Statue
de Gherardo Sagredo di it:Giusto le Court à San Francesco della
Vigna a Venezia
San
Gerardo educa il principe sant'Emerico d'Ungheria (santo), Colonna
memoriale a Székesfehérvár, statua ad Albareale,
opera di Jenő Bory
Püspökkút Memorial Column,
Székesfehérvár
Bory
Jenő: Püspökkút (részlet), keleti oldal: Szent Gellért csanádi püspök és
növendéke, a gyermek Szent Imre Székesfehérvár
Statue de Saint Gérard à Székesfehérvár.
Saint Gérard de Csanad
Évêque de Csanad et
martyr (+ 1047)
Moine bénédictin
vénitien, il devint évêque de Csanad en Hongrie, à la demande du roi saint Étienne. Après
la mort du roi, les guerres de succession amenèrent au pouvoir le prince André
qui voulut rétablir l'idolâtrie. Au cours d'une des missions d'évangélisation
que saint Gérard menait avec deux autres évêques, ils furent tous trois
agressés par des païens opposés à leur ministère. Gérard fut précipité du haut
d'une falaise au bord du Danube et il y sacrifia sa vie. Les autres deux
évêques furent martyrisés avec lui.
En Hongrie, l’an 1046,
saint Gérard Sagredo, évêque de Csanad et martyr. Originaire de Venise et moine
bénédictin en route pour la Terre Sainte, il devint le précepteur du jeune
prince Émeric, fils du roi de Hongrie saint Étienne et, dans une révolte des
Hongrois, mourut lapidé, non loin du Danube.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/1907/Saint-Gerard-de-Csanad.html
San
Gerardo Venezia San Marco mosaico prima metà sec. XIII
Gérard Sagredo, son
martyre a fait la Hongrie catholique
Anne Bernet - publié
le 23/09/23
Lorsque l’on parle de
l’évangélisation de la Hongrie, c’est le nom d’Étienne, son premier roi
chrétien, qui vient à l’esprit. Pourtant, la christianisation n’a porté tous
ses fruits que grâce au long apostolat d’un prêtre vénitien, Gérard Sagredo,
dont le martyre a vaincu le paganisme et enraciné sa patrie d’adoption dans la
foi. L’Église fête sa mémoire le 24 septembre.
Celui qui se nomme alors
Giorgio Sagredo est né à Venise le 23 avril 980, héritier longuement attendu
d’une des premières familles de la noblesse. Sa voie de patricien semble toute
tracée mais Dieu en décide autrement. À cinq ans, l’enfant tombe très malade.
Ses parents, qui ont eu un autre fils, prennent alors une décision extrême,
conforme aux usages de l’époque : contre sa guérison, ils l’offrent comme oblat
au monastère bénédictin San Giorgio en l’île, aujourd’hui San Giorgio Maggiore.
Le petit se remet. L’oblation acceptée par le Ciel, il est reçu dans l’ordre de
saint Benoît et prend comme nom de religion celui de Gérard. Il ne reviendra
jamais en arrière ni ne retournera dans ce monde dont on l’a éloigné si jeune.
Un sujet d’élite
Très vite, ses supérieurs
mesurent ses qualités et voient en lui un sujet d’élite. En 1004, frère Gérard
est ordonné prêtre puis devient prieur. Ne mérite-t-il pas mieux ? En 1007, on
l’envoie poursuivre ses études à l’université de Bologne, l’une des meilleures
de la chrétienté. Là, il se plonge dans l’étude des Pères de l’Église, en
devient spécialiste et se prend de passion pour saint Jérôme. Il ne peut le
deviner mais cet engouement pour le solitaire de Bethléem va changer le cours
de sa vie… Rentré à San Giorgio en 1012 pour en être aussitôt élu abbé, Gérard
nourrit d’autres projets : se rendre en Terre sainte avec quelques frères et y
ressusciter le monastère de Jérôme, disparu au Ve siècle. En 1015, ayant obtenu
les autorisations nécessaires, il embarque pour la Palestine. Il ne l’atteindra
jamais. En ce mois de mai, la bora, ce vent du nord qui peut rendre la
navigation impossible dans l’Adriatique, se lève avec une telle violence que le
navire doit chercher refuge sur l’île Saint-André dans l’attente d’une accalmie
qui se fera désirer des semaines.
Par chance, Saint-André
abrite un monastère bénédictin qui accueille l’abbé de San Giorgio et ses
moines. Là, Gérard a la surprise de retrouver l’un de ses camarades d’études à
Bologne, le père Rasina, un Hongrois à l’origine de la première fondation
bénédictine de sa patrie, cette ancienne Pannonie romaine revenue depuis les
invasions du Ve siècle à un paganisme auquel seule la conversion du roi Étienne
a enfin permis de s’attaquer. La tâche est immense, des régions entières, mal
contrôlées par le pouvoir royal, sont inaccessibles aux missionnaires qui,
d’ailleurs, font défaut, comme le clergé diocésain. La Hongrie a un besoin
urgent de prêtres et, faute de pouvoir en trouver chez elle, il lui faut aller
les chercher à l’étranger, raison de la présence de Rasina sur l’île puisqu’il
rentre de Rome où son roi l’a envoyé demander l’aide du pape. Aide qui s’est
bornée à de bonnes paroles… Aussi la présence de son ami Gérard paraît-elle au
religieux magyar un signe du Ciel. Et de lui dire que, certes, il est bien beau
de vouloir relever le monastère de saint Jérôme et s’installer en Terre Sainte
mais qu’il y a mieux à faire : évangéliser la Hongrie par exemple, œuvre
méritoire entre toutes.
La peur de la mer
Méritoire ou pas, le
projet n’emballe pas Gérard. Son but, c’est Bethléem. Rasina change de
tactique. Il a vu que l’expérience maritime des pauvres moines vénitiens a été
catastrophique et que l’idée de reprendre la mer les effraie. Savent-ils qu’il
existe un moyen, plus rapide, sûr et agréable d’aller en Orient ? Par le Danube
qui coule non loin de la capitale hongroise Albe Royale (Székesfehérvá,
en latin : Alba Regia) où, chaque été, le roi Étienne rassemble
ses fidèles pour discuter des affaires du royaume. Dans sa vive piété, nul
doute qu’il facilitera le voyage de Gérard, et celui-ci, soulagé de ne pas
reprendre la mer accepte d’accompagner Rasina en Hongrie, halte très courte sur
le chemin de la Palestine. Il ne sait pas qu’en fait, c’est pour le restant de
ses jours qu’il part…
Pourquoi Gérard, qui n’a
que faire des titres, des honneurs, de l’argent, se laisse-t-il convaincre ?
Sans doute une fois sur place, il a vu l’attente de ce peuple qui réclame des
prêtres et que son cœur s’en est ému.
Car, fin août, Étienne,
au lieu de laisser repartir Gérard, enthousiasmé par le sermon que celui-ci a
prononcé à l’occasion de l’Assomption, s’écrie : "C’est Dieu qui t’a mené
ici, saint homme !" et il lui propose, en même temps que l’évêché de
Mures, le poste de précepteur de l’héritier du trône, le prince Émeric.
Pourquoi Gérard, qui n’a que faire des titres, des honneurs, de l’argent, se
laisse-t-il convaincre ? Sans doute parce que, une fois sur place, il a vu
l’attente de ce peuple qui réclame des prêtres et que son cœur s’en est
ému.
