Master of Messkirch (1500–1543).
Saint Cunigunda /Santa Cunegonda /Sainte Cunégonde, 1535-1540, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart
Sainte Cunégonde
Née vers 975 et fille du
comte de Luxembourg, elle épousa l'empereur saint Henri II, et, avec le
consentement de son époux, garda la virginité dont elle avait fait vœu. A la
mort de son mari, oubliant et s'efforçant de faire oublier sa première dignité,
l’impératrice fonda le monastère de bénédictines de Kaufungen en Allemagne où
elle passa le reste de sa vie comme religieuse. Elle mourut en 1033 ou 1039.
Saint
Henri et sainte Cunégonde couronnés par le Christ (en haut),
miniature
du livre des Péricopes d'Henri II
Sainte Cunégonde
Impératrice
germanique (+ 1040)
Avec le consentement de
son époux, l'empereur saint
Henri II, elle garda la virginité qu'elle avait vouée avant son mariage. A
sa mort, elle se retira dans un monastère à Bamberg, oubliant et s'efforçant de
faire oublier sa première dignité. Elle fut canonisée en 1200.
À Kaffungen en Hesse,
vers l’an 1033 ou 1039, sainte Cunégonde. Avec son époux, l’empereur saint
Henri, elle combla l’Église de bienfaits et, après sa mort, se retira comme
moniale dans le cloître, faisant du Christ son héritier, et c’est là qu’elle
mourut. Son corps fut déposé avec honneur près de celui de saint Henri, à
Bamberg.
(Au Luxembourg : sa
mémoire est célébrée le 13 juillet avec celle de saint Henri.)
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/735/Sainte-Cunegonde.html
Heiliger
Jakobus d. Ä. zwischen den Bamberger Bistumspatronen Kaiser Heinrich der
Heilige und der heiligen Kunigunde. Wolfgang Kratzheim d. Ä. Bamberg, um
1480-1490
SAINTE CUNÉGONDE,
IMPÉRATRICE GERMANIQUE
Originaire du Luxembourg,
Cunégonde grandit dans une famille qui lui transmet la foi et lui enseigne les
vertus chrétiennes que le jeune vit avec une ferveur particulière et qu’elle
porte plus tard «en dot» au Duc de Bavière, futur empereur du Saint Empire
Romain avec le nom d’Henri II, qu’elle épouse à l’âge de 20 ans.
Un saint mariage
Beaucoup de légendes
circulent sur l’union de Cunégonde et d’Henri, comme celle d’une calomnie qui
insinuait une trahison de la jeune femme au détriment du mari. La femme pria
alors le Seigneur avec une telle intensité qu’Il lui concéda de gagner une épreuve
exceptionnelle pour convaincre son époux de son innocence: marcher sur des
charbons ardents. Selon une autre version, au contraire, les deux époux avaient
fait un vœu réciproque de chasteté, si bien que leur mariage fut appelé «le
mariage de saint Joseph».La réalité historique, au contraire, semble être que
Cunégonde était stérile, mais malgré le droit germanique qui prévoyait cela
comme cause de répudiation, son mari décida de ne pas en faire usage. Pour cela
encore aujourd’hui Cunégonde et Henri sont considérés comme le couple saint qui
illumina le Saint Empire Romain.
La promotion de la
chrétienté
En 1002, à la mort de
Otton III, le duc de Bavière devient empereur du Saint Empire Romain ave le nom
d’Henri II. C’est seulement en 1004 qu’il réussit à se rendre à Rome ensemble
avec son épouse pour recevoir la couronne des mains du pape Benoît VIII.
Rentrés dans leur patrie les deux époux se déploient beaucoup pour la promotion
de la chrétienté dans la région allemande de l’Axe: en 1007 ils font ériger la
Cathédrale de Bamberg (où ils sont enterrés l’un à côté de l’autre) et en 1021
le monastère de Kaufungen, en action de grâce pour la guérison d’une grave
maladie.
De la couronne au
vêtement religieux
En 1024 Henri II meurt.
Un an plus tard, à l’occasion de l’anniversaire de la mort du mari, Cunégonde
donne une relique de la Sainte Croix au monastère de Kaufungen et se dépouille
en même temps de ses habits royaux pour revêtir l’habit religieux bénédictin et
s’enfermer dans ce même monastère. Dès lors Cunégonde vit dans l’humilité en
passant sa journée en prière et dans la lecture de la Bible, en faisant les
travaux les plus humbles, en faisant la pénitence à travers le jeûne et en
portant du réconfort aux sœurs malades. Elle s’éteint dans le couvent à une date
non précisée, probablement en 1033, ou en 1039 selon d’autres sources.
SOURCE : https://www.vaticannews.va/fr/saint-du-jour/03/03/sainte-cunegonde--imperatrice-germanique.html
.jpg)
Henry
II and Cunegundis. Illustrations from the Nuremberg Chronicle, by Hartmann
Schedel (1440-1514)
Impératrice
(+ 1040)
Sainte Cunégonde fut élevée par ses nobles parents dans les sentiments d'une
tendre piété. Mariée à saint Henri, roi de Bavière et plus tard empereur, elle
avait résolu avec ce prince, avant la célébration du mariage, de vivre dans une
continence parfaite. Les deux époux tinrent leur promesse et n'eurent pour but
de leur union que de se porter mutuellement à la perfection.
Cunégonde se montra la mère des pauvres, et comme elle s'était interdit les
amusements de la cour, elle trouvait de quoi soulager les malheureux, ériger
des évêchés, fonder des monastères et orner les églises.
Dieu permit, pour éprouver sa patience, qu'elle fût indignement calomniée et
que la calomnie, partie de haut, pénétrât jusque dans le peuple, qui n'avait
qu'une voix pour flétrir la prétendue hypocrisie de la reine. Henri,
connaissant la vertu de son épouse, repoussa d'abord ces rapports avec
indignation. Mais la perfidie des ennemis de Cunégonde finit par le convaincre,
et il en vint à mépriser sa sainte épouse et à ne lui plus parler.
Un jour, la reine eut le courage de l'aborder et de lui protester de sa
parfaite innocence; elle fut même la première à proposer de s'en remettre au
jugement de Dieu, comme on le tolérait encore à cette époque demi-barbare:
"Faites chauffer à blanc, lui dit-elle, douze socs de charrue; pieds nus,
je marcherai sur ces fers ardents, me confiant en la bonté de mon Dieu, qui
connaît le fond de mon coeur." Le jour venu, les douze socs, chauffés à
blanc, furent placés dans la basilique, au milieu d'une foule nombreuse
accourue pour être témoin de cet étrange spectacle. La reine allait s'avancer
sur ce pavé brûlant, quand Henri lui dit: "Je crois à votre innocence; je
vous en prie, ne persistez pas dans votre projet." Mais Cunégonde voulait
la preuve complète: "Plus ce feu est terrible, plus mon innocence
éclatera", dit-elle. Levant donc les yeux au Ciel, elle s'avança pieds nus
sur les fers rouges, en disant: "Seigneur mon Dieu, protégez Votre humble
servante!" Quand elle fut arrivée au douzième, elle y resta debout comme
sur un trône d'honneur. La multitude, frémissante, se précipitait pour vénérer
la sainte et courageuse reine, et, de son côté, Henri se jeta aux pieds de
Cunégonde en la suppliant de lui conserver son amour et en jurant de travailler
à réparer son erreur jusqu'au dernier jour de sa vie.
Après la mort de son royal mari, elle entra dans un couvent, où elle prit le
voile et vécut dans la plus parfaite humilité.
Abbé L. Jaud, Vie des Saints pour tous les jours de l'année, Tours, Mame, 1950.
SOURCE : http://magnificat.ca/cal/fr/saints/sainte_cunegonde.html
Heinrich
u Kunigunde mit Bamberger Dom Holzschnitt 1484
Princesse palatine et
fille de Sigefried, premier comte de Luxembourg, la pieuse Cunégonde,
fiancée à l’empereur saint
Henri II, conserva sa virginité dans les liens du mariage, et après la mort
de son époux elle se dépouilla des ornements de la suprême puissance, au milieu
d’une Messe célébrée dans l’église du Refuge, qu’elle avait fondée, prit le
voile et reçut l’habit monastique qu’elle avait tissé de ses propres mains.
Déployant dans la vie religieuse le zèle et la charité qu’elle avait exercés
sur le trône, elle se plaisait aux travaux les plus humbles, obtint la faveur
d’opérer plusieurs miracles, et, près de mourir, refusa le drap mortuaire brodé
d’or que l’on préparait pour son cercueil :
« Lorsque j’ai épousé un homme mortel, dit-elle, j’ai porté de riches habits,
mais le pauvre vêtement que je porte actuellement est celui d’une épouse de
Jésus-Christ ; ne cherchez point d’autre ornement pour couvrir mon corps ! »
Sainte Cunégonde naquit vers la fin du Xe siècle et fut élevée, par ses nobles
parents, dans les sentiments d’une tendre piété. Mariée à saint
Henri II, roi de Bavière et plus tard empereur, elle avait résolu avec ce
prince, avant la célébration du mariage, de vivre dans une continence parfaite.
Les deux époux tinrent leur promesse et n’eurent pour but de leur union que de
se porter mutuellement à la perfection.
Sainte Cunégonde se montra la mère des pauvres, et comme elle s’était interdit
les amusements de la cour, elle trouvait de quoi soulager les malheureux,
ériger des évêchés, fonder des monastères et orner les églises.
Dieu permit, pour éprouver sa patience, qu’elle fût indignement calomniée et
que la calomnie, partie de haut, pénétrât jusque dans le peuple, qui n’avait
qu’une voix pour flétrir la prétendue hypocrisie de la reine.
Saint Henri, connaissant la vertu de son épouse, repoussa d’abord ces rapports
avec indignation ; mais la perfidie des ennemis de sainte Cunégonde finit par
le convaincre et il en vint à mépriser sa sainte épouse et à ne lui plus
parler.
Un jour, la reine eut le courage de l’aborder et de lui protester de sa
parfaite innocence ; elle fut même la première à proposer de s’en remettre au
jugement de Dieu, comme on le tolérait encore à cette époque demi-barbare : «
Faites chauffer à blanc, lui dit-elle, douze socs de charrue ; pieds nus, je
marcherai sur ces fers ardents, me confiant en la bonté de mon Dieu, qui
connaît le fond de mon cœur ».
Le jour venu, les douze socs, chauffés à blanc, furent placés dans la
basilique, au milieu d’une foule nombreuse accourue pour être témoin de cet
étrange spectacle. La reine allait s’avancer sur ce pavé brûlant, quand saint
Henri lui dit : « Je crois à votre innocence ; je vous en prie, ne persistez
pas dans votre projet ».
Sainte Cunégonde voulait la preuve complète : « Plus ce feu est terrible, plus
mon innocence éclatera » dit-elle. Levant donc les yeux au Ciel, elle s’avança
pieds nus sur les fers rouges, en disant : « Seigneur mon Dieu, protégez votre
humble servante ! »
Quand elle fut arrivée au douzième, elle y resta debout comme sur un trône
d’honneur. La multitude, frémissante, se précipitait pour vénérer la sainte et
courageuse reine, et, de son côté, saint Henri se jeta aux pieds de sainte
Cunégonde en la suppliant de lui conserver son amour et en jurant de travailler
à réparer son erreur jusqu’au dernier jour de sa vie : « Ô roi, mon seigneur,
dit la reine, c’est Dieu seul qu’il vous faut aimer, et non pas moi ; mon
respect et mon affection pour vous sont sans bornes, il en a toujours été ainsi
depuis que j’eus l’honneur de devenir votre épouse, et il en sera de même
jusqu’au dernier soupir ».
Après la mort de son royal mari, elle entra dans un couvent, où elle prit le
voile et vécut dans la plus parfaite humilité jusqu’en 1040, Benoît IX étant
pape, Henri III empereur du saint empire romain germanique et Henri Ier roi de
France.
Jindřich II. a Kunhuta Lucemburská
Sainte Cunégonde
Impératrice
Fête saint : 03 Mars
Date : 1040
Pape : Benoit IX
Empereur : Henri II ;
Henri III
Pensée
Comment arrive-t-il que
de tant de personnes qui paraissent tendre à la perfection il y en ait pourtant
si peu qui y parviennent ? La raison en est que la plupart la font consister
uniquement dans des pratiques de dévotion, bonnes en soi, mais qui peuvent se
trouver et se trouvent effectivement alliées à beaucoup de défauts.
Pratique
Pour l’honneur de la
religion, prenez un soin prudent de votre réputation.
Priez
Pour ceux qui vous
calomnient.
Hagiographie
Sainte Cunégonde naquit
vers la fin du Xᵉ siècle. Elle eut pour père Sigefroi, premier
comte de Luxembourg, et pour mère Hedeswige, qui l’éleva, dès son enfance, dans
les sentiments d’une tendre piété. Ses parents la marièrent ensuite à saint
Henri, duc de Bavière, qui fut depuis empereur. Les deux époux, avant
la célébration de leur mariage, convinrent de garder une virginité perpétuelle,
et de se porter mutuellement à la perfection. Sainte Cunégonde,
était la mère des pauvres ; et, comme elle s’était interdit les amusements de
la cour, elle trouvait de quoi les soulager, fonder des monastères et enrichir
les églises. Dieu permit, pour éprouver sa patience, qu’elle fût indignement
calomniée, et que son saint époux, ajoutant trop aisément foi à la calomnie,
soupçonnât sa vertu. Elle prouva son innocence en marchant les pieds nus sur
des fers de charrue rougis au feu, sans en ressentir le moindre mal.
L’empereur, frappé du prodige, demanda pardon à Cunégonde de son
imprudente crédulité. Cet événement dégoûta de plus en plus notre sainte de la
cour et du monde. Aussi, après la mort de son mari, elle s’empressa de se
retirer dans un monastère, où elle donna l’exemple des plus sublimes vertus, et
mourut l’an 1040.
Pour étouffer un
scandale, gardez-vous d’un autre scandale. 1° N’attendez pas que Dieu
fasse des miracles pour confondre ceux qui vous veillent du mal. 2° S’il
y a scandale, il est de votre devoir de vous justifier devant les hommes par
des moyens que la religion approuvé et prescrit. 3° Si la calomnie
prévalait, quand vous avez rempli votre devoir, humiliez-vous sous la main de
Dieu, qui a ses vues, en permettant l’oppression des bons et des innocents.
Comment représente-t-on
sainte Cunégonde ?
On la représente
suspendant son manteau à un rayon de soleil ; marchant pieds nus sur des fers
rouges sensiblement en forme de socs de charrue ; portant sur la main le monastère
de Kauffungen, dans la Hesse, qu’elle avait fait élever et où elle prit le voile,
etc. Quand elle est en compagnie de saint Henri, le monument qu’elle porte
représente la cathédrale de Bamberg. Elle est, avec Notre-Dame et saint
Henri, la patronne de cette ville.
Oraison
Exaucez-nous, ô Dieu qui
êtes notre salut, afin que, nous réjouissant de célébrer la fête de la
bienheureuse Cunégonde, nous soyons touchés des sentiments d’une plus
solide dévotion. Par Jésus-Christ N.-S. Ainsi soit-il.
SOURCE : https://www.laviedessaints.com/sainte-cunegonde/
Tilman Riemenschneider. Tombe de saint Henri II et de son épouse sainte Cunégonde de Luxemburg,
1499-1513, Cathedrale de Bamberg
Bas-relief sur la tombe de sainte Cunégonde à la cathédrale de Bamberg, la représentant se
soumettant au jugement de Dieu.
