Arnold von Arnoldsweiler

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
St. Arnold in the coat of arms of Arnoldsweiler

Arnold von Arnoldsweiler (* in the 8th century ; † around 800 in Ginnizweiler, today Düren- Arnoldsweiler ) is a saint of the Roman Catholic Church . His feast day is July 18th . Arnold is said to have been a musician at the court of Charlemagne . The central legend about him is about the "Ride around the Bürgewald ", which gave it to the surrounding villages. The local worship continues to this day.

Life dates

There is no reliable information about Arnold von Arnoldsweiler's life data. In addition to a document from 1339, there is a secure mention of Arnold's person only in a copy of the Latin Vita sancti Arnoldi confessoris , both around 500 years after his death.

His exact year and place of birth are unknown. The indication Graecia (lat .: Greece ) is possibly a spelling mistake in the oldest surviving vita, possibly the area around Graz (lat. Graetia ) was meant. The origin from Greece was questioned in 1739 by Jacob Schmid, who had published an extensive collection of legends of saints, including the legend of Arnoldus. He also assumes that Graecia is a typographical error and refers to the area of ​​the ancient Roman province of Raetia , which stretched in the north of today's Italy and in the south of today's Switzerland .

Arnold's high grave (depiction from the 15th century) in the Arnoldus Chapel

There are different opinions about the exact year of death. The oldest surviving copy of the biography states that Arnold died around 800. In a copy of the Acta Sanctorum of the Bollandists from 1725, Arnold's death is postponed to the beginning of the 9th century; Stadler's Complete Lexicon of Saints from 1840 again states that he died around 800. Arnold Steffens, on the other hand, assumes the year 843 in 1886 and thus approaches the assumption of the Bollandists. In 1994, Rudolf Wyrsch again assumed the time around 800 and Wilhelm Arnolds decided on the year 793 in 2015.

Arnold probably died in Ginizuuilere (= Ginizwilere = Ginnizweiler, later renamed Arnoldsweiler), where he was also buried. His grave is venerated there in the Arnoldus Chapel to this day .

Legends

The ride around the Bürgewald

Extension of the Bürgewald in 1902

The central legend about Arnold von Arnoldsweiler revolves around the Bürgewald , a forest area north of Düren between Rur and Erft , in the area of ​​today's lignite opencast mine Hambach . This was a large residual forest of the primeval forest that covered the entire Jülich-Zülpich Börde until the early Middle Ages .

When Charlemagne went hunting with his entourage in the Bürgewald, Arnold accompanied the company. He is said to have been a musician ( harpist and singer ) at his court. During the undertaking, Arnold noticed the great poverty of the villagers in the area, who complained that the forest was royal property and that they suffered from a lack of firewood because they did not dare to pick up anything from the forest floor. When King Karl stopped at the royal palace in Düren during this hunt to have a feast, Arnold asked that the Franconian ruler give him as much of the forest as he would ride around during the meal. Arnold had already had fresh horses ready in the villages around the forest in order to make faster progress. A later oral extension of the legend even states that Arnold couldn't ride at all. Emperor Karl granted him the request and so he succeeded in the relay ride to ride around a large area of ​​the country, which at that time was almost completely covered by forest, even before the meal was over.

Charlemagne was well-disposed towards Arnold and did not hold the ruse offended. He gave him a ring as a testimony that the forest belonged to him from then on as a Bürgewald. Arnold gave the forest away to the surrounding villages, whereupon he was venerated like a saint out of gratitude.

For centuries, the forest area could be used by up to 49 neighboring villages ( Allmendewald ). The very fertile area in this area has otherwise been cleared since the Carolingian period and converted into agricultural land, while the Bürgewald was preserved - until it was almost completely destroyed by lignite mining. The legend is related to the wax interest of the Bürgewald communities , which for centuries was brought to Arnold's grave once a year from the villages surrounding the forest.

The Institute for Theology and Politics in Münster establishes a connection between the legend as a narrative of forest protection and human protection and the encyclical Laudato si ' by Pope Francis.

