Saint Richard
Père de sainte Walburge,
de saint Willibald et de saint Wunibald (+ 722)
Roi saxon qui dut
abdiquer, il se réfugia d'abord à Rouen avant de partir pour un pèlerinage à
Rome. Il y y fit un long séjour, puis continua ses voyages. La mort le surprit
à Lucques en Italie qui le fête à cette date du 7 février.
À Lucques en Toscane,
vers 720, la mise au tombeau de saint Richard, père des saints Winebald, Willibald et Walburge, qui,
s’en allant d’Angleterre en pèlerinage à Rome avec ses fils, mourut en route.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/589/Saint-Richard.html
Pfarrkirche
St. Magnus, Waldburg, Landkreis Ravensburg. Hochaltar: Richard, Ehemann der
Wuna (Schwester des hl. Bonifatius), Vater der waldburgischen Erbpatrone
Willibald, Wunibald und Walburga
Saint Richard, roi du
Wessex en Angleterre avait trois enfants : sainte Walburge ( 25 février ),
saint Willibald ( 7 juin ), saint Wunibald ou Wynnebald ( 18 décembre ).
Il partit en pélerinage vers 720 pour Rome avec ses deux fils de 20 et 19
ans. Ils traversèrent la Manche et remontèrent jusqu' à Rouen. Ils visitèrent
les sanctuaires chrétiens français, mais saint Richard mourut en 722 à Lucques
( Lucca en italien ) avant d' avoir atteint la Ville éternelle.
Son fils Willibald, parti
évangéliser l' Allemagne avec saint Boniface, devint le premier évêque d'
Eichstätt. Il fut le fondateur de l' abbaye d' Heidenheim qui comportait un
monastère d' hommes dirigé par son frère saint Wunibald, et un monastère de
femmes dirigé par sa soeur sainte Walburge.
Les habitants de
Lucques conservèrent les reliques du saint à l' église de San
Frediano où des miracles avaient été constatés.
SOURCE : http://ut-pupillam-oculi.over-blog.com/article-5554768.html
Der
Willibaldsdom zu Eichstätt:
Saint Richard
Sommaire :
Cela s'est passé un 7
février:
Le 7 février, dans
l'église Saint-Fridien de Lucques (Italie) où se trouve son tombeau, on célèbre
la fête du saint roi Richard en raison des nombreux miracles qui y furent
accordés par son intercession.
Richard, roi des Saxons
occidentaux, époux d'une parente de saint Boniface, fut dépossédé de ses états,
à moins qu’il n’abdiquât volontairement. Toujours est-il que, laissant sa
fille, Walburge, en Angleterre, il embarqua, avec ses deux fils, Winebald et
Willibald, à Hamble-Haven pour aller en pèlerinage à Rome. On mentionne souvent
leur passage en France, singulièrement à Rouen ; en février 722, ils
arrivèrent à Lucques où le roi Richard mourut subitement.
Le roi Richard est
généralement représenté debout, revêtu de ses insignes ; à ses pieds, sont
disposés sa couronne, un collier, un livre et, souvent, un chapelet. Il arrive
qu'on le montre en habit de pèlerin, guérissant un estropié, ou encore se
livrant aux travaux de labourage, voire entouré de ses deux fils : saint
Winebald (Winebaud), fêté le 18 décembre, qui devint abbé de Heindenheim et
saint Willibald (Guilbaud), fêté le 7 juillet, qui devint évêque de Eischtœdt.
Sa fille, sainte Walburge (Gauburge), qui était restée en Angleterre, passa en
Allemagne sur les instances de saint Boniface et de son frère Willibald ;
elle devint la première abbesse de Heidenheim ; elle est fêtée le 25
février.
L'Eglise fait mémoire, au
6 février, d'un autre roi, d'un autre royaume des Saxons occidentaux (Wessex),
contemporain de saint Richard mais plus célèbre que lui, le saint roi
Ina ; grâce aux récits de Guillaume de Malmesbury et de Henri Huntington,
a laissé le souvenir d'un illustre guerrier, sage législateur et grand
bienfaiteur de l'Eglise. Après les lois du royaume de Kent, on lui doit le plus
ancien spécimen de la législation anglo-saxonne. Il abdiqua, après trente-sept
ans de règne, en 725 et s'en fut habiter à Rome où il mourut. L'ancienne
Angleterre connut des saints rois martyrs : Edwin (Northumbrie, + 632),
Sigebert (Est-Anglie, + vers 635), Oswald (Northumbrie, + 643), Oswin (Deira, +
651), Anna (Est-Anglie, + 654), Alfwold (Northumbrie, + 789), Ethelbert
(Est-Anglie, + 794), Edmond (Est-Anglie, + vers 870), Edouard le Martyr (+
978) ; l'ancienne Angleterre connut aussi des saints rois
confesseurs : Ethelbert (Kent, + 614), Sebbe (Essex, + 693), Ethelred
(Mercie, + 704), Ceolwulf (Northumbrie, + 737), Edgard (Wessex, + 975), Edouard
le Confesseur (+ 1066).
En 1032, sous le règne
d’Henri I°, à la Membrolle, dans l’archidiocèse de Tours, on trouva dans un
saule, au bord des eaux, une statuette de la Vierge que l’on baptisa Notre-Dame
des Eaux. On construisit une chapelle puis, pour la desservir, un prieuré de
bénédictins dépendant de l’abbaye de Marmoutier. Comme on invoquait
particulièrement Notre-Dame des Eaux au temps de sécheresse, l’année 1789 vit
accourir un grand nombre de pèlerins. La statuette fut sauvée des
révolutionnaires par Bonaventure Loiseau et, en 1846, M. Dupont, le saint homme
de Tours, en fit reprendre la vénération. La comtesse de Nanteuil réédifia à
ses frais la chapelle, que Mgr Morlot bénit, le 7 février 1856 ;
trois ans plus tard, Mgr. Guibert érigeait Notre-Dame des Eaux en paroisse. Le
2 juin 1870, un pèlerinage de plus de trois mille personnes rappela celui de
1789 par sa piété et le résultat qu'il obtint. La sécheresse désolait la
Touraine; Sept paroisses étaient là, officiellement représentées. Notre-Dame
des Eaux exauça leur prière ; les cieux se couvrirent de nuages, et les
sillons, à demi brûlés, de moissons abondantes.