This bas-relief from Bamberg Cathedral depicts the trial by ordeal of the Holy Roman Emperor Heinrich II's wife, Kunigunde. After being accussed of adultery she proved her innocence by walking over red-hot ploughshares.
Also
known as
Chunigundis
Cunnegunda
Cunigunde
Cunegonda
Kinga
Kunegunda
Kunigunde
Profile
Daughter of
Sigfrid, Count of Luxembourg.
Received a religious education,
and took a private vow of virginity. Married Saint Henry II, Duke of Bavaria,
who agreed to honour her vow. On the death of
Emperor Otho III, Henry was
chosen King of
the Romans, and Cunegundes was crowned queen at Paderborn, Germany in 1002.
Holy Roman Empress in 1014,
receiving the crown from Pope Benedict
VIII.
At one point, gossips
accused her of adultery, but she proved her innocence by asking for God‘s help, then
walking over pieces of flaming iron without injury.
During his time as
emperor, Henry gave
away the bulk of his wealth in charity; when he died in 1024,
Cunegundes was left relatively poor.
On the 1025 anniversary
of Henry‘s death,
which coincided with the dedication of a monastery she
had built for Benedictine nuns at
Kaffungen, Cunegundes took the veil, and entered that monastery,
spending her remaining 15 years praying, reading,
and working beside her sisters.
1040 of
natural causes
interred in
the Bamberg Cathedral, Bavaria near Saint Henry II in 1201
1200 by Pope Innocent
III
Bamberg, Germany, archdiocese of
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Saints
of the Order of Saint Benedict, by Father Aegedius
Ranbeck, O.S.B.
Short
Lives of the Saints, by Eleanor Cecilia Donnelly
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
Sacred
and Legendary Art, by Anna Jameson
other
sites in english
1001 Patron Saints and Their Feast Days, Australian
Catholic Truth Society
images
video
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti
in italiano
strony
w jezyku polskim
Conference of the Polish Episcopate
spletne
strani v slovenšcini
MLA
Citation
“Saint Cunegundes“. CatholicSaints.Info.
2 March 2023. Web. 3 March 2023.
<http://catholicsaints.info/saint-cunegundes/>
SOURCE : http://catholicsaints.info/saint-cunegundes/
Wandmolerei
an der Walfer Dräifaltegkeetskierch.
March 3
St. Cunegundes, Empress
From her life, written by
a canon of Bamberg, about the year 1152: also the Dissertation of Henschenius,
p. 267.
A.D. 1040
ST. CUNEGUNDES was the
daughter of Sigefride, the first count of Luxemburgh, and Hadeswige his pious
wife. They instilled into her from her cradle the most tender sentiments of
piety, and married her to St. Henry, duke of Bavaria, who, upon the death of the
emperor Otho III. was chosen king of the Romans and crowned at Mentz on the 6th
of June, 1002. She was crowned at Paderborn on St. Laurence’s day, on which
occasion she made great presents to the churches of that city. In the year 1014
she went with her husband to Rome, and received the imperial crown with him
from the hands of Pope Benedict VIII. She had, by St. Henry’s consent before
her marriage, made a vow of virginity. Calumniators afterwards accused her to
him of freedoms with other men. The holy empress, to remove the scandal of such
a slander, trusting in God the protector of innocence, in proof of hers, walked
over red hot plough-shares without being hurt. The emperor condemned his too
scrupulous fears and credulity, and made her ample amends. They lived from that
time in the strictest union of hearts, conspiring to promote in everything
God’s honour, and the advancement of piety.
Going once to make a
retreat in Hesse, she fell dangerously ill, and made a vow to found a
monastery, if she recovered, in a place then called Capungen, now Kaffungen,
near Cassel, in the diocess of Paderborn, which she executed in a stately
manner, and gave it to nuns of the Order of St. Benedict. Before it was
finished St. Henry died, in 1024. She earnestly recommended his soul to the
prayers of others, especially to her dear nuns, and expressed her longing
desire of joining them. She had already exhausted her treasures and her
patrimony in founding bishoprics and monasteries, and in relieving the poor.
Whatever was rich or magnificent she thought better suited churches than her
palace. She had therefore little now left to give. But still thirsting to
embrace perfect evangelical poverty, and to renounce all to serve God without
obstacle, on the anniversary day of her husband’s death, 1025, she assembled a
great number of prelates to the dedication of her church of Kaffungen; and
after the gospel was sung at mass, offered on the altar a piece of the true
cross, and then put off her imperial robes, and clothed herself with a poor
habit: her hair was cut off, and the bishop put on her a veil, and a ring as
the pledge of her fidelity to her heavenly spouse. After she was consecrated to
God in religion, she seemed entirely to forget that she had been empress, and
behaved as the last in the house, being persuaded that she was so before God.
She feared nothing more than whatever could bring to her mind the remembrance
of her former dignity. She prayed and read much, worked with her hands,
abhorred the least appearance of worldly nicety, and took a singular pleasure
in visiting and comforting the sick. Thus she passed the fifteen last years of
her life, never suffering the least preference to be given her above any one in
the community. Her mortifications at length reduced her to a very weak
condition, and brought on her last sickness. Her monastery and the whole city
of Cassel were grievously afflicted at the thought of their approaching loss;
she alone appeared without concern, lying on a coarse hair-cloth, ready to give
up the ghost, whilst the prayers of the agonizing were read by her side.