Gérard
« civilise » les Hongrois
En fait, comme il le
comprendra vite, l’évêché offert n’existe que dans les projets royaux car cette
région est en pleine rébellion et sa noblesse en discussion avec l’empereur à
Constantinople, lequel, de son côté, offre son aide en échange de la conversion
des Hongrois à l’orthodoxie… Gérard aura son diocèse quand Étienne l’aura
conquis et cela prendra une dizaine d’années. En attendant, il se donne de tout
cœur à l’éducation du prince héritier sur qui repose l’avenir de la Hongrie
catholique. Par chance, Émeric est vertueux et doué. Tous les espoirs sont donc
permis.
En attendant mieux,
retenu huit ans à la cour, Gérard "civilise" les Hongrois. À ces
nomades vivant sous la tente et se déplaçant avec leurs troupeaux dans la
puszta, il prône les mérites de la sédentarisation, de l’agriculture et des
constructions en dur, faisant venir d’Italie des architectes qui doteront la
capitale de ses premiers édifices en pierre, dont un asile destiné aux
pèlerins, rédige, en latin, un livre de préceptes moraux destinés au prince qui
fera longtemps autorité et accepte plusieurs missions diplomatiques en France
et à Rome.
Cette existence ne le
satisfait guère. Aussi souvent que possible, Gérard se réfugie dans l’ermitage
qu’il s’est bâti en forêt de Bakony où il vit avec un faon, qu’il a sauvé de
chasseurs, et un loup qu’il a recueilli blessé et qui s’est attaché au religieux
tel un chien à son maître, tout comme au faon devenu biche avec laquelle il
dort enlacé, ressuscitant la paix du paradis terrestre. Au fil du temps,
l’ermitage devient le monastère de Bakonybel. Enfin, en 1023, les conquêtes
d’Étienne permettent à Gérard d’accéder au nouveau siège épiscopal de Marosvar
Csanad, région conquise sur les païens. En fait, les missionnaires orthodoxes
ont déjà bien déblayé le terrain et même construit quelques chapelles et un
monastère, que Gérard récupère et place sous l’invocation de saint Georges. Ses
visites pastorales se passent au mieux, dans des régions partiellement
évangélisées où il n’a plus qu’à baptiser et confirmer des populations gagnées
au Christ. Là encore, il vante les mérites de la sédentarisation, fait surgir les
futures cités hongroises autour des églises neuves, et fonde les premières
écoles du pays.
Les tribus païennes
s’insurgent
Tout irait au mieux en
ces années 1030 si le prince Émeric ne se tuait dans un accident, laissant
Étienne, sexagénaire et malade, sans héritier… Conscients que la mort du roi
est affaire de mois, nombre de seigneurs magyars qui ont accepté le baptême
sous la contrainte et supportent mal la tutelle royale, songent au moment où
ils pourront secouer le joug de la monarchie et de l’Église pour revenir au
paganisme. Si Gérard annonce l’imminence d’une révolte, une persécution contre
le clergé catholique et son propre martyre, c’est peut-être moins affaire de
don de prophétie que lucidité et capacité à écouter les rumeurs d’insurrection
qui enflent.
En 1038, Étienne meurt,
laissant la couronne à un certain Aba Samuel, chrétien de façade qui se mue en
tyran et reste sourd aux admonestations de Gérard qui a le courage de dénoncer
ses agissements. En 1044, ce mauvais souverain est assassiné, et un autre
chrétien, André, lui succède. Celui-là est un faible qui paraît incapable de
faire face aux difficultés. En 1046, les tribus païennes s’insurgent. André
maintient cependant les cérémonies de son couronnement dans la future Budapest.
Fin septembre, Gérard, qui doit les présider, se met en route, avec les autres
prélats et la fine fleur du clergé. Une fois de plus, il annonce son martyre et
précise lesquels, parmi ceux qui l’accompagnent, partageront son sort et
lesquels survivront. Cela ne le dissuade pas de partir, sûr d’accomplir la
volonté de Dieu.
La victoire du martyr
Le 24 septembre, alors
que le clergé qui précède les troupes royales, atteint Pest, les païens qui
occupent les collines dominant le Danube fondent sur cette procession. Tous ceux
dont Gérard a prédit la mort sont tués, en effet, dans l’attaque. Ordre a été
donné de le prendre vivant et les assaillants s’emparent de lui, puis,
constatant qu’il est trop vieux pour marcher, le ligotent sur son char qu’ils
vont hisser avec lui au point le plus élevé de l’endroit, qui y gagnera le nom
de Mont Saint-Gérard. Arrivés au sommet, les tortionnaires vont en précipiter
le véhicule et son passager vers le fleuve. Arrivé en bas, Gérard est encore en
vie et les païens vont s’acharner sur cet agonisant, lui arrachant les cheveux,
puis le cœur avant de lui trancher la tête.
À leurs yeux, la mort de
l’évangélisateur est une victoire. Ils se trompent. Soulevé de colère, le roi
André, jusque-là si pusillanime, se change en champion de la foi. Ses armées se
ruent sur les assassins et les mettent en fuite. Contre toute attente, malgré
les obstacles, la Hongrie restera catholique, sa conversion cimentée par le
sang de Gérard Sagredo. Les rois de Hongrie élèveront plusieurs sanctuaires en
son honneur et y feront transporter sa dépouille mortelle. Elle disparaîtra
lors d’une insurrection en 1514. Une partie des reliques sauvegardées, sera, en
1900, rapportée à Venise où l’on peut les vénérer en l’église San Donato de
Murano.
En savoir plus
Vie de saint Gérard Sagredo: apôtre et martyr de la Hongrie chrétienne
Une synthèse de la vie du grand évangélisateur de la Hongrie parue pour la première fois en 1900. Né à Venise en 980, Gérard devient moine puis abbé du monastère bénédictin San Giorgio. Le roi saint Etienne de Hongrie lui confie l'éducation de son fils. Ermite puis premier évêque de Csanad, il évangélise les populations. Enlevé par les païens, il est lapidé puis jeté dans le Danube en 1046.
©Electre 2023
Lire aussi :Saint Pierre Chanel, premier martyr de l’Océanie
Lire aussi :L’édifiant martyre de saint Cassien, greffier de l’armée
romaine
SOURCE : https://fr.aleteia.org/2023/09/23/gerard-sagredo-son-martyre-a-fait-la-hongrie-catholique/
Békéscsaba,
római katolikus társszékesegyház belső tere
Paintings of Gerard
Sagredo in Hungary ; Interior
of Saint Anthony of Padua co-cathedral in Békéscsaba
Saint Gérard Sagredo
Évêque et martyr
(† 1046)
D'origine vénitienne,
Gérard se fit moine bénédictin et se vit confier l'éducation du prince Émeric à
la cour de Saint Étienne, roi de Hongrie.
Il devint évêque de
Csanád et instaura le culte marial et la liturgie dans son diocèse. Il aimait
beaucoup se retirer dans la solitude d'une forêt pour prier.
À la mort de son
protecteur, saint Étienne, un usurpateur prit le pouvoir et fit lapider Gérard
qui lui résistait, restant inébranlable sur ses positions.