Guy II, comte de Laval
(mort en 1067), passant sur le pont qui enjambait la Mayenne au pied de son
château, tomba avec sa monture et, se voyant perdu, se recommanda à la Vierge
Marie. Ramené mystérieusement sur le rivage, il faisait une prière de reconnaissance
quand, dans les branches d’un chêne, la Sainte Vierge lui apparut. Il
construisit une chapelle, appelée Notre-Dame d'Avesnières, et un monastère de
religieuses où entrèrent ses filles. Les pèlerins accourent en nombre et la
chapelle, plusieurs fois agrandie, fit place à une basilique achevée par le
comte Guy V de Laval, arrière-petit-fils du fondateur. La basilique, détruite
par les anglais qui dispersèrent les religieuses (1429), fut relevée, devint
église paroissiale et les pèlerinages reprirent Au dix-huitième siècle, alors
qu’une épidémie bovine ravageait leur paroisse, les habitants de Bonchamp,
obtinrent la cessation du fléau, à la suite d'une procession qu’ils
firent, le 7 février 1749, à Notre-Dame d'Avesnières. Les révolutionnaires
ne détruisirent pas Notre-Dame d'Avesnières qui, après avoir vu sous ses murs
une des plus grandes victoires vendéennes (25 octobre 1793) et quatorze prêtres
fusillés (21 janvier 1794), fut définitivement rendue au culte (4 mai 1800). La
cérémonie du couronnement de Notre-Dame d'Avesnières eut lieu le 8 mai 1860,
sous la présidence de l'archevêque de Tours, de quatre autres prélats et de
l'évêque diocésain qui bénit et déposa, au nom du Pape, la couronne sur le
front de Notre-Dame d'Avesnières.
SOURCE : http://missel.free.fr/Sanctoral/02/07.php
.JPG)
Vitrail, St Ricarius Church, Aberford
Also
known as
Richard of Lucca
Richard of Wessex
Richard of West Saxony
Profile
Saxon king,
possibly of Wessex in modern England. Married,
and the father of Saint Willibald, Saint Winebald,
and Saint Walburga.
At least two disparate biographies exist for him, neither of them very
creditable. Died suddenly
during a pilgrimage to Rome, Italy.
722 at Lucca, Italy of
natural causes
buried in
the church of San Frediano in Lucca
miracles reported
at his tomb
some relics translated
to Eichstätt, Germany
pilgrim in
an ermine-lined cloak (wears
a crown,
or it sits on a book nearby)
with a bishop and
an abbot,
his sons, nearby
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Life
of Saint Richard, King of the West Saxons, by Thomas Meyrick
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
Saints
and Their Attributes, by Helen Roeder
other
sites in english
images
video
sitios
en español
Biblioteca Electronica Cristiana
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
sites
en français
Abbé
Christian-Philippe Chanut
fonti
in italiano
spletne
strani v slovenšcini
MLA
Citation
“Saint Richard the
King“. CatholicSaints.Info. 23 January 2024. Web. 5 January 2025.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-richard-the-king/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-richard-the-king/
Book of Saints
– Richard – 7 February
Article
(Saint) King (February
7) (8th
century) He seems to have been an Anglo-Saxon chieftain or Under-King in
Wessex, probably of part of Devonshire. He married a
relation of Saint Boniface,
the Apostle of Germany,
and was the father of
three Saints, Saints Willibald,
Winebald and Walburga. He died at
Lucca in Italy while
on a pilgrimage to Rome (A.D. 722),
and many miracles testified
to his sanctity.
MLA
Citation
Monks of Ramsgate.
“Richard”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info.
6 February 2017. Web. 5 January 2025.
<https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-richard-7-february/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-richard-7-february/
_(14779624622).jpg)
St. Richard
Feast day: Feb
07
St. Richard was orphaned
at a young age. His brother inherited his parents' estate after he was of age,
but the death tax was so great that they were sent into poverty, and Richard
had to work on his brother's farm. He was set to be next in line to inherit the
estate, but Richard preferred a life of study and the church. When it was set
for him to be married to a noblewoman, he rejected the proposed match,
suggesting that his brother might marry her instead.
He was eventually elected
as bishop, and lived an ascetic lifestyle.
Richard was the father of
Saints Willibald, Winnebald, and Walburga. He was on a pilgrimage to Rome from
his native Wessex, England, with his two sons when he was stricken and died at
Lucca, Italy. Miracles were reported at his tomb and he became greatly
venerated by the citizens of Lucca, who embellished accounts of his life by
calling him "King of the English".
SOURCE : https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-richard-140
Richard the King (RM)
Died 722. Perhaps Saint
Richard was not really a king--early Italian legend made him a prince of
Wessex--but his sanctity was verified by the fact that he fathered three other
saints: Willibald, Winebald (Wunibald), and Walpurga (Walburga). Butler tells us
that "Saint Richard, when living, obtained by his prayers the recovery of
his younger son Willibald, whom he laid at the foot of a great crucifix erected
in a public place in England, when the child's life was despaired of in a
grievous sickness. . . . [he was] perhaps deprived of his inheritance by some
revolution in the state; or he renounced it to be more at liberty to dedicate
himself to the pursuit of Christian perfection. . . . Taking with him his two
sons, he undertook a pilgrimage of penance and devotion, and sailing from
Hamble-haven, landed in Neustria on the western coasts of France. He made a
considerable stay at Rouen, and made his devotions in the most holy places that
lay in his way through France."