Perceiving they were preparing a cloth fringed with gold to cover her corpse
after her death, she changed colour and ordered it to be taken away; nor could
she be at rest till she was promised she should be buried as a poor religious
in her habit. She died on the 3rd of March, 1040. Her body was carried to
Bamberg, and buried near that of her husband. The greater part of her relics
still remain in the same church. She was solemnly canonized by Innocent III. in
1200. The author of her life relates many miracles wrought at her tomb, or by
the intercession of this holy virgin and widow.
Few arrive at any degree
of perfection amongst those who aspire after virtue, because many behave as if
they placed it barely in multiplying exercises of piety and good works. This
costs little to self-love, which it rather feeds by entertaining a secret
vanity, or self-complacency, in those who are not very careful in watching over
their hearts. It is a common thing to see persons who have passed forty or
fifty years in the constant practice of penance and all religious exercises,
and the use of the most holy sacraments, still subject to habitual
imperfections, and venial disorders, incompatible with a state of sanctity or
perfection. They give marks of sudden resentment, if they happen to be rebuked
or despised: are greedy of the esteem of others, take a secret satisfaction in
applause, love too much their own ease and conveniences, and seek those things
which flatter self-love. How much are these souls their own enemies by not
giving themselves to God without reserve, and taking a firm resolution to
labour diligently in watching over themselves, and cutting off all irregular
attachments, and purifying their hearts! The neglect of this fosters many
habitual little disorders and venial sins, which incredibly obstruct the work
of our sanctification, and the advancement of the kingdom of divine grace in
our souls. These little enemies wilfully caressed, weaken our good desires,
defile even our spiritual actions with a thousand imperfections, and stop the
abundant effusion with which the Holy Ghost is infinitely desirous to
communicate himself to our souls, and to fill them with his light, grace,
peace, and holy joy. The saints, by the victory over themselves, and by making
it their principal study to live in the most perfect disengagement and purity
of heart, offered to God, even in their smallest actions, pure and full
sacrifices of love, praise, and obedience. If we desire to cultivate this
purity of heart, we must carefully endeavour to discover the imperfections and
disorders of our souls, especially such as are habitual, and strenuously labour
to root them out. Secondly, we must keep our senses under a strict guard, and
accustom them to restraint by frequent denials. Thirdly, we must live as much
as may be in a habit of recollection, and the practice of the divine presence,
and, after any dissipating affairs, return eagerly to close retirement for some
short time. Fourthly, we must, with perfect simplicity, lay open our whole
interior to our spiritual director, and be most solicitous to do this, with
particular candour and courage, in things in which we are tempted to use any
kind of duplicity or dissimulation. Lastly, we must propose to ourselves, in
all our thoughts and actions, the most perfect accomplishment of the will of
God, and study to square our whole lives by this great rule, watching in all we
do with particular care against motives of vanity, pride, sensuality, interest,
and aversions, the great enemies to purity of intention.
Rev. Alban
Butler (1711–73). Volume III: March. The Lives of the
Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/3/031.html
Statue der Kaiserin Kunigunde auf der Unteren Brücke in Bamberg
Saint Cunegundes
Empress
(† 1040)
Saint Cunegundes was the
daughter of Sigefried, the first Count of Luxemburg, and Hadeswige, his pious
wife. From her cradle her virtuous parents instilled into their daughter the
most tender sentiments of piety. When she was of an age to marry, they chose
for her spouse Saint Henry, Duke of Bavaria, who at the death of the Emperor
Otto III was named King of the Romans and crowned on the 6th of June,
1002. Queen Cunegundes was crowned at Paderborn on Saint Laurence's day.
In the year 1014 she went
with her husband to Rome and received the imperial crown with him from the
hands of Pope Benedict VIII. With Saint Henry's consent, before their marriage
she had made a vow of perpetual virginity. Calumniators afterwards made vile
accusations against her, and the holy Empress, to remove the scandal of such a
slander, trusting in God to prove her innocence, walked over red-hot
ploughshares without being hurt. The Emperor renounced and condemned his own
too scrupulous fears and credulity, and from that time on they lived in the
strictest union of heart, working together to promote piety and God's honor in
every sphere.
Going once to make a
retreat in Hesse, Saint Cunegundes fell dangerously ill, and she made a vow to
found a monastery at Kaffungen, in the diocese of Paderborn, if she recovered.
This she executed in a stately manner, and gave it to nuns of the Order of
Saint Benedict. Before it was finished, Saint Henry died in 1024. She earnestly
recommended his soul to the prayers of the empire, and especially to her dear
nuns, and expressed her longing desire to join the Sisters. She had already
exhausted her treasures in founding bishoprics and monasteries and in relieving
the poor, and she had therefore little left to give. But intending to embrace
perfect evangelical poverty, to renounce all things in order to serve God
without obstacle, she assembled a great number of prelates at the dedication of
her church of Kaffungen, on the anniversary day of her husband's death, 1025.
After the Gospel was sung at Mass she offered on the altar a relic of the true
cross, and then, putting off her imperial robes, clothed herself with a poor
habit. Her hair was cut off, and the bishop gave her the veil and a ring as a
pledge of her fidelity to her heavenly Spouse.
