Verena (saint)

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Statue of the saint on the Rhine bridge in Bad Zurzach-Rheinheim. Work by Konrad Sutter
between 1138 and 1147: Zwiefalter choir book from the Zwiefalten monastery , Verena (right), monthly picture September, Württembergische Landesbibliothek

Saint Verena (* around 260 AD; † around 320 in Zurzach ) is an early Christian virgin and hermit from Thebes who is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church , the Orthodox Churches and the Coptic Church . Her memorial day in the liturgy is September 1st .

Life

origin

According to the third chapter of the Vita prior , Verena was born in Thebes on the Upper Nile in Egypt to respected parents. According to tradition, the parents gave her to a bishop , the aged Chaeremon , for baptism and instruction in the Christian faith. The name of Bishop Chaeremon was known to the writer of the Vita prior , the abbot of the Reichenau monastery , Hatto III., Around 888 , as it is mentioned by Eusebius of Caesarea . It is possible that the name of Bishop Chaeremon was first introduced by Hatto III. was added. If St. Verena was baptized by Bishop Chaeremon of Nilopolis, she should have been born before his martyrdom in 250 AD. Thus, after the year of death in 344, calculated by the last provost of the Verena monastery, Johannes Laurentius Huber , she would have been at least 94 years old.

Wandering

After the Chaeremon's death, Verena is said to have come to Lower Egypt with other Christians, where the emperors Diocletian and Maximian are said to have raised new soldiers and thus founded the Thebaic Legion. Chapter 4 of the Vita prior describes the journey with the legion to Milan. Verena is said to have stayed with a saint Maximus for a few years and visited the martyrs' places and dungeons of the saints. When she heard of the death of the legionnaires who had moved on in Milan, she traveled to Saint-Maurice ( Agaunum ). A soldier in the Theban Legion, Viktor, is said to have been her fiancé. Later traditions describe the burial of the martyrs of the Theban Legion by Verena.

According to Chapter 6 of the Vita prior , Verena moved on to Salodurum (today Solothurn ) and again settled with a hermit . Here she is said to have spent her days fasting, praying and singing the psalms. In the further text of Chapter 6, Hatto III writes how a consecrated virgin should live. He closes with the note that St. Verena had locked herself in a narrow cave.

According to this tradition, Verena can only have come to Lower Egypt after 285, since Emperor Diocletian only appointed Maximian as Caesar in 285 and emperor in 286. The link to the Theban Legion, whose historical event is controversial, may have been made because of the strong veneration of the Theban Legion at the time of Hatto. It was customary in the Roman army for women to follow the legionnaires in the train. According to Speidel, there were legions before 300 AD whose names refer to Thebes. There were also houses for Christian virgins as early as the 3rd century. Verena could have lived in such a house in Milan. Travel was widespread in Roman times, as the Roman roads were quite well developed.

Act

Salodurum

In a cave in the Verena Gorge named after her, the saint is said to have nourished herself by selling her handicrafts. The saint is said to have healed the blind and the possessed. In view of these miraculous healings, according to the Vita, the Alemanni converted to Christianity and were baptized by an exiled priest from Italy. Chapter 8 of the Vita prior reports that Verena gathered other virgins around her. In the following text, Hatto III. further instructions on the life of a consecrated virgin.

Because the saint attracted so many people, she was arrested by the Romans. The Vita reports that that night a young man appeared to her who revealed himself to be Mauritius and consoled her. When the Roman governor had a fever, he had Verena called so that she could heal him. The saint was then released and returned to the gorge

In the 11th chapter the first miracle is described:

“When bread was missing and Verena prayed to God for help, 40 sacks of flour were suddenly found at the entrance to the cell. After Verena and the maidens had eaten some of the flour, new flour kept growing out of their teeth. "

The Vita posterior begins with the spreading cry of St. Verena, who therefore secretly fled and came to an island in the Rhine.

Since the Alamanni did not settle on the left bank of the Rhine until the 6th century, Verena could not convert any Alamanni. It is possible that Hatto III. called the Celto-Roman population of the 3rd century as Alamanni (pagans). The imprisonment may be related to the Edict of 303 under Diocletian and Maximian.

The fact that Verena fled from the many admirers and hiked further down the Aare is comparable to the flight of the desert father, Antonius . However, in connection with the edict, the saint could also have been expelled from Salodurum after her release.

Rheininsel

Many sick, blind and lame people are said to have come to the Rhine Island soon so that Verena could help them. The third chapter of the Vita posterior describes how a woman came with her blind and lame son and asked for help. Verena prosternated herself in the form of a cross and prayed. The son got up immediately and went home.