He fell ill, died
suddenly at Lucca, Italy, and was buried in the church of San Frediano. A later
legend makes him the duke of Swabia, Germany. Miracles were reported at his
tomb, and he became greatly venerated by the citizens of Lucca and those of
Eichstatt to where some of his relics were translated. The natives of Lucca
amplified accounts of his life by calling him king of the English. Neither of
his legends is especially trustworthy--even his real name is unknown and dates
only from the 11th century. A famous account of the pilgrimage on which he died
was written by his son's cousin, the nun Hugeburc, entitled Hodoeporicon
(Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Gill, Husenbeth, White)
In art, King Saint
Richard is portrayed as a royal pilgrim (ermine- lined cloak) with two
sons--one a bishop and one an abbot. His crown may be on a book (Roeder). He is
venerated at Heidenheim and Lucca (Roeder).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0207.shtml
Pfarrkirchen
i.M. Parish church: Fresco - Saint Richard.
February 7
St. Richard, King in
England, and Confessor
THIS saint was an English
prince, in the kingdom of the West-Saxons, and was perhaps deprived of his
inheritance by some revolution in the state: or he renounced it to be more at
liberty to dedicate himself to the pursuit of Christian perfection. His three
children, Winebald, Willibald, and Warburga, are all honoured as saints. Taking
with him his two sons, he undertook a pilgrimage of penance and devotion, and
sailing for Hamblehaven, landed in Neustria on the Western coasts of France. He
made a considerable stay at Rouen, and made his devotions in the most holy
places that lay in his way through France. Being arrived at Lucca in Italy, in
his road to Rome, he there died suddenly, about the year 722, and was buried in
St. Fridian’s church there. His relics are venerated to this day in the same
place, and his festival kept at Lucca with singular devotion. St. Richard, when
living, obtained by his prayers the recovery of his younger son Willibald, whom
he laid at the foot of a great crucifix erected in a public place in England,
when the child’s life was despaired of in a grievous sickness: and since his
death, many have experienced the miraculous power of his intercession with God,
especially where his relics invite the devotion of the faithful. His festival is
kept at Lucca, and his name honoured in the Roman Martyrology on the 7th of
February. See the life of St. Willibald by his cousin, a nun of Heidenheim, in
Canisius’s Lectiones Antiquæ, with the notes of Basnage. Henschenius, Feb.
t. 2. p. 70.
Rev. Alban
Butler (1711–73). Volume II: February. The Lives of the
Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/2/072.html
Saint Who? Richard of
Lucca
A Holy Patriarch | ca.
670–ca. 725–726 • Pre-Congregation Memorial: February 7
We know little about St.
Richard, a pilgrim who, St. Bede says, ruled the old British kingdom of Wessex
from roughly 688 to 725. He is thought to be the grandson of Queen St.
Seaxburha and the brother-in-law of St. Boniface, and his name probably wasn’t Richard
but Hlothere. We also know he was married and had three children, all of whom
became saints: Walburga, Wunibald, and Willibald.
After a 37-year reign,
King Richard abdicated in order to better pursue his goal of being a saint. He
took his two sons with him on pilgrimage to Rome, which St. Willibald’s
biography says was the boys’ idea. Having made his way across Europe and
through roughly a third of Italy, he stopped in Lucca. There he developed a
terrible fever and died after several days.
Richard’s sons had him
buried in the Church of San Frediano, which also holds the incorrupt St. Zita.
During the Middle Ages his tomb saw great veneration by pilgrims. Many came
from Britain as well as Germany, since some of his relics had been sent to
Eichst.tt, where St. Willibald was bishop. Scads of miracles occurred at his
tomb.
Even to this day,
pilgrims praying before his impressive sarcophagus know that they are in the
presence of a spiritual powerhouse.
Why St. Richard deserves
our attention and devotion
A man who abandoned
worldly power to pursue sanctity and who raised three saints is no slouch. His
devotion left an indelible impression on his offspring, and they brought many
souls to Christ as a result.
Lord, help us convert our
hearts. Make us ever more perfect disciples, like St. Richard. Enable us to be
shining lights for those in our care, and let them carry that light into the
world and thereby bring others into your everlasting embrace of love.
SOURCE : https://www.franciscanmedia.org/franciscan-spirit-blog/saint-who-richard-of-lucca/
Dom
zu Eichstätt, Mittelschrein des Hochaltars im Ostchor. Gottesmutter mit dem
Kind, St. Willibald und Walburga, Richard und Wunibald
Life
of Saint Richard, King of the West Saxons, by Thomas Meyrick
Died 722
Religion produces great
fruits when it has found a strong deep soil in which it may grow. Its majestic
principles then find room and supply enough to spring out into their stature.
Such were the hearts of our Saxon ancestors, when newly won over to the Faith.
Their firm resolve, and bold determination of character, when brought under the
power of Christianity, led to examples of stern uncompromising sacrifice.
This remark will aid to
explain the striking scene which their history presents at the close of the
seventh century, when we see kings counting thrones as nothing, and freely
casting away their crowns, to follow in simplicity the poverty of the cross.
Kenred, king of Mercia, Offa, prince of East Angles, Ceadwall and Ina of West
Angles, gave a new lesson to mankind; and the world, astonished, beheld
warriors and princes resign their pride and glory as a burden, and choose, as
some better thing, the meek and lowly service of religion. The example was
stirring, and naturally drew others after it; a succession of devout wanderers
left their English homes, seeking the spots which the Apostles had trod, Rome
and the Holy Land. “About this time,” says Bede, speaking of the beginning of
the eighth century, ” multitudes of English people did so commonly, both of
high rank, and of low estate, clergy and laity, and women too as well.”