After she was consecrated
to God in religion, she seemed to forget entirely that she had been an empress,
and served as the last in the house, being persuaded that she was such, before
God. She prayed and read a great deal, worked with her hands, and took singular
pleasure in visiting and comforting the sick. In this way she passed the last
fifteen years of her life.
When her last hour was
drawing near, perceiving that they were preparing a cloth fringed with gold to
cover her corpse after her death, she ordered it to be taken away; and she
could not rest until the promise was given that she would be buried as a poor
religious in her habit. She died on the 3rd of March, 1040. Her body was
carried to Bamberg and buried near that of her husband. She was solemnly
canonized by Innocent III, in 1200.
Reflection. Detachment of
the spirit at least, is necessary for those who cannot undertake to enter
religion. Every one of you, says Jesus Christ, who does not renounce all that
he possesses, cannot be My disciple. (Luke 14:33)
Little Pictorial Lives of
the Saints, a compilation based on Butler's Lives of the
Saints and other sources by John Gilmary Shea (Benziger Brothers: New
York, 1894).
SOURCE : https://magnificat.ca/cal/en/saints/saint_cunegundes.html
Blessed Cunegundes
Poor Clare and patroness of Poland and Lithuania;
born in 1224; died 24 July, 1292, at Sandeck, Poland.
She was the daughter of King Bela IV and niece of St.
Elizabeth of Hungary, and from her infancy it pleased God to
give tokens of the eminent sanctity to
which she was later to attain. With extreme reluctance
she consented to her marriage with Boleslaus
II, Duke of Cracow and Sandomir, who afterwards became
King of Poland.
Not long after their marriage, the pious couple
made a vow of
perpetual chastity in the presence of the Bishop of Cracow;
and Cunegundes, amidst the splendour and pomp of the royal household, gave
herself up to the practice of the severest austerities. She often visited
the poor and the sick in the hospitals,
and cared even for the lepers with
a charity scarcely less than heroic. In 1279, King Boleslaus died,
and Cunegundes, despite the entreaties of her people that she should take in
hand the government of the kingdom, sold all her
earthly possessions for the relief of the poor and entered
the monastery of
the Poor
Clares at Sandeck. The remaining thirteen years of her life she
spent in prayer and penance,
edifying her fellow religious by her numerous virtues,
especially by her heroic humility.
She never permitted anyone to refer to the fact that she had once been a queen
and was foundress of the community at Sandeck.
The cultus of Blessed Cunegundes
was approved by Pope
Alexander VIII in 1690; in 1695 she was made
chief patroness of Poland and Lithuania by
a decree of
the congregation of Rites, confirmed by Clement
XI. Her feast is
kept in the Order
of Friars Minor on the 27th of July.
Donovan,
Stephen. "Blessed Cunegundes." The Catholic
Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton
Company, 1908. 3 Mar.
2016 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04569a.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Paul T. Crowley. Dedicated to
the Immaculate Heart.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John
M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2020 by Kevin
Knight. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04569a.htm
Saints
of the Order of Saint Benedict – Saint Kunegunde, Empress
O more precious offering
can be made by a holy woman to her Creator than that of her virginity, and this
was the offering that Saint Kunegunde tendered to her Maker, under
circumstances which enhanced the value of the gift.
The daughter of noble
parents – some authorities say her father was Sigefrid, Prince of Metingow in
Lorraine, others the Count Palatine – she was trained from her earliest years
in pious works. On her marriage with Henry, afterwards Emperor and Saint, both
her spouse and herself vowed that they would, in honour of our Lord and His
Blessed Mother, preserve their virginity inviolate, and live together as
brother and sister. This chaste union they maintained untarnished for several
years, till the Evil One, envying such perfection, caused rumours to be spread
about the palace that the Empress was unfaithful. Henry, certain of the purity
of his wife, and relying on God, the Protector of innocence, determined, in
order to silence the voice of slander, that the Empress should submit to the
ordeal by fire. In the presence then of the crowded court Saint Kunegunde
walked with bare feet over red hot ploughshares, and suffered not the slightest
hurt.
In thanksgiving for this
miraculous proof of her innocence, both Henry and Kunegunde made most liberal
grants to the Church; and there were few religious houses within their
dominions that did not benefit by their bounty. To our Holy Father, Saint
Benedict, Saint Kunegunde gave special honour. Several monasteries and convents
were built, where both monks and nuns, bound by the Rule of the Order, were to
offer, day and night, prayers for the salvation of herself and of Henry. To the
poor also she devoted herself; every day she both fed and clothed a crowd of
the needy.
When Henry died, broken
down by the cares of empire, Kunegunde, after piously interring his remains at
Bamberg, resolved, now that she was freed from the ties of matrimony, to become
literally the bride of Christ. During Henry’s life she had erected at Kaffungen
a nunnery, the church of which was not yet consecrated. On the day appointed
for the consecration, while the Bishops, who were present in large numbers,
were officiating at the ceremony, the Empress, clad in her imperial robes,
advanced to the altar, and laid down the crown and royal purple. Then she put
on the Nun’s lowly habit and veil, and, amid the mingled amazement and
admiration of all, took the sacred vows.
Once a nun, there was no
duty of her holy calling that she did not scrupulously fulfill. Her food was of
the coarsest; she prolonged her fast to the second day, spent the night in
prayers and watching, and insisted on performing the most menial offices. In
these good works and mortifications she passed the last fifteen years of her
life.
