Attala from Bobbio

Attala von Bobbio (* late 6th century in Burgundy , † 627 in Bobbio ) was a French monk and missionary . He was a follower of Columban and as his successor from 615 second abbot of the Bobbio monastery in Italy. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church .

A native of a Burgundian noble family Attala was the Bishop of Lyon educated and first monk in Lérins Abbey , but was dissatisfied with the prevailing loose discipline and stepped then into the the holy Columban just in the Franche-Comté founded Luxeuil Abbey one. When Columban was expelled from Luxeuil by King Theuderic II , Attala should have succeeded him as abbot, but preferred to go into exile with him. They settled on the banks of the Trebbia River and founded the Bobbio Abbey a little northwest of Genoa .

After Columban's death in 615, Attala succeeded him as abbot of this monastery and had to endure a lot of hardship with his monks from the Longobard king Arioald , who adhered to the Arian faith . Nevertheless he tried to develop a lively missionary activity among the Lombards . As an abbot, Attala insisted on strict discipline, and when many monks rebelled against the rigorous discipline, he let them go. According to Attala's biographer Jonas, some of these monks perished miserably, which the others saw as God's punishment , so that they returned to the abbey. Attala also reintroduced the binding of the books in the monastery library.

After his death in 627, Attala was buried in Bobbio. His feast day is March 10th.

literature

• Saint Attala , in: Catholic Encyclopedia (public domain)

Web links

• Attala by Bobbio in the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints