Maurus (saint)

Saint Maurus (from Latin Maurus, the Moor; * between 500 and 512 in Rome , † around 584 in Gaul ) was a Benedictine monk and successor of Saint Benedict .

Benedict orders Maurus to rescue Placidus (painting by Filippo Lippi, c. 1445.)

Life

As a teenager he was given to St. Benedict of Nursia by his father, the Roman nobleman and senator Eutichius, to be brought up in the monastery. He soon became the favorite student of this abbot and was distinguished by his obedience and strict adherence to the rules of the monastery. Pope Gregory the Great reports in his biography of St. Benedict that he should have walked across the water in order to save a brother who fell into the water, Placidus .

Maurus probably succeeded St. Benedict as Abbot of Subiaco when he left to found the Montecassino Abbey . Maurus died in the 6th century.

Relics

In the 9th century, relics of a Maurus were found in the Abbey of Glanfeuil in France (later called Saint-Maur-sur-Loire Abbey and Saint-Maur de Glanfeuil Abbey ) . This prompted Abbot Odo to write a legend according to which Benedict had sent his pupil to Gaul to found a monastery there, as its abbot he was then. This tradition has long been believed to be credible. Therefore he was venerated as the patron saint of the Maurinian congregation , the French Benedictines.

These Maurus relics were transferred to Saint-Maur-des-Fossés Abbey in 868 and to Saint-Germain-des-Prés (Paris) in 1750 . They were lost in the turmoil of the French Revolution.

Representation, impact and adoration

Depiction of Maurus on a frieze in the Maurus chapel when he miraculously saves the young Placidus from drowning

Saint Maurus is usually depicted in paintings and frescoes as a Benedictine monk or abbot. He is the patron saint of charcoal burners, porters, tailors, shoemakers and coppersmiths. Maurus is invoked against hoarseness, runny nose, headache, gout, rheumatism, scrofula and paralysis; its feast day is January 15th.

blessing

There is a special Maurus blessing, a blessing of the sick with a cross particle invoking the saint. ( Per invocationem Dei Matris et semper virginis Mariae, et per intercessionem sancti Benedicti et Mauri, potentia Dei Patris, sapientia Dei Filii, virtus Spiritus Sancti liberet te ab ista infirmitate = Through the invocation of the always virgin Mother of God Mary and through the intercession of Saint Benedict and Maurus may the power of God the Father, the wisdom of God the Son and the power of the Holy Spirit deliver you from this disease).

See also

• Maurinus of Cologne , † on June 10th before the 10th century in Cologne
• Maurus Chapel , Beuron Archabbey

literature

• Gregory the Great, Dialogues, vol. 2, chap. 4, 6 and 7
• AM Zimmermann OSB, Kalendarium Benediktinum, Metten, 1933, vol. 1, p. 85.
• Rituale Monasticum, Beuron 1931
• Ekkart Sauser :  Maurus. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 22, Bautz, Nordhausen 2003, ISBN 3-88309-133-2 , Sp. 817.

Web links

Commons : Maurus  - Collection of images, videos and audio files