Évangile au Quotidien
SOURCE : http://robertdubediacrep.blogspot.ca/2013/09/st-gerard-sagredo-mort-en-1046.html
immagine
di San Gerardo Sagredo in un capolettera di codice miniato, metà sec. XIV
Venezia, Biblioteca Naz.le Marciana
Also
known as
Apostle of Hungary
Gerard of Csanád
Gerard of Hungary
Collert…
Gerardo…
Gellért…
Profile
Benedictine monk. Abbot at
San Giorgio Maggiore abbey, Venice, Italy.
He passed through Hungary while
on a pilgrimage to Palestine.
There he met with King Saint Stephen who
persuaded him to stay and minister to the Magyars. Tutor of Prince Saint Emeric.
First bishop of Csanad, Hungary in 1035. Martyred during
the pagan backlash
that followed the death of Saint Stephen.
Born
stabbed
to death with a lance on 24
September 1046 at
Buda, Hungary
body thrown into the
Danube River
surviving relics enshrined in
the Basilica of
San Donato in Murano, Venice, Italy
1083 by Pope Saint Gregory
VII
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Francis
Xavier Weninger
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
Saints
and Their Attributes, by Helen Roeder
other
sites in english
video
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti
in italiano
Martirologio Romano, 2005 edition
MLA
Citation
“Saint Gerard
Sagredo“. CatholicSaints.Info. 10 April 2024. Web. 24 April 2026.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-gerard-sagredo/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-gerard-sagredo/
San
Gerardo incisione 1837Heilige Gerard Sagredo, 1605. Prentmaker: Raffaello
Schiaminossi (vermeld op object), naar ontwerp van: Lucas van Leyden (vermeld
op object)
Book of Saints –
Gerard of Hungary
Article
(Saint) Bishop, Martyr
(September 24) (11th century) A Benedictine monk of Venice, invited to Hungary
by Saint Stephen, First Christian King of that country. Saint Gerard became one
of its Apostles. Made Bishop of Chunad, he converted two-thirds of the population
to Christianity. In the disorders which followed on the death of Saint Stephen,
he was set upon by the Pagans and cruelly done to death (A.D. 1046). His relics
were afterwards translated to Venice, where they are now honoured.
MLA
Citation
Monks of Ramsgate.
“Gerard of Hungary”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info.
7 May 2016. Web. 24 April 2026. <https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-gerard-of-hungary/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-gerard-of-hungary/
Mezőkeresztes,
római katolikus templom belső tere
Paintings of Gerard
Sagredo in Hungary ; Interior
of Our Lady of Hungary church in Mezőkeresztes
St. Gerard Sagredo
Feastday: September 24
Patron: of Hungary
Birth: ~980
Death: 1046
[He] was an Italian
bishop from Venice (some claim Basque origins) who operated in the Kingdom of
Hungary (specifically in Budapest), and educated Saint Emeric of Hungary, the
son of Saint Stephen of Hungary). He played a major role in converting Hungary
to Christianity. He was the bishop of Csanád.
Gellért's martyrdom took
place on 24 September 1046 (his co-martyrs were Bystrik and Buldus) on a hill
in Budapest which is now named after him. Allegedly he was placed on a 2-wheel
cart, hauled to the hilltop and rolled down the now named Gellert Hill, then as
still being alive at the bottom, beaten to death. Other unverified tales report
him as being put in a spiked barrel for rolling down.
Canonized in 1083, along
with St. Stephen and St. Emeric, Gellért is currently one of the patron saints
of Hungary.
SOURCE : https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=6997
September 24
St. Gerard, Bishop of
Chonad, Martyr
From his exact life in
Surius, Bonfinius, Hist. Hung. Dec. 2, l. 1, 2. Fleury, t. 9. Gowget Mezangui
and Roussel, Vies des Saints, 1730. Stilting, t. 6, Sept. p. 713. Mabillon,
Act. Ben. sæc. 6, par. 1, p. 628.
A.D. 1046.
ST. GERARD, the apostle
of a large district in Hungary, was a Venetian, and born about the beginning of
the eleventh century. He renounced early the enjoyments of the world, forsaking
family and estate to consecrate himself to the service of God in a monastery.
By taking up the yoke of our Lord from his youth he found it light, and bore it
with constancy and joy. Walking always in the presence of God, and nourishing
in his heart a spirit of tender devotion by assiduous holy meditation and
prayer, he was careful that his studies should never extinguish or impair it,
or bring any prejudice to the humility and simplicity by which he studied daily
to advance in Christian perfection. After some years, with the leave of his
superiors, he undertook a pilgrimage to the holy sepulchre at Jerusalem.
Passing through Hungary, he became known to the holy king St. Stephen, who was
wonderfully taken with his sincere piety, and with great earnestness persuaded
him that God had only inspired him with the design of that pilgrimage, that he
might assist, by his labours, the souls of so many in that country, who were
perishing in their infidelity. Gerard, however, would by no means consent to
stay at court, but built a little hermitage at Beel, where he passed seven
years with one companion called Maur, in the constant practice of fasting and
prayer. The king having settled the peace of his kingdom, drew Gerard out of
his solitude, and the saint preached the gospel with wonderful success. Not
long after, the good prince nominated him to the episcopal see of Chonad or
Chzonad, a city eight leagues from Temeswar. Gerard considered nothing in this
dignity but labours, crosses, and the hopes of martyrdom. The greater part of
the people were infidels, those who bore the name of Christians in this diocess
were ignorant, brutish, and savage. Two-thirds of the inhabitants of the city
of Chonad were idolaters; yet the saint, in less than a year, made them all
Christians. His labours were crowned with almost equal success in all the other
parts of the diocess. The fatigues which he underwent were excessive, and the
patience with which he bore all kinds of affronts was invincible. He commonly
travelled on foot, but sometimes in a waggon: he always read or meditated on
the road. He regulated everywhere all things that belonged to the divine
service with the utmost care, and was solicitous that the least exterior
ceremonies should be performed with great exactness and decency, and
accompanied with a sincere spirit of religion. To this purpose he used to say,
that men, especially the grosser part, (which is always the more numerous,)
love to be helped in their devotion by the aid of their senses.
The example of our saint
had a more powerful influence over the minds of the people than the most moving
discourses. He was humble, modest, mortified in all his senses, and seemed to
have perfectly subdued all his passions. This victory he gained by a strict
watchfulness over himself. Once finding a sudden motion to anger rising in his
breast, he immediately imposed upon himself a severe penance, asked pardon of
the person who had injured him, and heaped upon him great favours. After
spending the day in his apostolic labours, he employed part of the night in
devotion, and sometimes in cutting down wood and other such actions for the service
of the poor. All distressed persons he took under his particular care, and
treated the sick with uncommon tenderness. He embraced lepers and persons
afflicted with other loathsome diseases with the greatest joy and affection;
often laid them in his own bed, and had their sores dressed in his own chamber.
Such was his love of retirement, that he caused several small hermitages or
cells to be built near the towns in the different parts of his diocess, and in
these he used to take up his lodging wherever he came in his travels about his
diocess, avoiding to lie in cities, that, under the pretence of reposing
himself in these solitary huts, he might indulge the heavenly pleasures of
prayer and holy contemplation; which gave him fresh vigour in the discharge of
his pastoral functions. He wore a rough hair shirt next his skin, and over it a
coarse woollen coat.
