Fructuosus from Braga

This article refers to the Bishop of Braga. For Fructuosus, the martyr and bishop of Tarragona, see Fructuosus of Tarragona

Statue of Fructuosus at Braga Cathedral , Portugal

Fructuosus († around 665) was abbot, bishop of Braga and Dumio and later archbishop of Galicia ( Gallaecia ). He is venerated as a saint . His feast day is April 16.

Life

Fructuosus came from the Visigothic royal family in Spain. In Palencia he attended the school which Bishop Conantius had founded to train clerics. He used the proceeds from the sale of his goods for monastery foundations and for poor relief. He lived as a hermit, but at the request of the monks took over the priory of the monastery he founded, Comultum near Astorga . He promoted the monastic system and attracted so many believers that several monasteries, including a "family monastery", followed.

Fructuosus took part in 656 as Bishop of Dumio at the 10th Council of Toledo. Around 656 Fructuosus reunited Dumio with the diocese of Braga, whose administration had been entrusted to him at the Synod of Toledo. When he died around 665, Leudigisus , who presided over the Third Council of Braga (675), succeeded him as Bishop of Braga.

In 1102 his relics were transferred to Santiago de Compostela and are said to have worked numerous miracles there.

Monastery rules

Some authors also attribute the famous Regula communis , which was written around 660, to Fructuosus.

He had already drafted a rule ( Regula Fructuosi ) with 20 chapters in 645 , which is, however, much stricter. It is primarily directed against so-called monastic communities, which consist of a family and their servants and which do not submit to any further authority. In particular, the forced entry of servants and slaves into the monastery is criticized by Fructuosus, although not prevented.

According to the Regula Fructuosi , married couples could enter a monastery together, but had to stay away from each other and also from their underage children who were being prepared for entry into the monastery. Even in the event of illness, a monk should not be cared for by his wife, sister, or female slave. A return to worldly life should no longer be possible, especially recourse to worldly goods. Instead, these should be distributed to the poor before entering the monastery. However, it appears that these usually went to the monastery and formed a substantial part of its income. However, this idea of ​​individual property, especially on land and grazing rights, seems to have contradicted local legal usage.

Patronage

S. Fructuoso is the patron saint of engineers at the ICAI, from the Pontificia Comillensis University in Madrid.

• Sao Frutuoso de Montélios , Braga, Portugal
• San Fruttuoso Abbey , Italy

swell

• Vita Sancti Fructuosi

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz:  Fructuosus, Archbishop of Braga. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 2, Bautz, Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-032-8 , Sp. 145-146.
2. ↑ Fructuosus at Catholic Online (English)

Web links

Commons : Fructuosus of Braga  - Collection of images, videos and audio files