Saint Richard is to be
reckoned among the number of the men of birth spoken of in this passage. Little
can be positively ascertained of his early history and parentage, or even of
his title to the name of king. No written life is preserved of him, except some
brief accounts of later date, compiled from scanty notices and from the lives
of his three children. That he was of royal descent seems allowed. His sons are
spoken of as “the sons of a king,” and his daughter as “a king’s daughter.” His
kinsman Saint Boniface is said to be “of royal blood.” His mother is called the
sister of some Offa, but whether of East Angles or some other is disputable. The
place of the kingdom assigned to him is determined by the state ment, “that
Saint Boniface was born in his kingdom.” The birthplace of Saint Boniface was
Kirton (Crediton) in Devon, so that this account would give him some portion of
the kingdom of the West Angles; and localities incidentally mentioned would
bring his residence to some part of Hampshire or Kent.
Probably he was one of
the rich thanes or sub reguli, among whom the Saxons were at times divided.
Such was the case for ten years between the death of Kentwin and the reign of
Ceadwall, and again in the time of AEthelhard the successor of Ina. In the year
686, Ceadwall reduced the whole; subduing the petty kings, and adding the Isle
of Wight, which Saint Wilfrid had converted from idolatry to Christianity.
In the period between
Kentwin and Ina Saint Richard was born, according to the Bollandists, in the
reign of Ceadwall. “From his childhood he was deeply imbued with Christianity.”
These few words contain the sum of what is known Of his early life. But though
brief, they say much. Natural strength of character, noble birth and wealth,
are nothing positive in themselves; they imply increase of trial and larger
capacity of good or evil: but when deep feelings and great powers are brought
under the control of sublime principles, then it is that men are framed,
excelling in action, and mighty in influence. The soul of man seems then like
some powerful instrument touched by a master-hand, and brought out into full
play. Therefore, little more needs to be added to the simple statement that,
born in circumstance a wealthy and noble prince, he was early a devout
Christian.
Tradition connects him
with Saint Ina, and his mother with the royal Mercian race. Such education and
extraction well befitted one who was to be the father of a family of saints.
Staid and settled characters of habitual piety and gravity, when joined to a
courteous behaviour and noble open bearing, form the true model of the head of
a household. Such men are found faithful to their trust, and bring up their
children after them in gentle reverence and willing obedience. His wife and
queen, according to tradition, was Winna the sister of Winfrid, the great Saint
Boniface, at that time, in the year 700, a monk in the monastery of Nutschelle
in Dorset, and about twenty years of age. Winna bore him two sons, who were
named Willibald and Winibald. Willibald is usually supposed to be the youngest
by three years, and the dates of their respective births are set, of Winibald
at 701, and Willibald 704. But there seems good reason for giving the priority
of age to Willibald, and altering their births to the successive years 701 and
702. Winibald is argued to be the eldest, on the sole ground of a date which
cannot be certainly verified. And there is con siderable evidence on the other
side. Saint Willibald is always placed first in order in the authentic
documents of their lives. This to be sure does not prove much, for being the
more distinguished saint he might naturally be put first, and the deference paid
to him by his brother, and the leading decisive part he takes in their history,
as well as the precedence given him by Saint Boniface their uncle, might be
explained in the same way; but the writer of their lives, who is plainly
familiar with their early circumstances, and who is supposed to be Saint
Walburga herself, their younger sister, speaks expressly in the story of his
early sickness, that his parents grieved for him as their “representative and
heir,” and in the tradition and prayer at Aichstadt, where he was bishop, he is
solemnly named as “heir to an English throne.”
It is observed by an old
writer, that it is a peculiar feature of the English Saxons, that many holy
saints are found in one family together. Perhaps this pleasing circumstance is
to be connected with and explained by that domestic cast of character which
seems to be national. A holy family is the highest image the mind can conceive;
and if it is interesting to mark the working of the power of Christianity on
individual biography, as it subdues and moulds, like a refining fire, the
several ingredients of an earthly temper, and brings them out into a heavenly
beauty, it is still more so to trace the magical effect upon a family group,
when the separate holy characteristics come out distinctly into light and
pleasing variety, like the budding of a beautiful plant into its several
delicate ramifications of tendrils, flowers, and leaves.
Willibald and Winibald
both inherited the same deep resolve and Saxon strength of purpose. But Willibald,
together with a healthier constitution of body, seems to have possessed a more
ready and active mind, more of eagerness and fire. Winibald, who was weakly,
was more of a quiet, contemplative, hermit-like cast. Their sister, Saint
Walburga, who was probably much younger than either, shows a particular
attachment to her sickly brother. The outline of her life exhibits the same
great and princely heart, melted by feminine softness into a gentle patience
and sweet intensity of devotion.
From such children we
could well argue the piety of the father, under whose fostering care such
stately plants grew up to adorn Christ’s earthly paradise. But a circumstance
occurs to show the habitual holy temper and religious faith of King Richard.
The child Willibald, when he was about three years old, was seized with a
violent disorder: the sickness was so severe, that his body fell under it into
the last state of weakness, and his life was given over. At such times the
difference between the worldly and the religious is this, the former look to
natural means only for help, and when these fail, they have nothing to rely
upon; the latter still depend upon the will of God in faith, and therefore have
hope. In those simple times (and the custom still remains in simple countries
like the Tyrol), a holy cross of sufficient size was planted in a public open
spot, which was thus dedicated to acts of religious worship, sometimes by the
wayside, sometimes adjoining the house of a rich proprietor, to which it was
attached like a chapel, and used as a domestic place of prayer. To this the
king and queen brought the child and laid him at its foot, a suffering infant
beneath the emblem of suffering innocence. There they poured forth their
earnest prayers and intercessions, vow ing, as Hannah of old, that if the dying
child was given back to them, his life should be devoted to the service of God.
The prayer was heard and the child restored. The staff of Elisha brought no
help to the Shunammite’s son in times of old, but the cross of the Lord is
found of more avail to the faithful in Christ.
