Amaro (saint)

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Statue of Saint Amaro. Ermita de San Amaro, Puerto de la Cruz .

Amaro or AMARUS of pilgrims (Spanish: San Amaro ) (* possibly 1522 , † before 1552 ) was an abbot and sailors , the Christian legend According over the Atlantic Ocean , the earthly paradise is said to have achieved. Amaro is venerated as a saint.

Two historical figures are believed to be the possible basis for this legend:

The first was a French penitent of the same name who made a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in the thirteenth century and settled in Burgos on the way back , where he founded a hospital for lepers .
St. Amaro was also identified with St. Maurus , who founded the first Benedictine monastery in France.

Numerous traditions of the folk religion of Asturias and Galicia are entwined with the person of St. Amaro, connected with the Celtic immram and Echtra , the journeys of Maíle Dúin , the associated journey of Ui Chorra , the travelogue of Snegdus and Mac Riagla or Bran's seafaring . In the periplus of Amaro there are features of the Celtic otherworld .

The periplus of the Amaro

A periplus on the life of St. Amaro appeared in Burgos in 1552. Like St. Brendan , Amaro is said to have embarked on a journey to the paradisiacal islands of the west.

The legend describes Amaro as a noble Christian from Asia in search of earthly paradise. Whoever he asked about it, found no answer, which brought him to the edge of despair until one night God appeared to him and instructed him to build a boat and follow the path of the sun across the Atlantic Ocean.

Amaro set sail with some companions and after six days and seven nights reached an island, a fertile land with five towns inhabited by rough men and beautiful women. Amaro spent six months there until a voice in a dream caused him to leave the island. Amaro sailed through the " Red Sea " until he reached the land of beautiful fountains, where beautiful people had lived peacefully for three hundred years. Amaro stayed there for three weeks until an old woman told him to leave the island before he got used to the good life.

They sailed for a long time into the unknown distance until they met several ships that had been captured by monsters that had killed the crew and carried them off into the depths of the ocean. Amaro was rescued by the appearance of a group of women who advised him to empty his wine and oil bottles and fill them with air, Amaro followed and for this "Mar cuajado" (literally "Silent Sea"; the doldrums ) was saved.

Three days later they reached an inhuman, deserted island inhabited by wild animals . A hermit reported that the beasts destroyed each other on Midsummer Day, the stench of corpses lingered throughout the year. The hermit indicated that they should sail east, where they would find the land they longed for and which would satisfy all their needs.

They sailed the next day and reached Valdeflores Monastery. Leonites, a monk from the monastery who welcomed them, had already expected Amaro: a vision had announced his coming. Leonites instructed Amaro how to reach paradise on earth.

Amaro and his companions reached a natural harbor together with Leonites, where they stayed for a month and finally reached the destination of the journey in a vast, rugged valley: the earthly paradise. First, however, Amaro found himself in a women's convent called Flor de Dueñas (Flower of the Ladies) , which was situated on a hill .

There he received further instructions from a holy woman named Baralides. Her niece Brígida (Bridget), who lived in paradise, put on him a white religious robe . When Leonites began to weep over the loss of her dear friend, she comforted him with the gift of a branch from the tree of this paradise.

Amaro in paradise

In paradise, Amaro came across a castle made of precious stones and precious metal, with golden battlements and towers made of ruby ​​and walls with colored bricks.

Amaro learned from the gatekeeper that the castle was an earthly paradise into which no living being could enter. The saint's request to be allowed to look at least through the keyhole into Paradise was granted, and he saw, among other things, the tree of life from which Adam had eaten, an ancient and eternal garden, huge trees, birds, their song like that It was nice that one fell into ecstasy for a thousand years, young musicians with strange and unknown musical instruments as well as beautiful women dressed in white and adorned with a flower crown, who were accompanied by Maria .

The porter refused Amaro's request for admission and said that three hundred years had passed with the sight of Paradise for the saint. Amaro returned to the coast and found that his comrades had disappeared and built a town on the site and named it after him.

Amaro told the townspeople his story and they built him a house next to the Valdeflores monastery, where he lived until his death. He was buried next to Baralides and Brígida.

Adoration

The Ermita de San Amaro in Puerto de la Cruz .

Numerous Spanish hermitages are dedicated to Amaro and a hermitage dedicated to him is located in Puerto de la Cruz , Tenerife ( Ermita de San Amaro ). The city of San Amaro , Province of Ourense , is named after him.

His cult also spread throughout the Portuguese-speaking world, where he is worshiped under the name of Santo Amaro . In the districts of Coimbra and Viseu , Amaro pine cones, nuts and dried figs are offered as votive offerings - but he only accepts them if they are stolen. Also, Matthew , Simon and Bartholomew to be sacrificed stolen things.

The church of Santo Amaro near Beja is one of four preserved pre- Romanesque churches in Portugal. Some parts date from the sixth century; the interior columns and capitals are decorated with foliage carvings and geometric designs from the seventh century.

literature

  • Fernando Sánchez Dragó y Gárgoris Habidis: Una historia de España Mágica, Madrid, Editorial Hiperión, 1981 42687136 = OCLC
  • Manuel C. y Díaz Díaz, Universidad de Valencia. Comisión de Investigación Asesora Científica y Técnica; Spain. Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia: Visiones del Mas Alla de Galicia durante la alta edad media, Santiago de Compostela, Bibliofilos Gallegos, 1985 18417488 = OCLC

Remarks

  1. ^ Rua Santo Amaro . Archived from the original on February 12, 2006. Retrieved May 14, 2007.
  2. ↑ Full title: The life of the blessed St Amaro and the dangers he encountered until he reached paradise on earth. See : The life of Lazarillo de Tormes and his misfortunes and adversities . SpanishArts.com. Retrieved May 14, 2007.
  3. ^ The Origins of Popular Saints in Portugal: Saint Matthew: "don't go there empty-handed" . Portuguese culture web. Archived from the original on February 20, 2007. Retrieved May 14, 2007.

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