Arnoldus pout

In an extension of the legend, one of the horses was exhausted from thirst and a maid refused to use water for refreshment. The horse then scratched its hooves in the ground and a spring gushed out, which is still called Arnolduspützchen (Arnoldus spring) today. The woman is said to have come from the village of Huchem-Stammeln (today Niederzier municipality). Therefore this place was excluded from the right to use the forest. Even today the name of this place is missing from the name boards in the Arnoldus Chapel, where 15 of the gifted villages are listed on name plates. The Arnolduspützchen is located on today's L 264 near Ellen .

The pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela

Another story is about Arnold's pilgrimage to the tomb of the Apostle James the Elder in Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

In what is now the south of France, he came to an area where it had not rained for weeks and the residents were starving. Arnold broke off his pilgrimage; because he wanted to help there too and alleviate the misery of the people. When his own strength was already weakening and he was already facing death, he wished he could die in his homeland. He asked God to show him if this would happen very soon. Arnold threw the ring that Charlemagne had given him into the Garonne. The reappearance of the ring should warn him of impending death. Immediately he went home and stayed with a godly widow on the way.

One day, poor people whom he had given money to buy food found a ring in a fish which they presented to their benefactor. Arnold recognized his ring, thanked God for the miracle and went home faster than before. He reached the village of Ginnizweiler and died soon after.

Adoration

Naming Arnoldsweiler

His place of death and burial was renamed Arnoldsweiler ( wilre sancti Arnoldi ) after his name between 922 and 1168 . Today the place belongs to the nearby city of Düren . Arnold has been venerated as a saint at least since this time and is considered the patron saint of musicians, organists and musical instrument makers as well as a good and gentle death.

Bürgewaldgemeinden and wax interest

The northern Bürgewald 1807, all depicted places were involved in the forest, map Tranchot and v. Müffling
The southern Bürgewald 1807 (with the exception of Huchem and Stammeln, all the places shown belonged to the authorized communities), Map Tranchot and v. Müffling

Probably the oldest form of the veneration of Arnoldus is the wax interest of the Bürgewald communities. They had to put a certain amount of candle wax on the altar of St. Sacrifice Arnold. This wax interest is first mentioned in writing in a document dated March 18, 1360. Here, Duke Wilhelm I of Jülich confirms the interest on wax, which suggests that the obligation to pay it is much older. In the document, the places are obliged to sacrifice certain candle sizes.

Villages Candle size
Arnoldsweiler, Ellen and Oberzier together 12 pounds
Niederzier with accessories 12 pounds
Rödingen , Bettenhoven and Lich together 12 pounds
Niederembt with accessories 12 pounds
Elsdorf with accessories 12 pounds
Paffendorf 3 pounds
Zieverich and Thorr together 1.5 pounds
Desdorf and Brockendorf together 0.5 pounds
Glesch 2 pounds
Grouven 1 pound
Berrendorf 2 pounds
Etzweiler 2 pounds
Sindorf and Heppendorf together 8 pounds
Kerpen with accessories 12 pounds
Blatzheim with accessories 12 pounds
Golzheim 4 pounds
Buir 4 pounds
Morschenich 4 pounds
Merzenich 12 pounds

The obligation to pay interest on wax remained in effect until the first half of the 19th century. However, at that time more and more churches refused to offer candles. This culminated in the growth pension process that was conducted before the Royal District Court of Aachen . The plaintiff was the Arnoldsweiler church council. The result was that the parishes concerned were exempted from the wax interest through a one-off payment to the parish of Arnoldsweiler. This replacement took place gradually between 1832 and 1840 by the participating towns. Nevertheless, some towns still brought a candle to Arnoldsweiler at Pentecost .

Papal recognition as a saint

Due to the very uncertain tradition, the legitimacy of the veneration of Arnold as a saint was doubted at times. In 1886, Pope Leo XIII recognized. the cult for the Archdiocese of Cologne and confirmed the tradition, which was probably around 1000 years old at that time.

Arnoldus Day

July 18, the feast day of St. Arnold, was traditionally celebrated and a sacramental procession was held on the Sunday after . In 1914, the festival on Arnoldus Day was downgraded to a memorial day. Since 1987 it has been recognized again as a non-mandatory day of remembrance for the diocese of Aachen .

