Hubertus of Liege

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The conversion of St. Hubert. Left wing of the altar by the Master of Werden , around 1463–1480

Hubertus von Lüttich ( French Hubert de Liège ; * around 655 in Toulouse ; † 30 May 727 according to tradition in what is now Tervuren near Brussels , Belgium ) was Bishop of Maastricht and Liège . He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church . His feast day is November 3rd .

St. Hubertus belongs with the hll. Antonius , Quirinus and Cornelius are among the so-called " four holy marshals of God " and in some places are also counted among the fourteen helpers in need.

His attribute is a deer with a crucifix in its antlers.

Life

Hubertus lived as Count Palatine at the court of Theodoric III. in Paris , later in Metz at the court of Pippin the Middle , with whom he was probably related. After the death of his wife, Hubertus went to the forests of the Ardennes as a hermit , where he was apostolic . In 705 he became Bishop of Tongeren - Maastricht . In 716 he moved his bishopric to Liège . He had the Lambertus Cathedral built there and was considered a caring benefactor.

The relics of St. Hubert were raised on November 3, 743. 825 were in the former abbey church of Andagium, today Saint-Hubert , in the Ardennes transferred . In the Middle Ages, Saint-Hubert was a place of pilgrimage . Since the time of the French Revolution , the relics of St. Hubertus, however, cannot be found.

Deer legend

In Christianity, the patron saint of the hunter, in the Middle Ages this was - and continues to be, especially in Austria and Bavaria - Saint Eustachius († around 118), the deer legend that has been handed down in various versions, according to which the saint goes hunting on Good Friday was converted at the sight of a magnificent stag with a crucifix between the rungs of the antlers. From the second half of the 15th century, it was increasingly transferred to Saint Hubert († 727), although he was actually not a hunter. The first mention of Hubertus comes from the foundation of the Hubertus Order by Duke Gerhard II of Jülich and Berg around 1440 . He honored the efforts of the saint to Christianize the Ardennes, where the pagan cult around Diana , the ancient patron goddess of the hunt, still existed.

According to one version, he was baptized after the appearance of a crucifix in the antlers of a hunted deer and renounced the hunt and went from a passionate hunter to a non-hunter. Other sources report that Hubertus, previously described as brutal and unrestrained, changed from a "wild heathen " to a Christian moderate hunter after the apparition . Since then, Christian hunters have regarded the deer legend as a model of moderation and an incentive to hunt in accordance with the hunted slogan: honor the creator in the creature , as Oskar von Riesenthal put it in his song "Waidmannsheil" (1880).

In addition to the Eustace -Legende that Hubertus inherited right here, the story refers in a Christian context to Damascus experience of Paul . The origins of the motif can be found in the Buddhist legend about the monk Mahinda , who founded Buddhism in Sri Lanka . Here it is King Devanampiya who meets a deer or the monk himself while hunting, in order to convert to Buddhism.

Adoration

The elevation of the relics of St. Hubertus in Saint-Pierre in Liège, Rogier van der Weyden , around 1437

Saint Hubertus is generally regarded as the patron saint of the hunt , but by many also as the first opponent of hunting because, according to the legend, after the deer appearance he completely renounced the hunt. He is also considered the patron saint of dogs and a helper against rabies , the riflemen and rifle brotherhoods , furriers , butchers , metalworkers , gunsmiths , opticians , mathematicians and manufacturers of mathematical devices .

Buildings such as the Hubertuswarte , the Hubertusburg , the Hubertusstock Palace and numerous Hubertus churches and Hubertus fountains were dedicated to the memory of the saint .

In addition to St. Hubert's Day , whose date on November 3rd is derived from that of the elevation of the relics on November 3rd of the year 743, the day of the saint's death, May 30th, is also celebrated regionally. Big Hubertus hunts take place every year on Hubertus Day, often combined with the celebration of Hubertus masses .

Salt, bread and water blessed on Hubertus Day should protect against dog bites, and the dogs themselves should also be protected against rabies. There were Hubertus key used for the treatment and prevention of rabies.

Although Hubertus von Lüttich is not listed in the Evangelical Name Calendar , Hubertus Day can also be celebrated with an evangelical or ecumenical service due to its high traditional importance.

Various student associations are named after Hubertus , such as the Corps Hubertia Munich and Corps Hubertia Freiburg .

literature

Web links

Commons : Hubertus von Lüttich  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Edelgard Siegmund: The "Lord of the Animals" in European folk tales: a contribution to comparative narrative research . VVB Laufersweiler, Gießen 2009, ISBN 3-8359-5559-4 , p. 72 .
  2. ^ Walter Zwyssig (Red.): St. Eustachius and St. Hubertus patron saints of the hunt . In: hubertus-orden.org , accessed on July 5, 2011.
  3. ^ Oskar von Riesenthal. Online publication by the Association of International Order of Hubert with the lyrics to the song “Waidmannsheil” (1880), accessed on June 6, 2017.
  4. ↑ a b Michael Gast: The Legend of Saint Hubertus , on deutscher-jagdblog.de, November 3, 2016 (accessed June 18, 2018)
  5. ^ Hubertus Day on Evangelische-Liturgie.de
predecessor Office successor
Lambertus Bishop of Liège
705–727 		Floribert I.
personal data
SURNAME Hubertus of Liege
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hubert de Liège
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bishop of Maastricht and Liège
DATE OF BIRTH at 655
PLACE OF BIRTH Toulouse
DATE OF DEATH May 30, 727
Place of death Tervuren , Belgium