When, worn-out by such
severe labours, she was nearing her end and was now almost at the last breath,
her Sisters placed beside her bed a gold-embroidered garment, in which they
intended to lay her out as befitted her imperial rank. Deeply hurt, she asked, what
had she, the humble handmaiden of Christ, to do with such finery; and she would
not rest till they promised to bury her in her habit. She died on the 3rd March
A.D. 1040. Her body was laid beside that of her sainted spouse at Bamberg, and
her sanctity was attested by the numerous miracles worked at her tomb.
– text and illustration
taken from Saints
of the Order of Saint Benedict by Father Aegedius
Ranbeck, O.S.B.
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saints-of-the-order-of-saint-benedict-saint-kunegunde-empress/
Ordeal
of Cunigunde of Luxembourg.
Kunigunde,
Gemahlin Kaiser Heinrich II. beim Pflugscharengang.
Short Lives of the Saints – Saint
Cunegunda, Queen
Entry
The wife of the emperor
Henry II, Saint Cunegunda during the lifetime of her royal husband exercised
her power continually in the cause of the poor and oppressed. She founded
numerous monasteries, churches, and bishoprics; and on the death of Henry II,
she called together the prelates of the empire, and in their presence cast her
imperial robes and insignia at the foot of the crucifix. Then, having received
the religious veil and habit, she withdrew to a convent, and lived there the
life of an humble, obedient, and laborious nun, until her death in the year
1040.
I from my memory have
effaced
All former joys, all kindred, friends;
All honors that ray station graced
I hold but snares that fortune sends:
Hence! joys by Christ at distance cast,
That we may be His own at last!
– from the French of Queen Margaret of Navarre
Favorite Practice – To
detach one’s self, at least in spirit, from the honors and riches of the world.
MLA
Citation
Eleanor Cecilia Donnelly.
“Saint Cunegunda, Queen”. Short
Lives of the Saints, 1910. CatholicSaints.Info.
4 April 2021. Web. 3 March 2023.
<https://catholicsaints.info/short-lives-of-the-saints-saint-cunegunda-queen/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/short-lives-of-the-saints-saint-cunegunda-queen/
Cunigunde of Luxembourg,
XVIIIth century, 18,5 x 15
Santa Cunegonda Imperatrice
† 3 marzo 1033
Le notizie che la
riguardano sono tratte da fonti sparse, tramandate da cronisti contemporanei
quali Tietmaro di Mersburgo e Rodolfo il Glabro, nonché da una vita composta da
un canonico di Bamberga a oltre un secolo dalla morte. Da queste fonti sappiamo
che Cunegonda venne cresciuta con una profonda educazione cristiana. A
vent'anni circa sposò il duca di Baviera, che nel 1002 fu incoronato re di
Germania e nel 1014 imperatore. Malgrado fosse sterile Enrico non volle
ripudiare la moglie, scelta ammessa dal matrimoniale germanico, tollerato da
Roma. Per la grande pietà e santità che riscontrava in lei preferì viverle
assieme anche senza speranza di prole. Così nel 1002 a Paderborn fu incoronata
regina e nel 1014 a Roma ricevette, assieme al marito, la corona imperiale da
papa Benedetto VIII. Assecondata dal marito fece erigere il Duomo di Bamberga
(1007) e il monastero benedettino di Kaufungen (1021) dove, rimasta vedova, si
ritirò conducendo vita monastica. Morì il 3 marzo probabilmente del 1033 anche
se qualcuno data la sua scomparsa sei anni dopo. (Avvenire)
Etimologia: Cunegonda =
che combatte per la stirpe, dall'antico tedesco
Martirologio Romano: A
Oberkaufungen nell’Assia, in Germania, santa Cunegonda: molti benefici arrecò
alla Chiesa insieme al marito sant’Enrico imperatore, e, dopo la morte di
costui, ella stessa migrò al Signore nel convento in cui come monaca si era ritirata,
facendo di Cristo la sua eredità. Il suo corpo fu deposto con tutti gli onori
accanto alle spoglie di sant’Enrico a Bamberga.
Le Chiese d’Oriente e d’Occidente in due millenni di cristianesimo hanno attribuito l’aureola della santità quale corona eterna a non poche imperatrici, e talvolta anche ai loro mariti, che sedettero sui troni di Roma, di Costantinopoli e del Sacro Romano Impero. Sfogliando le pagine dell’autorevole Bibliotheca Sanctorum e della Bibliotheca Sanctorum Orientalium possiamo trovare i loro nomi: Adelaide, Alessandra e Serena (presunte mogli di Diocleziano), Ariadne, Basilissa (o Augusta), Cunegonda, Elena, Eudossia, Irene d’Ungheria (moglie di Alessio I Comneno), Irene la Giovane (moglie di Leone IV Chazaro), Marciana, Pulcheria, Placilla, Riccarda, Teodora (moglie di Giustiniano), Teodora (moglie di Teofilo l’Iconoclasta), Teofano. Anche nel XX secolo non sono mancate sante imperatrici: Sant’Alessandra Fedorovna, moglie dell’ultimo zar russo canonizzata dal Patriarcato di Mosca, la Serva di Dio Elena di Savoia, imperatrice d’Etiopia, ed in fama di santità è anche Zita di Borbone, moglie del Beato Carlo I d’Asburgo ed ultima imperatrice d’Austria.
