Adelphus

This article is about the bishop. For the doctor and writer, see Johannes Adelphus .

Adelphus Church in Neuwiller-lès-Saverne

Saint Adelphus of Metz (* in the 4th century; † in the 5th century in Metz ) was Bishop of Metz . His feast day is August 30th . Usually he is represented in episcopal robes with a model of a church in hand.

History and legend

Little is known about his life. He is said to have worked many miracles, for example raised the dead, cast out demons and healed the sick.

After his death, Adelphus was buried in the crypt of the Abbey Church of St. Clemens in Metz. On May 17, 836 (possibly 826 ) his bones were transferred to the Benedictine Abbey of Neuweiler in Alsace on behalf of the Metz bishop Drogo . This was to strengthen the influence of the diocese in Alsace, as the relics of the saint were a popular destination for pilgrims.

The transfer to Neuweiler is said to have been the cause of miracles: flowers sprouted, trees bowed, and a spring sprang up along the way where the horses had scratched. The bells in Neuweiler are said to have rung by themselves, whereupon the cellar master ran out of his wine cellar and forgot to close a barrel with the stopper. When he returned, the spilled wine flowed back into the barrel by itself.

At the end of the 12th century Neuweiler was sacked by Burgundian mercenaries. When one of the soldiers tried to break into the shrine of Adelphus, he is said to have gone mad, ate his own hand and died on the same day.

In 1468 the sarcophagus was opened in the presence of the sovereign, Ludwig V von Lichtenberg and the bishop of Strasbourg, Ruprecht von Pfalz-Simmern , and the completeness of the relic was confirmed.

It is rumored that Emperor Maximilian visited the relics. However, there is no contemporary evidence of this.

Commemoration

Saint Adelphus is also venerated in Kingersheim and a finger relic used to be in the Schönensteinbach Monastery .

Ludwig V von Lichtenberg had four high-quality tapestries made, showing the stories from the life of St. Adelphus and the opening of the sarcophagus in 1468. The carpets and the bones of the saint are now in the Peter and Paul Church in Neuweiler.

literature

• Jakob Wimpfeling : Vita Sancti Adelphi , 1506.
• Michel Parisse et al. a .: Lorraine - history of a border country . Saarbrücken 1984. ISBN 3-921646-54-5 .
• Stefan Müller: Tour de Kultur - 100 new voyages of discovery in Saar-Lor-Lux with SR 3 . Gollenstein Verlag 2005. ISBN 3-935731-85-X
• Gisela Propst: The Memoria of the Lords of Lichtenberg in Neuweiler (Alsace). Adelphus carpets, high grave of Ludwig V († 1471), holy grave (1478), glass paintings = new research on German art XI. Berlin 2015. ISBN 978-3-87157-241-8
• Ekkart Sauser :  Adelphus (Adolfus), Bishop of Metz (4th / 5th century). In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 22, Bautz, Nordhausen 2003, ISBN 3-88309-133-2 , Sp. 2-3.

Web links

• Adelphus in the Saarland biographies

Individual evidence

1. ^ Probst.
2. ^ Probst.

predecessor	Office	successor
Rufus	Bishop of Metz 5th century	Auctor