Farfa Monastery
The Farfa Monastery ( Italian Abbazia di Santa Maria di Farfa ; Latin Abbatia Farfensis ) is a Benedictine abbey in Fara in Sabina in Italy , named after the Farfa River , a tributary of the Tiber .
history
First foundation
According to the tradition of the Farfa Chronicle from the 12th century, the foundation of the monastery is believed to have been in the time of the emperors Julian and Gratian . According to other assumptions, the founder Farfas Laurentius Illuminator , who probably came from Syria, did not come to Rome until the 6th century and then became Bishop of Spoleto . Archaeological excavations in 1888 revealed the first monastic establishment, probably on the ruins of an ancient temple or Roman villa. These first monastery buildings were devastated again around 500.
Second foundation
Irish pilgrims came to Gaul and Italy in the seventh century. They re-established the Abbey of Bobbio and probably also Farfa in the Duchy of Spoleto . The Constructio Monasterii Farfensis from 857 refers to the story of its main founder Thomas von Maurienne († 720), who made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, spent three years there and was encouraged in a vision by the Virgin Mary in prayer in front of the Holy Sepulcher Returning Italy and rebuilding Farfa (around 705). The Duke of Spoleto Faroald II also had a vision and was ordered to support him in this work. The Pope granted the monastery and the area belonging to it exemption , i.e. a status similar to that of a bishopric, from the last third of the 8th century .
The Lombard rulers and later the Carolingians promoted the monastery, also during the reign of Charlemagne . He visited the monastery before his coronation as emperor on December 25, 800, the future abbot Ingoald was related to him. As a Carolingian imperial monastery, Farfa was one of the most powerful monasteries in Italy with jurisdiction up to the Borgo von Rieti and as far as Rome. At times the abbots had a great influence on the Pope. When Saint Fintan traveled from Rome to Alemannia around the year 845, he is said to have lived as a monk in Farfa for some time. At the beginning of the reign of Abbot Ratfredus (930-936), the monastery basilica was completed in 930 . Under Prince Alberich II of Spoleto, Farfa Monastery was handed over to Grand Abbot Odo von Cluny . As a result of the Cluniac customs ( Liber tramitis ) introduced in monasteries under the eminent Abbot Hugo von Farfa (998-1036 / 38; † 1039 ), the abbey enjoyed an excellent upswing. In 1103 the monk Gregory wrote the Largitorium or Liber Notarius sive emphiteuticus , a list of gifts and donations to the monastery and the chronicle of the monastery. The secular domain of the Farfa Abbey ( Praesidato Farfense ) exceeded even that of the Arch-Monastery of Montecassino : It comprised 683 churches or monasteries, 132 forts and two cities. The emperors of the Holy Roman Empire up to Friedrich II regularly granted Farfa privileges, although after the Worms Concordat (1122) the papal pressure on Farfa to integrate into the Papal States increased and the abbey gradually lost its imperial protection. The medieval library of the monastery has been preserved to this day.
Modern times
Since the 14th and especially the 15th century, Farfa Monastery, like Subiaco, had several German monks (supported by Osini in 1477/79 ) and was united with him by the so-called Consuetudines Sublacenses to form a monastery association. From 1400 the period of the commendate abbots began , which only ended in 1841 with Cardinal Luigi Lambruschini . At the instigation of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese , Farfa moved in 1567, with the approval of Pius V, to the Cassinese Congregation , which has since provided the abbots. After that, the abbey sank almost to insignificance. On August 1, 1571 Farfa had to give up part of the abbey area to establish the diocese of Ripatransone . From 1841 the abbots of St. Paul Outside the Walls were also abbots of the Farfa Monastery. In 1861 parts of the assets were sold to private individuals. Count Giuseppe Volpi gave the monastery some land and real estate.
Recent past and present
In 1919 the monastery was also subordinated to St. Paul in Rome. In 1920, under Abbot Ildefonso Schuster, new Benedictine life emerged in Farfa. In 1928 the monastery was declared a national monument. Today's Benedictine community is active in parish pastoral care and in the field of intellectual work, and they also maintain the facility and the library. The ruling prior of the monastery is currently (2020) Dom Eugenio Gargiulo OSB
Art treasures
- The Lombard cloister and the great cloister
- The Carolingian tower from the 9th century
- The basilica with three naves, on the back wall a Last Judgment by the Flemish painter Henri van der Broek from 1561 and an altar from the Carolingian period.
- The crypt with a sarcophagus from the Roman period
- The library with around 45,000 volumes
First abbots
- Thomas of Maurienne (680 / 700–720)
- Aunepert (720-24)
- Lucerius (724-40)
- Fulcoald (740-59)
- Wandelbert (759-761)
- Alan (769)
- Guicpert (769-770)
- Probatus (770-781)
- Ragambald (781-786)
- Altpert (786-790)
- Mauroald (790-802)
- Benedict (802-815)
- Ingoald (815-830)
- Sichard (830-842)
- Hilderich (844-857)
- Perto (857-872)
- Johann I. (872-881)
- Anselm (881-883)
- Teutopert (883-888)
- Nordepert (888)
- Spento (888)
- Vitalis (889)
- Peter (890-919)
- Rimo (920-930)
- Ratfredus (930-936)
- Hildebrand (936–943 / 7)
- Campo (936-943 / 7)
- Dagobert (943 / 7–952)
- John II (967-)
- Hugo (998-1039)
- Berard I. (-1089)
- Berard II (-1099)
- Oddo (1099)
swell
- Chronicon Farfense di Gregorio di Catino, ed. Ugo Balzani. Rome 1903.
Web links
- Official website of the Benedictine monks of Farfa Abbey (Italian)
- Entry on Private Farfa Abbey on catholic-hierarchy.org
Remarks
- ↑ David Farmer: The Oxford Dictionary of Saints , 5e Édition révisée. Oxford 2011, p. 167.
Coordinates: 42 ° 13 '17.4 " N , 12 ° 43' 7.3" E