Foundation of the Zurzach Monastery

Castle chapel St. Verena and Mauritius, Bad Zurzach, (Kirchlibuck)

Between 1010 and 1265 a Benedictine monastery was built on the grave of St. Verena the canon monastery Zurzach . The Bishop of Constance, Rudolf von Habsburg , set the number of canons at 9 on December 24, 1279 and regulated the successions of offices. In 1294, Bishop Heinrich II von Klingenberg incorporated the Zurzach parish church, in which the Verena tomb was located. The church - the Verena Minster - was until then under the Regensberg regional chapter . The former place of activity of St. However, Verena is said to have been on the former site of the Burg Castle. The remains of the Roman fort Tenedo are still located here. The castle chapel emerged from simple previous buildings .

swell

Viten
Hatto III , Abbot of the Reichenau Monastery (888–913) writes the life of St. Verena in thirteen chapters. Richardis is accepted as the recipient . In 881 it was given to the small abbey in Zurzach for lifelong use until the death of Charles III. Then the abbey came to the Reichenau monastery.

"Like a moral instruction, Richardis receives this letter, which, so to speak, to the glory of virginity ', is exemplarily presented with a life story of the most blessed virgin Verena von Zurzach, where the empress was de facto a lay abbess."

Was probably written by a Zurzach monk in the 11th century. The oldest known copy dates from the 12th century. The text is more detailed and flowery. The Vita posterior complements the life of Verena between their lives in Solothurn and death in Zurzach the Vita prior . In terms of content, the miracles and Verena as servant of God are presented.
  • Vita Sanctae Verenae in verse
This poem , written in Leonine hexameters , has come down to us in a Tegernsee manuscript from the 11th century. In: Poetae Latini medii aevi 5,1.2: The Ottonian Time Part 1/2 . Edited by Karl Strecker with the assistance of Norbert Fickermann. Leipzig 1937, pp. 95–100 ( Monumenta Germaniae Historica , digitized version )
  • Book of miracles written around 1010 by a Zurzach monk. It contains miracle stories from pilgrims.

Legendary traditions further adorned the lives of the saints. Attenhofer describes that Mauritius was a relative of Verena's parents and that Verena received permission to travel with the Legion to Palestine. Before setting off for Mediolanum (Milan), the hll. Felix and Regula and Ursus and Viktor in the tent of St. Met Mauritius.

Grave slab from 1613 of St. Verena in the crypt of the Verena Minster

When Verena moved from Saint-Maurice to Salodorum, she is said to have stopped by Aventicum (Avenches) and found the city devastated by the barbarians. The healed Roman is said to have been a governor named Hirtakus. After the flour miracle occurred, St. Verena the devil appeared. Since he was annoyed that Verena prayed so much, a heavy stone that he wanted to throw at Verena fell on his foot, so that the devil has been limping since that time. Attenhofer writes that Verena came to Tenedo (Zurzach) in 323 at the age of 43. In Zurzach, Verena is said to have received news of the martyrdom of the Thebes Felix and Regula. According to Attenhofer, Verena died at the age of 64.

A vassal of the Duke von Burkhard is said to have received church property from the Verena monastery as a gift. Since this was wrong, the Duke is said to have seen a procession that floated out of the windows of the Verena Minster. The duke then returned the goods to the monastery.

When a farmer went into the forest to cut trees on Verena Day instead of mass, his hands froze at the first blow. At the grave he repented and so he recovered. In 1795 fire broke out in Koblenz, many houses and the chapel burned down. Only the statue of St. Verena with her wreaths and votive candles remained unharmed. To this day, other stories and miracles have been added, believers include the (albeit only recently) discovered thermal spring, which brings healing success for sick people.

Early worship

In Zurzach

Archaeological excavations and written sources have shown that Saint Verena has been venerated in Zurzach and asked for help since the 5th century. The crypt of the Verena Minster in Zurzach and the Verena Gorge near Rüttenen are visited by many pilgrims.

In Salem

In 1137 the veneration of the vena existed in a chapel on the site of today's Salem Minster.

Verena fountain in the spa gardens in Bad Zurzach

iconography

1505, Zurich Violet Master, Verena (right), Swiss National Museum
The Mercy of St. Verena , Stuttgart (?), 1524
Verena Altar in Salem Minster
Verena figure on the choir stalls of the Church of St. Verena in Rot an der Rot

The popularity of St. Verena also expresses herself in various representations. The saint is often depicted with her hair down and a veil. Her attributes are the jug and a double comb. Evidence is available from the 12th century.

