Turibius of Astorga

Turibius von Astorga ( Spanish and Italian Toribio , Polish Turrybiusz ; * around 402, † Astorga , around 460 or 476) had been bishop of the northern Spanish city of Astorga since 444 .

Life

Since there is another saint of the same name who is known under the name Turibius of Liébana or "Turibius, the monk" and who was bishop of Palencia in the 6th century , the two people were confused with one another in the early Middle Ages.

Nothing is known about the origin and the youth of the saint; some sources place his birth in Betanzos in what is now Galicia . Other sources claim that he in Turin ( Italy was born) from a wealthy family. He later allegedly went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land , where he was ordained a priest and called to guard the holy places. On his return, he is said to have brought a relic of the Holy Cross with him, which came to the Santo Toribio de Liébana monastery founded by his namesake and is still venerated there today. According to tradition, a statue of the Virgin Mary also originates from this trip, which was later hidden from the Moors and was then considered lost, but finally around the year 1200 by a Templar who helped build their new castle in Ponferrada under an holm oak ( encina ) was found again and has been venerated in the city ever since.

In 444 Turibius became Bishop of Astorga and began converting the pagan Suebi ; In addition, he faced the theological debate with Priscillianism . After the city was taken by the Visigoth king Theodoric II in 456, he was captured and taken to Gaul . After his release, he devoted himself to rebuilding the city of Astorga. His remains were moved to the Liébana Monastery in the 8th century.

Adoration

Several churches - especially in northern Spain and in the former Spanish colonial empire - are dedicated to St. Consecrated to Turibius ( Santo-Toribio ); his feast day is April 16. The male given names Toribio or Turrybiusz are extremely rare.

presentation

Turibius of Astorga was shown only rarely and then always in the bishop's robe.

literature

Basil Watkins: The Book of Saints. A Comprehensive Biographical Dictionary. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015, ISBN 978-0-567-66415-0 .
Lidia Becker: Hispano-Romance name book. Investigation of the personal names of pre-Roman, Greek and Latin-Roman etymology on the Iberian Peninsula in the Middle Ages (6th-12th centuries) Walter de Gruyter, 2009, ISBN 978-3-484-97126-4 , p. 1026.

Web links

Commons : Turibius von Astorga - collection of images, videos and audio files

Turibius von Astorga in the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints
Toribius von Astorga - Keyword Biography (English)
Turibius of Astorga - Article (Spanish)

Individual evidence

↑ Santi, beati e testimoni (Italian)
↑ Torsten Krannich: From Leporius to Leo the Great. Studies on Christology in Latin in the fifth century AD (= Studies and Texts on Antiquity and Christianity, Vol. 32). Mohr Siebeck, 2005, ISBN 978-3-16-148795-8 , p. 173

personal data
SURNAME	Turibius of Astorga
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Toribio
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	bishop
DATE OF BIRTH	5th century
DATE OF DEATH	5th century

[1] Santi, beati e testimoni (Italian)

[2] Torsten Krannich: From Leporius to Leo the Great. Studies on Christology in Latin in the fifth century AD (= Studies and Texts on Antiquity and Christianity, Vol. 32). Mohr Siebeck, 2005, ISBN 978-3-16-148795-8 , p. 173