Saint Richard received
his child as a gift restored again from the grave, and held him to be no more
his own, but a sacred trust put into his hands from heaven. Doubtless, such an
event tended much to increase devotion and thankfulness in a mind and heart
already devout. For two years more he kept his son, and then, by the hand of a
faithful servant, sent him at the age of five years old to be placed with the
holy Abbot Egbald in the monastery of Waltham, not far from Winchester, where
still there is a bishop’s residence.1 Thus he severed his son from himself and
from the world, a painful act, which afterwards led on to another and greater
sacrifice, in which consists the chief action in Saint Richard’s life.
Self-denial ever leads the way to self-denial. It was in this school of
discipline at Waltham that the young soldier of the cross learned the hard yet
easy lesson, to follow the ensign of the Lamb whithersoever He goes. His bold
and ready temper was nursed to high longings in the seclusion of his monastery,
and he returned to his home at the age of twenty, to teach his father that high
lesson to which that father had first led him on; he came to bid father and
brother renounce their royal estate, country, and home, to wander out into the
world as poor pilgrims, after the example of Him who had no place where to lay
His head. He broke his own resolution first in secret to Saint Richard; and
then, with all the animation of an ardent heart, the young saint urged his
plea. Men of the world, of what is called common sense, would look upon such
words as mere romancing. Probably such language would be listened to with utter
scorn and derision, if not considered as absolute folly and distraction. Yet
the foolishness of man may be heavenly wisdom, and humble men in faithful days
did not so listen to it. His father hearkened to the enthusiast with meekness;
at first indeed he took the ground on which high resolves are often put away,
he urged his ties and duties at home; but after a while he found these
considerations to be in his own case but a pretext, and at length he consented.
Perhaps he had already formed some such desire, from weariness of the world and
the examples of neighbouring kings. Perhaps political circumstances urged him
the same way. It is supposed to have been for the peace of his people that he
resigned his power. Winibald, who was nineteen years of age, and who had been
brought up as it appears at home, showed the same ready compliance, and obeyed the
call of his brother.
It was in the year 721
when they came to their determination. First they were to visit Rome, the
centre of Christendom, where the bodies of Saint Peter and Saint Paul were
laid; afterwards to pass on to the yet more hallowed scene of the Saviour’s
life and sufferings, the Holy Land. In the spring of the year they made ready
for their departure. It is probable that Queen Winna was dead, and there seems
reason to think that Saint Walburga, with other children, was a daughter by a
second wife. He placed her in the convent at Winburne in Dorset, the usual
refuges in those days for the unprotected, and commonly the places of education
for ladies of rank. There she found holy com panions in the princesses
Cuthberga and Queenberga, the sainted sisters of King Ina. Having placed his
daughter in the secure arms of a careful mother, the Church, the noble Saxon,
with his two sons, bidding farewell to earthly cares, took his way to
Southampton, then called Hamle-mouth, to take ship, followed by such retainers
as through love and fidelity chose to accompany their king.
It surely is a scene to
awaken an indifferent world, and to give a solemn witness to the power of
Christianity, to see a little band thus gather, and go forth from their kindred
and people, henceforth belonging to no earthly land, but seeking a heavenly. It
can only be through an utter ignorance of the motives and deep constraining
principles which lie within, that men look on with wondering scorn, or draw out
the tongue, and shake the head in derision, as they pass on. Like haughty
Egypt, they imagine that they are gone out to be swallowed in the sea, or to
perish in the wilderness. But he whose religion is dearer to him than all the
world beside, is free to go where he will; he is the true brave man, and all
lands are his home. Places and things are everywhere much alike to him, and, if
he could, he would fain escape away. The world is unwilling that the prisoner
should flee, and stretching out its arms into the void, would drag back perforce
the departing footsteps. It seems to men as if ruin were at hand, and the last
of the angel guard were going out from among them.
Having hired a vessel
they embarked, followed by the tears and prayers of the friends who accompanied
them to the shore. The passage of the sea is always a solemn thing, and then
was counted perilous. The style of the simple ancient narrative rises as it comes
to the tale of the voyage, and swells into long undulating tremulous words, as
though the memory of its sensations had dwelt unforgotten on the mind. There is
something, moreover, which touches the heart deeply in leaving an island home,
but then our saints were not cruising abroad for pleasure or business as men do
now; the calm religious mind which is fixed on eternity can watch even the
receding shores of a dear home with a peaceful eye, like the spectator of a
changing scene in some unsubstantial vision; it is not because it is
insensible, but because it is tranquil.
They landed at a town
then called Rotum, on the Seine (probably it is Rouen in Normandy), and having
first paid a solemn visit to the churches, there to offer thanks for their
prosperous voyage, they took their journey across France without delay,
proposing to pass the Alps before the winter began. The expression of pitching
camp at landing shows that the company of pilgrims was considerable in number,
among whom, as it would seem, several young men of gentle birth had joined them
out of devotion and affection to the young princes. It appears they had to pass
through some unconverted heathen country, probably on the Italian side of the
Alps, for as they traversed France they diligently sought every church to pray
for protection against the barbarians. Thus they enlisted as they went on the
armies of heaven on their side, on the aid of which, and not on human prudence
and precaution, they relied to keep them safe from their enemies. This quiet
confidence throws a charm round the weak and defenceless, the furious passions
of men are cowed, and though they gather like lions round a Daniel, they are
held back from hurting them. Their progress was unmolested. On their way they
heard that their kinsman Saint Boniface, the apostle of Germany, had begun his
mission. People now would argue that they ought to have left their wandering,
and have gone to be useful in that heathen country. But while reason calculates
utilities, and the world approves its judgment, simple affection takes
unconsciously a wiser and nobler course. They preferred to seem idle rather
than be busy about serving, so keeping their resolve, they passed on, seeking
Him first, and the dear memorials and relics of His presence, for whose sake
they had left all.