Representations from 1100 to 1300

Representations from 1400

Representations from 1500

  • The hll. Katharina and Verena, Baden master of carnations (Thuringia Meyerhofer?) Around 1500, Swiss National Museum
  • Illustration on an altarpiece from Bremgarten, by the Zurich violet master , 1505, Swiss National Museum
  • Figure on the wing of an altar, attributed to Hans Baldung , around 1515, Landesmuseum Münster
  • Winged altar around 1516 with the carved figure of St. Verena made of linden wood. The altar used to be in the Verena Chapel in Herznach and is now in the historical collection of the Canton of Aargau.
  • Sculpture made of limewood, late 15th century.
  • Shrine figure from the parish church of St. Katharina in Klingnau made of linden wood, early 16th century, today in the Swiss National Museum.
  • Statue in the Verena Minster in Zurzach from the 16th century.
  • Grave slab in the crypt in the Verena Minster in Zurzach from 1613.
  • Verena altar in Salem Minster made of alabaster from Klettgau
  • Figure on the choir stalls of the Church of St. Verena in red on the red

Modern representations

  • Verena fountain on Münsterplatz in Zurzach by Erich Hauser from 1983 and in the spa gardens in Zurzach by Bettina Eichin from 1990
  • Coptic icon of St. Verena as a gift from the Coptic community of Port Said 2007 to the parish of St. Verena, Bad Zurzach. It is located with the icon of St. Mauritius in the Verena Minster (Zurzach) .

Relics

Relic of St. Verena (piece of bone)
Reliquary with rich stone and enamel decorations from the 14th century from the church treasury of the Verena Minster .

music

Verena songs
  • Verenalied I from Zurzach
Music: Mainz 1410
Text: Maria Luise Thurmair , 1983 (The text in the first and fourth stanzas is very similar to the text listed below.)
  • Verenalied II from Zurzach
Music: Joseph Frei
Text: Silja Walter
  • Verena song
(Melody: Gotteslob 1975 No. 222; Gotteslob 2013 No. 334)
Melody of the Verena song
You came from the east,
Verena, woman from Thebes.
You carried the love of Christ over the sea,
to give us a testimony.
Today the church looks at you
confides in the patroness.
Heil'ge Verena, pray for us.
When you were hungry you shared the bread
and bend to the arms.
You helped in many illnesses,
gave away your mercy.
No one left without a good word
no poor man can go without help.
Heil'ge Verena, pray for us.
Verena, let us have the strength
to rekindle the faith
that through us God creates good,
we proclaim his love.
In your strong faith sense
be a role model and helper.
Heil'ge Verena, pray for us.

Adoration

St. Verena in the coat of arms of the municipality of Stäfa
Chapel of St. Verena on the Zugerberg

The devotion to St. Verena in the former diocese of Konstanz and in the diocese of Basel . Further patronage and relics can also be found in the dioceses of Regensburg , Bamberg and Chur . The veneration of St. Verena was also brought to St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna by the Habsburgs .

The place Hausen ob Verena refers to the saint, the coats of arms of the communities of Stäfa and Herznach bear the saint or their attribute , the jug, in the coat of arms. In the Roman Catholic Church, St. Verena called as the patron saint of the fishermen, housekeepers, nurses, millers and boatmen. She has been co-patron of the Basel diocese since 2003. Many churches and chapels are consecrated to St. Verena, see Verenakirche .

literature

Web links

Commons : Heilige Verena  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Hatto III .: Vita Prior . 888
  2. ↑ Albert Sennhauser, Hans Rudolf Sennhauser , Alfred Hidber (ed.): History of the Fleckens Zurzach. Zurzach. 2004, ISBN 3-9522575-2-4 .
  3. ↑ Alexander Speidel: The Thebaic Legion and the late Roman Army (* .pdf; 145 kB) ( Memento from January 8, 2013 in the Internet Archive ). Accessed September 30, 2007
  4. ^ A b Hans Conrad Zander: When religion wasn't boring. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2001, ISBN 3-462-02982-7 .
  5. ↑ a b Vita Posterior .
  6. ↑ Verena Grafinger: The holy Verena and the Thebaic legion . Diploma thesis University of Vienna, Vienna 2007.
  7. ^ A b Edward Attenhofer: The little book of St. Verena. 2nd Edition. R + L Müller AG, Lenzburg 1981 (1st edition 1943).
  8. ↑ a b Adolf Reinle : Forms and emanations of the Verena cult in the Middle Ages . In: Albert Sennhauser, Hans Rudolf Sennhauser and Alfred Hidber (eds.): History of the Fleckens Zurzach Zurzach . 2004, pp. 143-164, ISBN 3-9522575-2-4
  9. ↑ a b c Flühler-Kreis, Dione .; Wyer, Peter .; Stuppan, Donat .: The Wood Sculptures of the Middle Ages Volume II: Altarpieces and Altarpieces Zurich. 2007, pp. 318-322. ISBN 978-3-908025-69-6
personal data
SURNAME Verena
BRIEF DESCRIPTION early Christian virgin and hermit
DATE OF BIRTH at 260
DATE OF DEATH at 320
Place of death Zurzach