The holy king St. Stephen
seconded the zeal of the good bishop as long as he lived. But that prince’s
nephew and successor Peter, a debauched and cruel prince, declared himself the
persecutor of our saint: but was expelled by his own subjects in 1042, and
Abas, a nobleman of a savage disposition, was placed on the throne. This tyrant
soon gave the people reason to repent of their choice, putting to death all
those noblemen whom he suspected not to have been in his interest. St. Stephen
had established a custom, that the crown should be presented to the king by
some bishop on all great festivals. Abas gave notice to St. Gerard to come to
court to perform that ceremony. The saint, regarding the exclusion of Peter as
irregular, refused to pay the usurper that compliment, and foretold him that if
he persisted in his crime, God would soon put an end both to his life and
reign. Other prelates, however, gave him the crown; but, two years after, the
very persons who had placed him on the throne turned their arms against him,
treated him as a rebel, and cut off his head on a scaffold. Peter was recalled,
but two years after banished a second time. The crown was then offered to
Andrew, son of Ladislas, cousin-german to St. Stephen, upon condition that he
should restore idolatry, and extirpate the Christian religion. The ambitious
prince made his army that promise. Hereupon Gerard and three other bishops set
out for Alba Regalis, in order to divert the new king from this sacrilegious
engagement.
When the four bishops
were arrived at Giod near the Danube, St. Gerard, after celebrating mass, said
to his companions: “We shall all suffer martyrdom to-day, except the bishop of
Benetha.” They were advanced a little further, and going to cross the Danube,
when they were set upon by a party of soldiers, under the command of Duke
Vatha, the most obstinate patron of idolatry, and the implacable enemy of the
memory of St. Stephen. They attacked St. Gerard first with a shower of stones,
and, exasperated at his meekness and patience, overturned his chariot, and
dragged him on the ground. Whilst in their hands the saint raised himself on
his knees, and prayed with the protomartyr St. Stephen: “Lord, lay not this to
their charge; for they know not what they do.” He had scarcely spoken these
words when he was run through the body with a lance, and expired in a few
minutes. Two of the other bishops, named Bezterd and Buld, shared the glory of
martyrdom with him: but the new king coming up, rescued the fourth bishop out
of the hands of the murderers. This prince afterwards repressed idolatry, was
successful in his wars against the Germans who invaded his dominions, and
reigned with glory. St. Gerard’s martyrdom happened on the 24th of September,
1046. His body was first interred in a church of our Lady near the place where
he suffered; but soon after removed to the cathedral of Chonad. He was declared
a martyr by the pope, and his remains were taken up, and put in a rich shrine
in the reign of St. Ladislas. At length the republic of Venice, by repeated
importunate entreaties, obtained his relics of the king of Hungary, and with
great solemnity translated them to their metropolis, where they are venerated
in the church of our Lady of Murano
The good pastor refuses
no labour, and declines no danger for the good of souls. If the soil where his
lot falls be barren, and he plants and waters without increase, he never loses
patience, out redoubles his earnestness in his prayers and labours. He is
equally secure of his own reward if he perseveres to the end; and can say to
God, as St. Bernard remarks: “Thou, O Lord, wilt not less reward my pains, if I
shall be found faithful to the end.” Zeal and tender charity give him fresh
vigour, and draw floods of tears from his eyes for the souls which perish, and
for their contempt of the infinite and gracious Lord of all things. Yet his
courage is never damped, nor does he ever repine or disquiet himself. He is not
authorized to curse the fig-tree which produces no fruit, but continues to dig
about it, and to dung the earth, waiting to the end, repaying all injuries with
kindness and prayers, and never weary with renewing his endeavours. Impatience
and uneasiness in pastors never spring from zeal or charity; but from
self-love, which seeks to please itself in the success of what it undertakes.
The more deceitful this evil principle is, and the more difficult to be
discovered, the more careful must it be watched against. All sourness,
discouragement, vexation, and disgust of mind are infallible signs that a
mixture of this evil debases our intention. The pastor must imitate the
treasures of God’s patience, goodness, and long-suffering. He must never
abandon any sinner to whom God, the offended party, still offers mercy.
Rev. Alban
Butler (1711–73). Volume IX: September. The Lives of the
Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/9/241.html
Weninger’s
Lives of the Saints – Saint Gerard, Bishop and Martyr
Article
The holy bishop, Gerard,
who, according to the Roman, Martyrology, deserves to be called the Apostle of
the Hungarians, was born at Venice, of very pious parents. He received in a
Benedictine monastery his first lessons in the liberal arts, and at the same
time a thorough instruction in virtue and holiness. It was there that he
imbibed the Apostolic zeal, which, in after years, he so unceasingly practiced.
As he became older, he felt an irrepressible desire to go to Jerusalem and
visit the holy places. After this pious wish had been satisfied, he, by a
dispensation of Providence, returned by way of Hungary, where the loly king
Stephen received him most kindly. Perceiving in the holy pilgrim, besides great
wisdom and talents, an ardent zeal for the salvation of souls, the king
requested him most earnestly to make his residence in Hungary, and to assist
him in the great work he had begun of converting the entire nation. Gerard
consented, but to be better prepared, he went, with his companions, into a
desert, and remained there a considerable time, praying, watching and fasting.
After this, he commenced the work of conversion with zeal and success, and
continued it with unwearied constancy, which caused the king great joy.
Meanwhile, the see of
Chonad became vacant by the death of the bishop, and the king desired Gerard to
fill it, as it would increase his authority with the people, and aid him in his
apostolic labors. The holy man refused to accept the dignity, until commanded
to do so by the Pope. Being installed in his office, he endeavored with still
greater zeal than before to exterminate idolatry, and to disseminate everywhere
the true faith. To progress still more effectually in his holy work, he
endeavored to gain, by an especial devotion, the mighty protection of the
Blessed Virgin. He tried also to inspire those in his charge with great
veneration for the Divine Mother. He built, near the Church of Saint Gregory, a
beautiful chapel in her honor; and erected in it a most magnificent altar, at
which he passed almost all the time left him from his labors. Before this Altar
stood a silver censer, which day and night was filled with the most precious
incense, to which end he had made an endowment, according to which, two pious
men alternately took care of it, supplying it with coal and incense. The custom
among the Hungarians of not lightly pronouncing the name of Mary nor giving the
same to their children in baptism originates from this bishop, who inspired
them with so deep a veneration for the Divine Mother, that they call her only,
“Our Lady.” They bow their heads or bend their knees when they hear her sacred
name. Some ascribe this custom to the holy king, Saint Stephen; and we may
suppose that both had part in it, as the devotion of both to the Divine Mother
was very great. It is known that Saint Gerard never refused anything when it
was asked of him in the name of the Blessed Virgin. He always manifested a
fatherly love for the poor and infirm, and more than once gave his own bed to
sick persons, even to lepers, while he passed the night in prayer, or slept on
the bare floor. He mortified his body by fasting and by wearing a rough
hair-shirt. The grace of God was visibly with him in the conversion of the
infidels, of whom he brought great numbers into the pale of the Church by his
sermons, as well as by his holy conduct. After the death of Saint Stephen, a
certain Abbas usurped the throne, banished the grandson of king Stephen, who
was the rightful heir to the throne, treated most cruelly the other relations of
the late king, and forced the people to acknowledge him as their sovereign.
