From: rich <richarra@gmail.com>

4 February =E2=80=93 Saint Rabanus Maurus OSB

=C2 Archbishop, Monk, Abbot,Theologian, Poet, Writer, Teacher,
Encyclopedist =E2=80=93 also known as Hrabanus or Rhabanus and =E2=80=9CThe=
Teacher of
Germany=E2=80=9D =E2=80=93 born in 776 at Mainz, Germany and died on 4 Febr= uary 856 at
Winkel, Germany of natural cause. In the most recent edition of the
Roman Martyrology (Martyrologium Romanum, 2004, pp. 133), his feast is
given as today and he is qualified as a Saint (=E2=80=98sanctus').

Rabanus was born of noble parents in Mainz. The exact date of his
birth remains uncertain, but in 801 he was ordained a deacon at
Benedictine Abbey of Fulda in Hesse, where he had been sent to school
and had become a monk. At the insistence of Ratgar, his abbot, he
went to complete his studies at Tours. There he studied under St Alcuin(735-804) , who in recognition of his diligence and purity gave
him the surname of Maurus, after the favourite disciple of Benedict,
Saint Maurus.

Returning to Fulda, in 803 he was entrusted with the principal charge
of the abbey school, which, under his direction, became one of the
most pre-eminent centres of scholarship and book production in Europe
and sent forth many erudite and saintly pupils. It was probably at
this period that he compiled his excerpt from the grammar of Priscian,
a popular textbook during the Middle Ages. According to Alban Butler=E2=80= =99s
Lives of the Saints, Rabanus ate no meat and drank no wine.

In 814 Rabanus was ordained a priest. Shortly afterwards, apparently
on account of disagreement with Abbot Ratgar, he withdrew for a time
from Fulda. This banishment has long been understood to have
occasioned a pilgrimage to Palestine, based on an allusion in his
commentary on Joshua. Rabanus returned to Fulda in 817 on the
election of a new abbot, Eigil, and at Eigil's death in 822, Rabanu=
s
himself became abbot. He handled this position efficiently and
successfully but in 842 he resigned so as to have greater leisure for
study and prayer, retiring to the neighbouring monastery of St
Petersberg.

In 847, he was chosen to be Archbishop of Mainz, at the age of
sixty-three and the last years of his life were spent directing the
affairs of his Diocese, holding provincial Synods and directing a
multitude of charitable works. During a famine, he fed three hundred
poor people at his own house. He became bedridden shortly before his
death and from the moment of his death was regarded as a saint.

Blessed Rabanus composed a number of hymns, the most famous of which
is the Veni Creator Spiritus. This is a hymn to the Holy Spirit often
sung at Pentecost and at ordinations. It is known in English through
many translations, including Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire,Come,
Holy Ghost, Creator blest and Creator Spirit, by whose aid. Veni
Creator Spiritus was used by Gustav Mahler as the first chorale of his
eighth symphony.

One of his most popular and enduring works is a spectacular collection
of poems centred on the cross, called De laudibus sanctae crucis or In
honorem sanctae crucis, a set of highly sophisticated poems that
present the cross (and, in the last poem, Rabanus himself kneeling
before it) in word and image, even in numbers.

He was buried at the monastery of St Alban's in Mainz but later his
relics were transferred to Halle.

anastpaul.com/2020


Saint Quote:
When you observe some thought suggesting that you seek human fame, you
can be sure it will bring you disgrace.
--St. Mark the Ascetic

Bible Quote:
Therefore, put away all filth and evil excess and humbly welcome the
word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls.=C2 Jas
1:21


<><><><>
'In regard to the divine and holy mysteries of the faith, not the
least part may be handed on without the Holy Scriptures.=C2 Do not be
led astray by winning words and clever arguments.=C2 Even to me, who
tell you these things, do not give ready belief, unless you receive
from the Holy Scriptures the proof of the things which I announce. The salvation in which we believe is not proved from clever reasoning, but
from the Holy Scriptures.
--Cyril of Jerusalem =C2 (Catechetical Lectures 4,17.)

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