908) and Austria Sancta I (Vienna 1910).
- Francis Mershman: St. Vigilius . In: Catholic Encyclopedia , Volume 15, Robert Appleton Company, New York 1912.
- Réginald Grégoire (based on Vigilius' report): L'Anaunia ei suoi martiri. XVI centenario dei martiri d'Anaunia 397–1997. Bibliotheca Civis 10, Trento 1997 (anthology, 394 pages)
- Vera Schauber, HM Schindler: The saints and namesake in the course of the year. Delphin-Verlag, Munich & Zurich 1985.
Web links
- Vigilius of Trento in the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints
- J. Leinweber: Canonizations to 1234 ( Memento of February 19, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ↑ cf. Vigilius of Trento in the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Vigilius of Trent |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Bishop of Trent and martyr |
| DATE OF BIRTH | at 355 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Rome or Trento |
| DATE OF DEATH | uncertain: June 405 |
| Place of death | Rendenatal |