This tyrant demanded to be crowned by Saint Gerard, which the Saint, however,
fearlessly refused, prophesying that he would die most unhappily after three
years, if he desisted not from his cruel injustice. The tyrant did not regard
the prophecy, and died according to the Saint’s words. After him, Peter, a
grandson of Saint Stephen, came to the throne, and treated his subjects so
cruelly, that they conspired against him, tore out his eyes, and expelled him
from the country. During the reign of the next king, Andrew, a persecution of
the Christians took place. As the king was not earnest enough in opposing and
punishing those of his idolatrous subjects who persecuted the faithful, Saint
Gerard, accompanied by three other bishops, went to Buda, where the king
resided, and representing to him the state of affairs, menaced him with divine
vengeance in case he refused to aid the Christians, and prevent the heathens
from further persecuting them. Before Saint Gerard left Buda, after offering to
the Almighty the holy sacrifice of Mass, he said that he and his companions
would suffer martyrdom for Christ’s sake, on the following day. His words
proved only too true. Several infidels, who well knew that they had no one to
fear more than Saint Gerard, and who had also been informed of his mission to
the king, entered into a conspiracy, and the next day, led by an apostate
Christian, went to meet him. As soon as they saw him from afar, they threw
stones at him and his companions, and coming nearer, they overturned the wagon
in which the holy bishop was travelling, and commenced to abuse him most
barbarously both by words and deeds. The Saint, after having been cast down and
trodden upon, made an effort to rise, but sank upon his knees and exclaimed
with the proto-martyr, Saint Stephen: “Lord, do not call them to account for
this!” He further prayed in the words of Christ: “Pardon them, O Lord, for they
know not what they do.” The assassins became still more enraged by his
resignation, and maltreated him until every sign of life was extinct. To be
sure of his death, one of them pierced his heart with a lance. Thus did this
great Apostle of the Hungarians end his holy life by a glorious death, in the year
1046.
Practical Considerations
• Saint Gerard manifested
great zeal in honoring the Virgin Mother, and her holy name. To increase
devotion to her, he exhorted the faithful to adopt the custom of bowing their
heads when the name of Mary was pronounced. After the most holy name of Jesus,
there is none which ought to be more respected than that of His Mother; hence
those Catholics act rightly who outwardly give marks of their honor when they
hear or pronounce it. Those do wrong who name the Queen of Heaven without any
reverence. It is known of many Saints, that they called upon this holy name in
the hour of suffering and temptation, and visibly received help. Follow them;
for, Saint Bonaventure says, that after the invocation of the name of Jesus,
that of the name of Mary is most wholesome and comforting. In our country and
in many others, the custom is not observed which Saint Gerard instituted in
Hungary, of not giving the holy name of Mary in baptism; but they who bear this
name ought to know that they are especially obliged to imitate the virtues of
her by whose name they are called. “For,” says Saint Chrysostom, “the name
alone profits nothing;” on the contrary, it brings shame and disgrace to those
who, while they bear it, live so different a life from that of the Blessed
Virgin.
• Saint Gerard had great
love for the poor and sick, and also for his enemies and persecutors. Following
the example of Saint Stephen and of Christ, he prayed for the latter, while he
assisted the former with all his power. Towards himself he did not use such
tenderness. He mortified his body most austerely by fasting and wearing rough
hair-shirts, and deprived himself not only of unlawful, but even of innocent
comforts. The Saints deemed it necessary to act thus, in order to secure their
salvation. Have you acted in a similar manner? Determine at least to do so from
this day. Be compassionate to your neighbor and assist him by words and deeds
whenever you have the opportunity. With yourself, you ought not to be so very
tender, and not avoid so carefully everything that is wearisome to your body,
and which the law of God, or of the Church requires of you; nor should you
endeavor to procure for your body all it desires, though perhaps forbidden by
the laws of God or the Church. By doing this you show that you love your body
more than your soul, more than your God. Adam, indeed, loved Eve more than the
Almighty; as he, when requested by her, did what God had forbidden him; and
hence made himself and Eve unhappy. Y ou make your soul and your body unhappy,
if you follow the desires of your flesh against the will of the Most High. Take
care that you belong not to those of whom Saint Bernard writes: “Many are
indignant that Adam rather obeyed the voice of his wife than the voice of the Almighty;
and yet they daily obey Eve, their body, more than their Lord and God.” If you
obey your flesh when it demands anything that God has forbidden, you injure it
more than I can well explain to you. “The flesh can never be of more
importance,” says Saint Bernard, “than the salvation of your soul.” This,
however, you lose, if you obey the flesh against the Commandments of God, and
choose to live in all things after its desires. But you labor for your
salvation and further it, if you permit nothing to your body which you Cannot
do without committing sin. Still more will you advance in the path to heaven,
if you sometimes refuse to your body, from love to God, even that which you
could permit it without doing wrong, and if you would sometimes chastise it with
voluntary penances, as Saint Gerard and hundreds of other Saints have done.
This would be of the greatest benefit to your body, as it has been to that of
Saint Gerard and other Saints. Of such a body, Saint Paul writes: “It shall
rise in glory and power.” (1st Corinthians 15)
MLA
Citation
Father Francis Xavier
Weninger, DD, SJ. “Saint Gerard, Bishop and Martyr”. Lives
of the Saints, 1876. CatholicSaints.Info.
6 May 2018. Web. 24 April 2026.
<https://catholicsaints.info/weningers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-gerard-bishop-and-martyr/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/weningers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-gerard-bishop-and-martyr/
The
Blessed Gerard of Csanád, circa 1622, 100 x 74, Madonna dell'Orto, Venice, in
the sestiere of Cannaregio.
Le
bienheureux Gérard de Csanád, circa 1622, 100 x 74
Beato
Gerardo di Csanád, circa 1622, 100 x 74
St. Gerard Sagredo
St. Gerard Sagredo (980-1046)
joined a Benedictine monastery when he was a young man, because he knew from an
early age he wanted to serve the Lord with a ministry of some kind. While on a
pilgrimage to Jerusalem he befriended Stephen, the king of Hungary, and became
the tutor of the king’s son. Stephen established an Episcopal see in Csanad,
and made Gerard its first bishop. Even though most of the people in the area
did not believe in God, Gerard’s preaching brought many of them into the
church. However, after the death of King Stephen, the country fell back on its
heathen roots and Christians were persecuted. Gerard himself was a target of the
anti-Christian movement, and he died a brave martyr’s death. We honor him on
Sept. 24. -
See more at: http://www.catholiccourier.com/faith-family/kids-chronicle/saint-for-today/st-gerard-sagredo1/#sthash.6lAlB7nz.dpuf
SOURCE : http://www.catholiccourier.com/faith-family/kids-chronicle/saint-for-today/st-gerard-sagredo1/
September 24
ST GERARD, BISHOP OF
CSANAD, MARTYR (A.D. 1046)
ST GERARD, sometimes
surnamed Sagredo, the apostle of a large district in Hungary, was a Venetian,
born about the beginning of the eleventh century. At an early age he
consecrated himself to the service of God in the Benedictine monastery of San
Giorgio Maggiore at Venice, but after some time left it to undertake a
pilgrimage to Jerusalem. While passing through Hungary he became known to the
king, St Stephen, who made him tutor to his son, Bd Emeric, and Gerard began as
well to preach with success. When St Stephen established the episcopal see of
Csanad he appointed Gerard to be its first bishop. The greater part of the
people were heathen, and those that bore the name of Christian were ignorant,
brutish and savage, but St Gerard laboured among them with much fruit. He
always so far as possible joined to the perfection of the episcopal state that
of the contemplative life, which gave him fresh vigour in the discharge of his
pastoral duties. But Gerard was also a scholar, and wrote an unfinished
dissertation on the Hymn of the Three Young Men (Daniel iii), as well as other
works which are lost.