They arrived at Lucca,
and the bishop received them with hospitality. In the days when Chris tendom
was united, and before love had grown cold, the Church everywhere received the
wanderer with welcome. Poverty was a letter of commendation, and the name of
Christian a passport through the length and breadth of Christendom. Charity
opens the heart of man, and his eye is no longer jealous and suspicious, nor
his hand against his fellow. The Church of Lucca had no reason to repent of her
hospitality. She had unawares entertained a saintly guest, and he left with her
in recompense his blessing, and bequeathed his remains. It was now the sickly
autumn, and Saint Richard fell ill. He was to be spared his pilgrimage. Here it
was to be cut short. He breathed his last happily in the arms of his children.
They took his body, and wrapping it in a fair cloth, laid it to rest in the
church of Saint Frigidian, a holy man from Ireland, formerly Bishop of Lucca.
Sorrowful and yet
rejoicing, his sons journeyed on to Rome. Saint Richard died in the autumn of
the year 722. Several circumstantial accounts are related of cures at his tomb,
and relief from satanic possession. To those who think little on the awful
realities of the spiritual world such narratives are difficulties. As they do
not believe in the presence or power of the evil one in the soul of man, so
consequently they cannot receive the history of its liberation from him. But to
a thoughtful mind the moral miracles of Christianity are greater and more
marvellous than any external physical changes can be considered, or any bodily
cures. In contemplating the lives of holy men under its influence, changes so
wonderful are seen to take place in conduct and character from what it was
before that no material change, no affection of colour, shape, or external form
or habit, can adequately represent them. It seems as if the stroke of an
enchanter’s wand had changed the whole moral scenery; out of such meanness and
hideousness arises such strength and such beauty. The lives of Christian saints
are a standing miracle. Their gentleness, their meekness, and supernatural
endurance, are as contrary to the natural course of human wilfulness and
wickedness as the greatest deviations possible from the usual course of visible
creation, and even much more so, for of all changes that can be in the nature
of things, the greatest that can be conceived is that of evil into good.
To those who have seen
the sweetness of such behaviour in the living, and have been moved by its
fragrance, it need be no wonder that even the frail vessel that once contained
the spirit should savour of its life, or that Satan should flee from the smell
of the remembrance of its holiness more quickly than he fled of old from the
perfume of the fish’s heart in the marriage-chamber of pure-hearted Tobias. How
dearly men in those days prized such possessions will be seen by what follows.
Many years afterwards the people of Aichstadt in Germany, which was Willibald’s
see, wished to add to the remains of the sons the body of the father. They sent
to Lucca, offering any sum that it was in their power to raise, and adding
entreaties, to be allowed to remove the relics of Saint Richard. Neither
prayers nor promises could prevail with the people of Lucca to part with what
they considered greater than the greatest earthly treasure. At last, for
charity’s sake, the petitioners begged to be at least permitted to take away
some portion of the dust from the tomb, and when they but received some
particles, they conveyed it home with joy as an invaluable gift. Such
earnestness betokens a reality of reverence, and a sense of value at least,
which ought to strike us now, who measure all things by gold. Perhaps it may be
objected that such a regard is over-fond, and ought to be condemned, but the
objection comes with an ill grace from men who fall into ecstasy over a bronze
from Herculaneum, or a coin of Caligula, and will give a large sum for even a
hair or a tooth of some oppressor of the Church, or the autograph of some
condemned felon. If we must needs admire, it is better to prefer the beautiful
to the strange or the hideous, for what we most admire that we imitate.
* * *
Some account must be
added of cures wrought at Saint Richard’s tomb, in proof of his sanctity and
acceptance with God, and of the singular value of his bones to the people of
Lucca.
Some centuries after his
death, on the removal of the remains of Saint Frigidian, and other holy persons
who lay in that church, the body of the stranger king was left through
carelessness, or through lapse of time forgotten. A noble count of Lucca, named
Cedeus, who had lain a paralytic many years, deprived of all use of his limbs,
saw a vision of the saint in the night, who bid him arise and go to the prior
and brotherhood of Saint Frigidian, and ask them why they had severed him from
the companions with whom his bones had lain in sacred fellowship so many years.
The sick nobleman replied, that his infirmity of many years made him incapable
of obeying, and asked who he was that bade him go. The saint answered, that he
was Richard the Saxon king, and told him, “Go without fear, for that Christ our
sweet Saviour had condescended to his prayer, and that from that very hour he
was healed.” The count awoke in the morning cured; and, besides this testimony
to the reality of the vision, was enabled to declare the spot where the relics
lay, which through antiquity had become unknown.
The fame of other
miracles at his shrine reaching Germany, a poor paralytic caused himself to be
brought as best he could from thence to Lucca, and in reward for his great
faith was restored to the use of his limbs. An attendant on the daily service
at the altar, beneath which were the remains of Saint Richard, lay in a
hopeless state of suffering from a pulmonary disease. As he slept, a form with
a majestic beard and bright angelic countenance appeared to him, wearing a
royal crown, and holding a sceptre, and bade him go for relief to the altar at
which he had so continually served in holy offices. He obeyed the vision and
was cured.
A waiting maid in the
house of a noble citizen of Lucca was possessed with devils, so that even the
strongest man could not hold her, and she was a terror to all. At length the
devils declared by her, unwillingly, that they were subjected to the power of
Saint Richard, and would come out of her if taken to the church of Saint
Frigidian. With great difficulty she was taken there; and upon approach to the
holy place she began to utter terrible cries, like the mingled sounds of many
fierce wild animals, so hideous and horrible that people were terrified far and
near. After awhile she ceased her screams and was set free.