Santa Cunegonda, oggi festeggiata, è venerata anche insieme al marito, l’imperatore Enrico II, la cui festa è però celebrata separatamente al 13 luglio. Le fonti relative a questa santa sono purtroppo costituite da notizie sparse, tramandate da alcuni cronisti contemporanei quali Tietmaro di Mersburgo e Rodolfo il Glabro, nonché da una vita composta da un canonico di Bamberga oltre un secolo dopo la morte. I genitori diedero alla figlia, sin dai primi anni, una profonda educazione cristiana. All’età di circa vent’anni, Cunegonda sposò il duca di Baviera, Enrico appunto, che nel 1002 venne incoronato re di Germania e nel 1014 sacro romano imperatore.
Su questo matrimonio, specialmente al principio del XX secolo, sono sorte parecchie polemiche: in alcuni testi antichi infatti, tra i quali la bolla di papa Innocenzo III, si narra che i due coniugi fecero voto di perpetua verginità e si parlò così di “matrimonio di San Giuseppe” e per tale motivo a Cunegonda è stato talvolta attribuito il titolo di “vergine”, ma secondo altri autori moderni una simile qualifica non corrisponderebbe alle narrazioni di contemporanei come Rodolfo il Glabro. Secondo quest’ultimo, I fatti, Enrico si accorse della sterilità della moglie, ma nonostante il matrimoniale germanico ammettesse il ripudio, non volle usare questo diritto per la grande pietà e santità che riscontrava nella consorte e preferì continuare a vivere insieme a lei pur senza speranza di prole. Fu proprio ciò, unitamente alla fama di santità che circondò i due coniugi, a far nascere in seguito la leggenda del cosiddetto “matrimonio di San Giuseppe”.
Nella Vita e nella bolla pontificia di canonizzazione si legge che Cunegonda fu oggetto di una grande calunnia di infedeltà coniugale ed Enrico, per provarne l’innocenza, decise di sottoporla alla prova del fuoco. La moglie accettò e passò miracolosamente indenne a piedi nudi sopra vomeri infuocati. L’imperatore chiese perdono all’augusta consorte per aver dato troppo credito agli accusatori e da quel momento visse in piena stima e fiducia nei suoi confronti. Non ci è dato sapere quale validità storica abbia concretamente questo episodio, resta comunque il suo alto valore simbolico.
Il 10 agosto 1002 a Paderborn Cunegonda fu incoronata regina e nel 1014 si recò a Roma con il marito per ricevere la corona imperiale dalle mani di papa Benedetto VIII, il 14 febbraio di quell’anno. La vita dell’imperatrice costituì un mirabile esempio di carità, umiltà e mortificazione, virtù che la caratterizzarono in molteplici manifestazioni. Assecondata dal pio marito, nel 1007 fece erigere il duomo di Bamberga e nel 1021 il monastero di Kaufungen, fondato in seguito ad un voto fatto durante una gravissima malattia da cui uscì pienamente ristabilita. Proprio in questo monastero benedettino volle ritirarsi nel 1025, addolorata per la perdita del marito. Nel giorno anniversario della morte di Enrico II, Cunegonda convocò parecchi vescovi per la dedicazione della chiesa di Kaufungen, cui donò una reliquia della Santa Croce. Dopo la lettura del Vangelo, si spogliò delle insegne e degli abiti imperiali, si fece tagliare i capelli e vestì il rozzo saio benedettino. Continuò, come già aveva fatto in precedenza, a spendere il suo patrimonio nell’edificazione di nuovi monasteri, decorando chiese ed aiutando i poveri. Intrapresa dunque la vita monastica, visse in assoluta umiltà come se mai fosse stata addirittura imperatrice. Prese a trascorrere gran parte delle sue giornate in preghiera e nella lettura delle Sacre Scritture, non disdegnando però i lavori manuali ed i servizi più umili. Un compito assegnatole che gradì particolarmente fu la visita alle consorelle ammalate per portare loro conforto ed assistenza. Si distinse inoltre per la pratica severa della penitenza: asumeva infatti esclusivamente il cibo indispensabile per sopravvivere, rifiutando ciò che poteva solleticare in qualche maniera il palato.
Sino al termine dei suoi giorni Cunegonda condusse questo stile di vita. Morì infine il 3 marzo di un anno imprecisato, generalmente viene preferito il 1033 anziché il 1039. Le sue spoglie mortali trovarono degna sepoltura presso quelle del marito nella cattedrale di Bamberga. Nei primi anni non fu oggetto di grande culto, ma dal XII secolo la venerazione nei suoi confronti crebbe grandemente fino a superare quella tributata già in precedenza ad Enrico. La causa di canonizzazione fu introdotta sotto il pontificato di Celestino III, ma solo Innocenzo III con bolla del 29 marzo 1200 ne approvò ufficialmente il culto. Nella diocesi di Bamberga nel XV secolo ben quattro solenni celebrazioni erano dedicate alla memoria della santa imperatrice: il 3 marzo (anniversario della morte), il 29 marzo (anniversario della canonizzazione), il 9 settembre (traslazione delle reliquie) ed il 1° agosto (commemorazione del primo miracolo).
Autore: Fabio Arduino