King Stephen seconded the
zeal of the good bishop so long as he lived, but on his death in 1038 the realm
was plunged into anarchy by competing claimants to the crown, and a revolt
against Christianity began. Things went from bad to worse, and eventually, when
celebrating Mass at a little place on the Danube called Giod, Gerard had
prevision that he would on that day receive the crown of martyrdom. His party
arrived at Buda and were going to cross the river, when they were set upon by
some soldiers under the command of an obstinate upholder of idolatry and enemy
of the memory of King St Stephen. They attacked St Gerard with a shower of
stones, overturned his conveyance, and dragged him to the ground. Whilst in
their hands the saint raised himself on his knees and prayed with St Stephen,
"Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. They know not what they do."
He had scarcely spoken these words when he was run through the body with a
lance; the insurgents then hauled him to the edge of the cliff called the
Blocksberg, on which they were, and dashed his body headlong into the Danube
below. It was September 24, 1046. The heroic death of St Gerard had a profound
effect, he was revered as a martyr, and his relics were enshrined in 1083 at
the same time as those of St Stephen and his pupil Bd Emeric. In 1333 the
republic of Venice obtained the greater part of his relics from the king of
Hungary, and with great solemnity translated them to the church of our Lady of
Murano, wherein St Gerard is venerated as the protomartyr of Venice, the place
of his birth.
The most reliable source
for the history of St Gerard is, it appears, the short biography printed in the
Acta Sanctorum, September, vol. vi (pp. 722-724). Contrary to the opinion
previously entertained, it is not an epitome of the longer life which is found
in Endlicher, Monumenta Arpadiana (pp. 205-234), but dates from the twelfth, or
even the end of the eleventh, century. This, at least, is the conclusion of R.
F. Kaindl in the Archiv f. Oesterreichische Geschichte, vol. xci (1902), pp.
1-58. The other biographies are later expansions of the first named, and not so
trustworthy. St Gerard's story and episcopate have also been discussed by C.
Juhász in Studien und Mittheilungen O.S.B., 1929, pp. 139-145, and 1930, pp.
1-35; and see C. A. Macartney, in Archivum Europae centro-orientalis, vol. iv
(1938), pp. 456-490, on the Lives of St Gerard, and his Medieval Hungarian
Historians (1953)
SOURCE : http://www.katolikus.hu/hun-saints/gerard.html
L’urna
con il corpo di San Gerardo Sagredo,
Duomo di Murano (La basilica
dei Santi Maria e Donato), Venezia
Saint Gerard of Csanad
Jul 14, 2015 /
Written by: America
Needs Fatima
Feast September 24
Gerard was a Venetian,
born in the beginning of the eleventh century.
At a young age, he
consecrated himself to God and dedicated his life to fighting for Christ.
He joined the Benedictine
monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore at Venice.
Not long after, he began
a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and was passing through Hungary when King Stephen –
the future St. Stephen – asked him to remain and tutor his son.
Finding the people of
Hungary likewise in need of evangelization, Gerard decided to stay and preach.
On the death of King
Stephen, Hungary was thrown into anarchy by competing claims to the throne, and
a revolt against Christianity and Gerard ensued.
On September 24, 1046, he
was attacked and beaten, but still forgave his assailants. As a spear was
thrust into his body he prayed:
“Lord, lay not this sin
to their charge, they know not what they do.” His dead body was thrown into a
river below.
Gerard and King Stephen
were canonized in 1083.
St. Gerard is considered
one of the patrons of Hungary.
SOURCE : https://americaneedsfatima.org/articles/saint-gerard-of-csanad
Scene
di vita di San Gerardo Sagredo, Vita di santi angioina, (in latino Acta
Sanctorum pictis imaginibus adornata), 1330,
Szent
Gellért a Magyar Anjou-legendáriumban
Szent
Gellért Szent István király előtt
Szent
Gellért a remeteségben
Szent
Gellért püspökké választása
Szent
Gellért prédikál a népnek
Scene
di vita di San Gerardo Sagredo, Vita di santi angioina, (in latino Acta
Sanctorum pictis imaginibus adornata), 1330, Città del
Vaticano, Bibl. Apostolica
Szent
Gellért a Magyar Anjou Legendáriumban
kép forrása: http://www.oszk.hu/siteeszkoz/kepek/kiallit/virtualis/3kodex/mal/k48.jpg
A
lázadó pogányok megölik a papokat
Szent
Gellértet letaszítják a pesti hegyről
A
kocsi magától Csanádra indul a Szent testével
A
Szent temetése
San Gerardo Sagredo Apostolo
d'Ungheria
Venezia, 23 aprile 980 –
Pest (Ungheria), 24 settembre 1046
Patronato: Ungheria
Martirologio
Romano: In Pannonia, nel territorio dell’odierna Ungheria, san Gerardo
Sagredo,
vescovo di Csanád e
martire, che fu maestro di sant’Emerico, principe adolescente, figlio del re
santo Stefano, e morì lapidato presso il Danubio nella rivolta di alcuni pagani
del luogo.
Il santo vescovo accomuna nella sua vita, dalle origini alla morte vari Paesi europei; egli nacque a Venezia in un anno imprecisato intorno al 980 un 23 aprile, perciò al battesimo ebbe il nome Giorgio, da una famiglia oriunda della Dalmazia, che secondo una tradizione cinquecentesca discendeva dalla stirpe Sagredo.
Giorgio all’età di cinque anni fu colpito da grave febbre ed i genitori impetrarono la grazia a s. Giorgio per la sua guarigione.
Una volta guarito e raggiunta un’età adatta, entrò nel monastero benedettino di S. Giorgio Maggiore all’Isola Maggiore di Venezia e in ricordo del padre da poco deceduto, prese il nome di Gerardo.
Dopo alcuni anni divenne priore del monastero e poi abate, ma dopo un po’ rinunciò alla carica, perché voleva partire per un pellegrinaggio a Betlemme in Palestina.
Partito con una nave, giunse fino a Zara, da dove invece di proseguire per la Terra Santa, ripartì per l’Ungheria dove si stabilì.
Ebbe l’incarico di “magister” (maestro) del principe Emerico, figlio del re Stefano I ‘il santo’ (969-1038) primo re d’Ungheria, in seguito si ritirò a Bakonybél per vivere da eremita.
Ma dopo un certo periodo di tempo, il re Stefano I lo richiamò dall’eremo affidandogli il vescovado di Csanád. Il vescovo Gerardo Sagredo partecipò attivamente all’opera di evangelizzazione del popolo magiaro, voluta fortemente dal re Stefano ‘il santo’, tanto da meritarsi il titolo di apostolo dell’Ungheria.
Risulta che scrisse di sua mano varie opere, ma allo stato si conosce solo il “Commento a Daniele”. Gerardo Sagredo morì il 24 settembre 1046 alla porta di Pest sulla riva destra del Danubio, per mano di un gruppo di pagani, che lo spinsero giù dal monte Kelen che prese poi il suo nome, tuttora si chiama Monte Gerardo.