Sensual men, who have
drunk of Circe’s cup, and are themselves transformed out of humanity, or cold
men of intellect who know nothing of moral degradation, do not believe in the
fearful embodiments of evil, of which the world gives actual instances. They
cannot apprehend the high and holy words of Scripture, which speaks of such men
as of dogs and swine. They cannot believe that a legion of evil things, whose
fit habitation was a herd of swine, can take their abiding-place in the human
heart, and fill it with all uncleanness. Yet Scripture says, that so it is; and
if only men would know themselves, they might see within themselves all that is
horrible and wild in the animal creation. Men may live, and do live, each one
of these hateful lives; and as wickedness progresses they come out in their
horrible shapes of character. The great evil world is full of such roaming in
it to and fro, and he who knows his own heart knows that he might himself be
such a one. But over these spiritual wickednesses in their different depths and
heights, Saint Paul tells us the Christian has won the victory. The saints’
feet trample upon the neck of the monster sin; and according as they have
fought in the good fight, they are placed as heavenly guards over the fiendish
enemies they have subdued. It is the world’s wickedness which prevents this
victory of faith from being realised. Principles of evil, when known as such,
bring out the opposite principles of good, and the great moral combat assumes a
distinct and visible shape. But when principles of evil are unknown, and this
is always in proportion to the degree that men themselves are involved in them,
the view of the great battle becomes obscured. Hence when the mist of their own
vices and false principles covers mankind, the Evil Spirit with all his legions
lies hid, and at the same time, Angels, Prophets, and Apostles, and all the noble
army of Martyrs become invisible too; friend and foe are alike unseen, and men
care not to seek the aid of the one and dread no longer the devices of the
other. It is only when the soul is lost – the city is taken – ruin is at hand,
and the towers are falling, that the horrible countenances become distinctly
visible; then, when too late,
“Apparent dirae facies,
inimicaque Trojae Numina.”
“Fierce faces appear, and
the goddesses hostile to Troy.“
– from The Lives of the English Saints, volume 2,
author not listed, edited by Thomas Meyrick, published by Scott-Thaw Company of
New York, New York in 1908
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/life-of-saint-richard-king-of-the-west-saxons-by-thomas-meyrick/
Святой
Ричард Уэссекский
Saint
Richard of Wessex (Richard the Pilgrim)
Der
heilige Richard von Wessex.
San
Ricardo el Sajón
San Riccardo d'Inghilterra
San Riccardo Re
degli Inglesi
m. a Lucca, 722
Visse nell’VIII secolo e
fu il padre di tre importanti santi: Villibaldo, Vunibaldo e Valburga. La sua
vita fu caratterizzata da una intensa preghiera e venerazione verso la Sacra
Famiglia e gli altri santi: infatti insieme ai figli si recò a Roma con la speranza
di trovarvi le reliquie dei SS. Pietro e Paolo. Morì a Lucca e venne seppellito
nella basilica di S. Frediano.
Etimologia: Riccardo
= potente e ricco, dal provenzale
Martirologio
Romano: A Lucca, deposizione di san Riccardo, padre dei santi Villibaldo e
Valburgo, che in pellegrinaggio con i figli dall’Inghilterra verso Roma morì
lungo il cammino.
San Riccardo, commemorato in data odierna 7 febbraio dal Martyrologium Romanum, è sicuramente uno di quei personaggi dei quali è alquanto difficile, se non addirittura impossibile, far emergere dall’oblio del tempo quali figure storicamente ben definite. Le precedenti edizioni del suddetto martirologio lo volevano “re d’Inghilterra”, ma ora è citato solamente quale pellegrino alla Città Eterna e padre dei santi Villibaldo vescovo di Eichstatt (dall’inglese Willibald, festeggiato il 7 giugno), Vunibaldo abate di Heidenheim (dall’inglese Wynnebald, festeggiato il 18 dicembre) e Valburga vergine (25 febbraio). Anche il reale nome di Riccardo è sconosciuto e quest’ultimo è semplicemente frutto di una fantasiosa leggenda fiorita a Eichstatt in Baviera nel X secolo ed a Lucca due secoli dopo.
Questa nobile famiglia proveniva dal Wessex, regione inglese, e secondo un tardivo racconto della monaca Hugebure di Heidenheim verso il 720 il padre partì con i due figli maschi in pellegrinaggio verso Roma. Villibaldo era appena ventenne e Vunibaldo diciannovenne. Navigando sul fiume Hamble, vicino al Southampton, attraversarono la Manica e risalirono quindi la Senna, per sbrcare infine a Rouen. Non prima di aver visitato numerosi santuari francesi, i tre pellegrini si diressero allora in Italia, ma Riccardo morì presso Lucca nel 722, prima di giungere a Roma. Nella città toscana il santo pellegrino riposa ancora oggi e le sue reliquie sono oggetto di venerazione nella basilica di San Frediano.
Villibaldo si unì poi al celebre San Bonifacio nell’opera di evangelizzazione della Germania, fondando il doppio monastero di Heidenheim e divenendo primo vescovo della città di Eichstatt. Anche Vunibaldo fu con loro missionario e resse il monastero di Heidenheim con la sorella Valburga. Quando Villibaldo morì e fu sepolto ad Eichstatt, si ipotizzò di traslarvi anche i resti di Riccardo, ancora deposti a Lucca, perché potessero riposare accanto a quelli del figlio. I fedeli di Lucca si opposero però fermamente a tale eventualità e gli abitanti di Eichstatt dovettero così accontentarsi di un po’ di polvere proveniente dalla sua tomba.
Proprio dal monastero di Heidenheim derivò il documento detto “Hodoeporicon”,
attribuito alla monaca predetta, che tratta principalmente della vita di San
Villibaldo e dal quale derivano le poche notizie su San Riccardo. In
considerazione però dell’eccelsa santità della sua prole e dei numerosi
miracoli verificatisi sulla sua tomba in San Frediano, fu allora inventata
artificiosamente una vita di “San Riccardo, re dell’Inghilterra”, titolo
tributatogli così anche dal martirologio cattolico sino al 1956.
PREGHIERA
Sii benedetto, o Dio, nostro Padre,
che hai dato a San Riccardo la forza di abbandonare gli onori ed i poteri della
terra,
per dedicarsi in umiltà e letizia a una vita orante e penitente.
Pellegrino instancabile, all’insegna della croce,
attraversò le regioni d’Europa visitando i santuari della fede.