Arnoldus octave

Every year in the week of July 18, the Arnoldus Octave, also called Arnolduswoche, takes place in Arnoldsweiler in honor of St. Arnoldus instead. The octave was held for the first time in July 1891 and was brought into being by the then Arnoldsweiler pastor Peter Gerhard Kleeff.

Since the early 2000s, the week has been shortened to just five days and since then has only lasted from Wednesday to Sunday, and since 2019 an eight-day octave has been held again. During the eight days, services are celebrated daily, with guest preachers preaching on the topic of the week.

Reminiscences of the wax interest

Nowadays a candle is brought to the Arnoldus grave from almost none of the places, but there are exceptions. A group from Ellen brought a candle in the 1980s (but it stayed that way) and Manheim pilgrims revived this custom of interest on wax in the Arnoldus Week 2013 and sacrificed a candle at the Arnoldus tomb for the first time in many years.

On Pentecost Tuesday, June 2, 2020, the tradition of the wake rate was revived again. Some initiatives ("Waldspaziergang Hambacher Wald", "Let church (s) in the village", "All villages remain"), the Düren Catholic Councilor and the Institute for Theology and Politics had called for a bicycle pilgrimage from Buir to Arnoldsweiler. Over 60 pilgrims took part, bringing the tradition, which is at least 640 years old, back to life.

Namesake

St. Arnold von Arnoldsweiler is the namesake of Father Arnold Janssen , the founder of the Steyler Missionaries . In 1928 they founded the St. Arnold Mission House in Neuenkirchen ( Steinfurt district ). In 1931, the nearby train station was renamed St. Arnold Station and the St. Arnold district of Neuenkirchen was named after him.

In Arnoldsweiler, in addition to the Arnoldus Chapel (Klein St. Arnold), the Groß St. Arnold church also bears his name.

Patron saint

Figure of St. Arnold, 18th century, in Groß St. Arnold , Arnoldsweiler

Arnold is the patron saint of musicians, instrument makers and organists and an advocate for a gentle death.

literature

Web links

Commons : Arnold von Arnoldsweiler  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jacob Schmid: The holy string player and confessor Arnoldus, commonly called deß Kayser's Carls Lautenschlager. In: The Spihlende hand of God with those human hearts on earth. Augsburg and Regensburg 1739, p. 52. ( digitized version )
  2. ^ Rudolf AH Wyrsch: The holy Arnold von Arnoldsweiler. In: Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints. Retrieved May 25, 2018 .
  3. ^ Wilhelm Arnolds: Arnold von Arnoldsweiler. History and lore . Cologne 2015, p. 245.
  4. ↑ a b wax interest bike pilgrimage at Hambacher Forst Article on the website of the Institute for Theology and Politics, Münster.
  5. ^ Rudolf AH Wyrsch: The holy Arnold von Arnoldsweiler. Legend and history of the veneration of a Rhenish saint . Jülich 1994, p. 73.
  6. ^ Rudolf AH Wyrsch: The holy Arnold von Arnoldsweiler. Legend and history of the veneration of a Rhenish saint . Jülich 1994, p. 17.
  7. ^ Rudolf AH Wyrsch: The holy Arnold von Arnoldsweiler. Legend and history of the veneration of a Rhenish saint. In: Forum Jülich History. Issue 9, Jülich 1994, p. 25 f.
  8. ↑ Parish Letter to the Community of the Congregations of St. Franziskus Düren-Nord No. 7/2019
  9. ↑ www.bistum-aachen.de: “ Wachszins ” for St. Arnold , accessed on June 20, 2020
  10. ↑ Patronage: Professions - Ecumenical Saint Lexicon. Retrieved December 5, 2019 .
  11. ↑ Patronage: Experiences - Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints. Retrieved December 5, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Arnold von Arnoldsweiler
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Saint of the Roman Catholic Church, musician at the court of Charlemagne
DATE OF BIRTH 8th century
DATE OF DEATH around 800
Place of death Ginnizweiler, today Düren- Arnoldsweiler