Apostolo dell’Ungheria, l’antica Pannonia, il santo vescovo e martire ebbe un culto ufficiale dal 1083 con l’approvazione di papa Gregorio VII.
Nei secoli successivi si ebbe una vasta produzione biografica che lo riguarda.
Autore: Antonio Borrelli
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/90551
Giovanni Marchiori. Statua di Gerardo di Csanád, Chiesa di San Rocco (Venezia), la
facciata
Giovanni Marchiori. Statue of Saint Gerard of Csanád, Church of San Rocco in Venice, Facade - by
Giovanni
Marchiori, Statue de Gérard de Csanád. Église San Rocco à Venise, façade
Giovanni Marchiori. Statua di Gerardo di Csanád, Chiesa di San Rocco (Venezia), la
facciata
Giovanni Marchiori. Statue of Saint Gerard of Csanád, Church of San Rocco in Venice, Facade - by
Giovanni
Marchiori, Statue de Gérard de Csanád. Église San Rocco à Venise, façade
GERARDO di Csanád
(Gerardus Moresenae "Aecclesiae" seu Csanadiensis episcopus)
di Luigi Canetti
Dizionario Biografico
degli Italiani - Volume 53 (2000)
Di origine veneziana o
veneta, nacque sul finire del X secolo; le notizie storicamente accertabili sul
suo conto sono scarse fino al 1030, quando divenne vescovo della diocesi
missionaria di Marosvar, poi Csanád, in Ungheria.
La letteratura erudita e
devozionale di ambito veneto-ungherese ha alimentato la pia leggenda della sua
appartenenza alla nobile famiglia veneziana dei Sagredo, appartenenza
accreditata per la prima volta nella seconda edizione del Catalogus
sanctorum di Pietro Natali (Petrus de Natalibus), apparsa nel 1516 a
Venezia (c. 99v). Deve essere interpretata in questa prospettiva la stessa
tradizione che vuole che G. (nato un 23 aprile e battezzato perciò con il nome
del patrono Giorgio) sia stato, sin dalla più tenera infanzia, oblato e poi
(assunto il nome del padre, Gerardo, morto nel frattempo in Terrasanta), monaco
benedettino, priore e abate del monastero veneziano di S. Giorgio in Isola (più
tardi S. Giorgio Maggiore), secondo quanto è dato ricavare dalla biografia
assai fantasiosa della Vita s. Gerhardi più nota come Legenda
maior (Bibliotheca hagiographica Latina [BHL], 3424). È probabile che
il legame con la famiglia Sagredo abbia trovato appiglio in un episodio
attestato dalla tradizione agiografica, lo sbarco fortunoso di G. a Zara, città
dalmata di cui i Sagredo si volevano oriundi, durante il viaggio devozionale
che avrebbe dovuto portare G. in Terrasanta e che invece doveva condurlo,
grazie all'incontro con l'abate ungherese Rasina, a farsi evangelizzatore dei
pagani nel Regno magiaro di Stefano il santo. Il legame con il cenobio
veneziano di S. Giorgio in Isola doveva invece probabilmente giustificarsi,
sempre a posteriori, con la fondazione da parte di G. di un monastero dedicato
allo stesso martire sulla riva del fiume Maros, ciò che poteva suggerire una
qualche analogia di ubicazione geografica con l'omonima sede lagunare.
L'origine veneziana o quantomeno veneta sembra comunque confermata anche dalla
più sobria Passiob. Gerardi (BHL, 3426) o Legenda
minor ("per Venetos parentes sortitus", ed. Madzsar, p. 471),
che, insieme con la Vita, costituisce, in mancanza di notizie documentarie
dirette, la principale fonte relativa alla vita di Gerardo. Anche la Vita
maior Stephani regis (BHL, 7918), attribuibile come la Passio ai
primi decenni del secolo XII, conferma tale provenienza ("Gerardus de
Venetia veniens", ed. Wattenbach, p. 236). Di dubbio, o addirittura di
nessun valore, appaiono tutte le altre speculazioni genealogiche sulle origini
di G. contenute nella letteratura del Cinque-Seicento e talora anche del
Novecento, animata da evidenti ragioni encomiastico-celebrative.
I dati relativamente
sicuri della biografia di G. sono scarsi e in ogni caso limitati al periodo
ungherese ed episcopale della sua vita, giacché tutti gli episodi relativi alla
fase monastica ed eremitica sino al 1030 appaiono costruiti piuttosto
ingenuamente sulla base di tòpoi del genere agiografico e della
spiritualità monastica e comunque gravati da patenti anacronismi, come per
esempio il presunto soggiorno presso lo Studium di Bologna
(cfr. Legenda maior, ed. Madzsar, p. 483): analisi spregiudicate come
quella di J. Leclercq hanno indotto persino a dubitare della reale appartenenza
di G. al monachesimo benedettino.
Nonostante tutte le
ragionevoli ipotesi formulate a riguardo (dalla vocazione ascetico-missionaria
alle avviate relazioni politico-diplomatico-commerciali veneto-ungheresi tra X
e XI secolo), dobbiamo rassegnarci a ignorare anche i motivi reali che
dovettero spingere o portare G. in Ungheria nel corso del terzo decennio del
sec. XI: qui, forse dopo un periodo di relativo isolamento presso l'eremo di
Beel, avviò i contatti con re Stefano, che, dopo avergli affidato l'educazione
del figlio Emerico, lo coinvolse a pieno titolo nella sua politica di
consolidamento della cristianizzazione del Regno, affidandogli nel 1037 la
nuova diocesi di Csanád, base di partenza per vaste campagne missionarie e per
l'erezione di nuove fondazioni ecclesiastiche.
Ben scarsi sono i lumi
autobiografici che ci provengono dall'opera, incompiuta, di G.,
la Deliberatio supra hymnum trium puerorum, trasmessaci da un solo
manoscritto (Monaco, Bayerische Staatsbibl., Lat. 6211) e oggetto di
un'edizione critica: Gerardi Moresenae Aecclesiae seu Csanadiensis
episcopi Deliberatio supra hymnum trium puerorum, a cura G. Silagi,
Turnholti 1978 (Corpus Christianorum. Continuatio mediaevalis, XLIX).
La Deliberatio si presenta formalmente come un commento teologico al
cantico dei tre fanciulli rinchiusi nella fornace del Libro del profeta
Daniele (Dan. III, 57-65), ma in realtà è infarcita di ampie divagazioni
di svariato argomento, che tradiscono una notevole cultura
filosofico-letteraria, anche nutrita di autori antichi e profani, sia pur
mediati il più delle volte da Isidoro di Siviglia; notevole è l'influsso dello
Pseudo-Dionigi, forse conosciuto direttamente dal testo greco. Alcune prese di
posizione esplicite rendono comunque difficile non collocare G. tra i
rappresentanti della corrente antidialettica o comunque tra gli esponenti della
tradizionale esegesi simbolico-allegorica di ambiente monastico, che si
opponeva ai primi tentativi di applicazione del metodo razionale all'analisi
del dato rivelato. La compiaciuta veste retorico-stilistica e il linguaggio
criptico, ricchissimo di neologismi, rendono assai dubbia la valutazione di
particolari quali ad esempio le affermazioni secondo cui egli avrebbe compiuto
numerosi viaggi in Francia e in altri paesi d'Europa (Deliberatio, l. IV, p.
