Walter from Pontoise
Walter von Pontoise (also: Gualterius von Rebais; French: Saint Gauthier de Pontoise) (* around 1030 in Andainville in Picardy , France ; † April 8, 1099 in Pontoise, northwest of Paris ) was a Benedictine monk and saint . His feast day in the saints calendar is celebrated in church on April 8th (in the diocese of Île-de-France on May 4th).
Life
Walter was a professor of philosophy and rhetoric and then became a Benedictine monk in the Rebais monastery in the diocese of Meaux . Philip I appointed him the first abbot of the newly founded Saint Martin monastery in Pontoise . Due to initial difficulties, Walter fled from Pontoise to Cluny Abbey in 1072 , but was brought back again. In 1074 he fled to the Hermitage of Tours and was brought back to Pontoise from there. In 1077 he tried to hide in an oratorio, but was found and brought back, so that he finally asked Pope Gregory VII to be released from this office in 1080 , but he refused.
He worked in the spirit of the reforms of Cluny and Gregory VII. In 1092 he took part in the Council of Paris, where he openly denounced the moral decline of the Benedictine abbots. In 1094 he founded a Benedictine convent in Berteaucourt-les-Dames near Amiens .
Walter died on April 8, 1099, Good Friday , and was buried in the monastery church of Pontoise. During the French Revolution , his bones were transferred to the local cemetery, where they can no longer be found today.
He was canonized in 1153 by the Archbishop of Rouen , Hugues de Boves (also Hugo von Amiens, died 1164); this was the last non-papal canonization. 1170 he was also by Pope Alexander III. canonized.
In iconography he is depicted in the robe of an abbot with an ear of corn and a vineyard . He is considered the patron saint of prisoners and vintners and a helper against fever , rheumatism and eye ailments.
Legend
As a novice , Walter found an abused, starving and half-thirsty man in the monastery prison who had not paid his taxes . For Walter this contradicted the Christian commandment to love , which is why he secretly left the enclosure at night, opened the prison, gave the weakened prisoner bread and carried him outside on his own shoulders . The act was discovered and Walter was beaten by the abbot for it.
See also
literature
- Joachim Drumm: Walter von Pontoise. A life in growing rings . Schwabenverlag, Ostfildern 1993, ISBN 3-7966-0722-5 .
- Walter Brandmüller : Walter's ways. Saint Walter, Abbot of Pontoise . fe-Medienverlag, Kisslegg 2010, ISBN 978-3-939684-88-6 .
- Ekkart Sauser : Walter von Pontoise. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 22, Bautz, Nordhausen 2003, ISBN 3-88309-133-2 , Sp. 1502.
Web link
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b on Heiligenlexikon.de queried on June 5, 2011
- ↑ a b Thomas Mollen: Heiliger Walter von Pontoise, queried on kirchensite.de on June 5, 2011
- ↑ on kiddygo.de ( Memento of the original from February 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. queried on June 5, 2011
- ↑ on Heiligenlexikon.de and Bautz: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon ( Memento from June 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) queried on June 5, 2011
- ↑ Christine Schmitt: Walter von Pontoise queried on June 5, 2011
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Pontoise, Walter von |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | christian saint |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1030 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Andainville , Picardy , France |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 8, 1099 |
| Place of death | Pontoise |