Sulle sue orme i figli Villibaldo, Vunibaldo e Valburga
raggiunsero la sede dell’apostolo Pietro
e i centri del monachesimo attingendo a quelle preziose sorgenti i tesori della
tua grazia.
Con l’aiuto e l’esempio di San Bonifacio di Fulda
divennero evangelizzatori delle popolazioni germaniche
e promotori di vita apostolica e contemplativa.
Concedi a noi, per intercessione di questa famiglia di santi,
il dono della conversione per contribuire da veri discepoli
e testimoni di Cristo Redentore al’edificazione di un mondo nuovo,
aperto alle sorprese del tuo Spirito.
Per Cristo nostro Signore.
Amen.
Autore: Fabio Arduino
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/39850
Tomba
di san Riccardo nella Basilica di San Frediano a Lucca (opera
di Jacopo della Quercia)
Altarpiece
and shrine of Saint Richard the Pilgrim, in San Frediano, at Lucca; the
altarpiece is sculpted by Jacopo della Quercia.
SAN RICCARDO RE
7 FEBBRAIO
Un altro dei Santi legati alla città di Lucca è San Riccardo.
La figura di San Riccardo è molto particolare e spesso molto confusa.
Innanzitutto partiamo da come viene conosciuto: San Riccardo Re d’Inghilterra,
la denominazione è probabilmente sbagliata, Riccardo non fu re ma la sua
provenienza è sicuramente l’Inghilterra.
Contenuti
La Storia di San Riccardo
d’Inghilterra
Perchè San Riccardo è sepolto a
Lucca?
La
Cappella di S.Riccardo o Trenta nella Basilica di S.Frediano
Io se fossi in te leggerei
anche questi
La Storia di San Riccardo
d’Inghilterra
La storia di Riccardo non
è certa a cominciare dalle date, visse tra la fine del VII e l’inizio dell’VII
secolo e morì nel 722 a Lucca (l’unica data apparentemente certa).
Da dove viene San
Riccardo?
Riccardo proveniva da una famiglia nobile del Wessex e la sua nascita si può collocare nell’attuale contea dell’Hampshire in Inghilterra.
Il soprannome di Re d’Inghilterra proviene forse dalla ricchezza della famiglia
nobile e dal fatto che la casa natale fosse una reggia.
I figli di San Riccardo
Non si sa quale fosse il
nome della moglie di Riccardo (forse Wunna o Bonna) e con lei ebbe 3 figli : 2
maschi divenuti poi Santi: Villibaldo e Vunibaldo e una femmina: Valburga.
Perchè San Riccardo è
sepolto a Lucca?
Tanti pellegrini vanno a visitare la tomba di San Riccardo che si trova nella Basilica di San Frediano a Lucca e molti si chiedono come mai “un re” d’Inghilterra sia sepolto così lontano da casa.
Tutto risale ai primi anni del 700 quando Riccardo con i suoi 2 figli maschi e altri compagni di viaggio partirono in Pellegrinaggio per Roma. Dopo la traversata del canale della Manica arrivarono in Francia e visitarono i più celebri santuari. Passato il confine italiano in breve arrivarono nella città di Lucca (punto di passaggio di molti pellegrini). La Lucca di allora aveva ancora le mura romane ed era molto meno estesa di quella attuale, c’erano 4 porte in totale e fuori da queste porte dei borghi come quello di S.Vincenzo e S.Frediano.
Uno dei più importanti punti di ristoro per poveri e pellegrini era lo spedale
di S.Silvestro fuori porta S.Pietro eretto nel 720.
Leggi: Il Parco dell'Orecchiella in Garfagnana
S.Riccardo e i suoi due
figli andarono a visitare la tomba di S.Frediano, un
altro pellegrino britannico (era irlandese) che più di un secolo prima era
arrivato a Lucca per fare l’eremita ed era poi diventato per acclamazione
Vescovo della città fondando molte Chiese (come quella che ora è S.Frediano e quella
che ora è la Cattedrale
di S.Martino).
Qualche giorno dopo
S.Riccardo si ammalò e morì nella città di Lucca e venne sepolto proprio nella
Chiesa di S.Frediano.
Poco meno di 20 anni dopo
il figlio Villibaldo tornò a Lucca per visitare la tomba del padre e visto che
la città era in mano a scorribande di barbari decise di occultare le reliquie
del padre che furono ritrovate solo 4 secoli dopo durante la costruzione
dell’attuale Basilica di S.Frediano (costruita sui resti della Chiesa
precedente).
La Cappella di S.Riccardo
o Trenta nella Basilica di S.Frediano
All’inizio del 15° secolo un mercante molto facoltoso di Lucca (Lorenzo Trenta) volle edificare una cappella gentilizia nella Basilica di S.Frediano in onore di S.Riccardo, S.Girolamo e S.Orsola.
Per adornare la cappella chiamò uno dei migliori artisti di quell’epoca: Jacopo della Quercia.
Jacopo della Quercia realizzò le tombe terragne dei coniugi Trenta e un’altare dedicato a S.Riccardo e S.Orsola con un bellissimo dossale gotico finito nel 1422.
Una curiosità sul bellissimo altare è che fu costruito usando delle lapidi di
marmo preesistenti (probabilmente tombali) risalenti al 1300.
Il pollittico di Marmo è diviso in 5 compartimenti: nel centro è presente la Vergine che sorregge il Bambino, da un lato ha S.Riccardo e S.Girolamo e dall’altro S.Orsola e S.Lorenzo.
Sotto l’altare è presente un Sarcofago Romano del II secolo rielaborato
contenente i resti di S.Riccardo.
San Riccardo si celebra
il 7 Febbraio
SOURCE : https://lucca.online/1478-san-riccardo/
Voir aussi : http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8834944
https://padrerichard.wordpress.com/2014/08/09/st-richard-king-of-wessex/
https://web.archive.org/web/20071014060614/http://www.multimedios.org/docs/d001437/