41; l. VIII, p. 152). Dal punto di vista storico religioso sono inoltre di un
certo interesse i numerosi riferimenti alla minacciosa presenza di movimenti
ereticali nei Balcani (bogomili) e, in Italia, a Verona, Venezia e Ravenna
(Deliberatio, l. IV, p. 51). G. stesso afferma di avere scritto altre opere,
tra le quali un commento alla Lettera agli Ebrei, uno alla
prima Lettera di Giovanni (Deliberatio, l. V, p. 75) e
un Libellus de divino patrimonio (Deliberatio, l. VIII, p. 153). Sono
stati ritrovati, anche in anni recenti (Heinzer), frammenti di sermoni mariani
a lui attribuibili, che dovettero avere una certa diffusione, come sembra
attestare una citazione diretta nella Legenda aurea di Jacopo da
Varazze (ed. a cura di T. Graesse, Lipsiae 1850, cap. CXIX, p. 511).
Dopo la morte di re
Stefano (1038), nel periodo dei disordini conseguenti alla successione, G.
sembra essersi allontanato dalla corte tentando di mantenere una posizione di
cauta equidistanza, pur non potendo sottrarsi all'appoggio della fazione di
Pietro Orseolo, il nipote di Stefano designato alla successione e sostenuto
dall'imperatore Enrico III, che si opponeva all'usurpatore Samuele Aba,
appoggiato dagli eretici bogomili. Questi fu sconfitto nel 1044, ma a costo di
una crescente sudditanza del regno di Pietro all'Impero germanico, situazione
che provocò forte scontento, disordini e congiure nobiliari, nonché una grande
sollevazione pagana capeggiata dal "pecenego" Vata. G. si schierò a
favore del partito nazionale del principe Andras, figlio di un cugino di
Stefano Árpád: il 24 sett. 1046, nei pressi del traghetto di Pest, il drappello
di armati che scortava G. diretto a Buda per accogliere il pretendente
arpadiano fu assalito da una pioggia di pietre lanciate dai sostenitori di
Vata. Il vescovo, legato a un carretto, fu trascinato sul vicino monte Kelen
(che da lui prese poi il nome di monte S. Gerardo che conserva ancor oggi) e da
lì venne fatto precipitare nel Danubio.
La fioritura
agiografico-leggendaria conseguente al suo martirio gli valse, nel 1083, il
riconoscimento da parte di papa Gregorio VII di un culto pubblico.
Fonti e Bibl.: Vita
maior Stephani regis, a cura di W. Wattenbach, in Mon. Germ. Hist.,
Script., XI, Hannoverae 1854, p. 236; Passio b. Gerardi…, in Acta
sanctorum septembris, VI, Antverpiae 1757, pp. 722-724; Vita s. Gerhardi
episcopi…, a cura di E. Madzsar, in E. Szentpétery, Scriptores rerum
Hungaricarum…, II, Budapestini 1938, pp. 480-505; Passio b. Gerardi…, a
cura di E. Madzsar, ibid., pp. 471-479; P. de Natalibus, Catalogus
sanctorum, Venetiis 1516, cc. 99v-100; G. Morin, Un théologien ignorée du
XIe siècle: l'évêque-martyr Gérard de Csanád O.S.B., in Revue bénédictine,
XXVII (1910), pp. 516-521; M. Manitius, Geschichte der lateinischen
Literatur des Mittelalters, II, München 1923, pp. 74-81; A.
Bacotich, Tribuni antichi di Venezia di origine dalmata, in Archivio
storico per la Dalmazia, XXV (1938), pp. 101 s., 104; F. Banfi, Vita di s.
G. da Venezia nel Leggendario di Pietro Calò, in Janus
Pannonius (Roma), I (1947), pp. 224-228; Id., Vita di s. G. da
Venezia nel codice 1622 della Biblioteca universitaria di Padova,
in Benedictina, II (1948), pp. 262-330 (BHL, Suppl., 3424); A.
Borst, Die Katharer, Stuttgart 1953, pp. 78 s.; J. Horváth, A
Gellért-legendák forrásértéke [La valutazione delle leggende di G. come
fonti storiche], in A Magyar tudományos akadémia Nyelv és
Irodalomtudományi osztályának közleményei. Acta linguistica Academiae
scientiarum Hungaricae, XIII (1958), pp. 21-82; E. von Ivánka, Das
"Corpus areopagiticum" bei Gerhard von Csanád…, in Traditio, XV
(1959), pp. 205-222; E. Pásztor, Problemi di datazione della "Legenda
maior s. Gerhardi episcopi", in Bull. dell'Ist. stor. ital. per il
Medio Evo e Arch. muratoriano, LXXIII (1961), pp. 113-140; H.
Barré, L'oeuvre mariale de Saint Gérard de Csanád, in Marianum, XXV
(1963), pp. 262-296; G. Silagi, Untersuchungen zur "Deliberatio supra
hymnum trium puerorum" des Gerhard von Csanád, München 1967; S.
Tramontin, Pagine di santi veneziani. Antologia, Brescia 1968, pp. 17-26;
Z.J. Kosztolnyik, The importance of Gerard of Csanád as the first author
in Hungary, in Traditio, XXV (1969), pp. 376-386; B. Smalley, Lo
studio della Bibbia nel Medioevo, Bologna 1972, p. 115; É. Gilson, La
filosofia nel Medioevo, Firenze 1973, pp. 283 s.; J. Leclercq, San G. di
Csanád e il monachesimo, in Venezia e Ungheria nel Rinascimento, a cura di
V. Branca, Firenze 1973, pp. 3-22; L. Szegfü, La missione politica e
ideologica di san G. in Ungheria, ibid., pp. 23-36; R.
Manselli, L'eresia del male, Napoli 1980, pp. 149 s.; F.
Heinzer, Neues zu Gerhard von Csanád: die Schlussschrift einer
Homeliensammlung, in Internationale Zeitschrift für Geschichte, Kultur und
Landeskunde Südosteuropas, LXI (1982), pp. 1-7; S. Tramontin, Problemi
agiografici e profili di santi, in La Chiesa di Venezia nei secoli XI-XIII,
a cura di F. Tonon, Venezia 1988, pp. 160-166; G. D'Onofrio, L'itinerario
dalle arti alla teologia nell'Alto Medioevo, in XXXVI Convegno di studi
bonaventuriani, Bagnoregio 1989, in Doctor seraphicus, XXXVI (1989), pp.
111-142; G. Cracco, I testi agiografici: religione e politica nella
Venezia del Mille, in Storia di Venezia, I, Roma 1992, p.
934; Bibliotheca sanctorum, VI, coll. 184-186; Dict. de spiritualité,
VI, 1967, coll. 264 s.; Rep. fontium hist. Medii Aevi, IV, pp. 697
s.; Bibliotheca hagiographica Latina…, I, pp. 510
s., Idem, Novum supplementum, p. 386; Dict. d'hist. et de géogr.
ecclésiastiques, XX, coll. 761-763.
© Istituto della
Enciclopedia Italiana fondata da Giovanni Treccani - Riproduzione riservata
SOURCE : https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/gerardo-di-csanad_%28Dizionario-Biografico%29/
24 septembre 1046: Saint Gérard de Csanad, Évêque de Csanad et martyr : https://cite-du-vatican.over-blog.com/article-24-septembre-1046-57629873.html
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