Saint Bennon
Évêque de Meissen (+ 1106)
Célébré au diocèse de Cologne. Il était originaire de Hildesheim et évangélisa les Slaves. Luther parle de lui au moment où les reliques de saint Bennon furent apportées à Munich. Mais de sa vie, nous ne savons rien de plus.
À Meissen en Saxe, vers 1106, saint Bennon, évêque. Pour avoir voulu conserver
l’unité de l’Église et la fidélité au pape saint Grégoire
VII, il fut chassé de son siège et contraint à l’exil.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/1328/Saint-Bennon.html
Also
known as
Benno von Woldenburg
Benedict…
Bennone…
formerly 3 August
Profile
Born to the Saxon
nobility, the son of Blessed Bezela
of Goda; as an adult he was heavily involved in the power politics of his
day. Educated in
the abbey of
Saint Michael, Hildesheim, Germany. Priest. Canon at
the imperial chapel at
Gozlar, Hanover. Chaplain to
Emperor Henry III. Bishop of Meissen in 1066.
Participated in the synod of Forcheim, Germany in 1078.
He spent a year in prison for
backing the nobility and Pope Saint Gregory
VII against Emperor Henry
IV over lay investiture and
the control of the Church by
the State. At one point he was summoned to Rome, Italy;
he ordered the canons to
lock the cathedral while
he was gone in case emperor Henry tried
to occupy it. Henry did,
and threw the keys of
the cathedral into
the river as a symbol to show no one could lock the church against him. When
Benno returned, he went to the river and found the key; legend
says it was protected by a fish.
Following the death of Pope Gregory
VII, Benno pledged his allegiance to the anti-pope Guibert,
but in 1097 he
returned to support of the lawful Pope Urban
II.
Even with all the polical
involvement and turmoil, Benno never lost sight of his calling as a diocesan bishop.
He visited parishes, preached and
conducted Mass,
enforced discipline among his clergy,
and fought simony any
place he found it. He was an accomplished musician,
supported music and chant in
the churches and monasteries,
and wrote on
the Gospels. In his later years he served a missionary to
the Wends.
Benno continued to be an
involved and controversial figure in politics even after his death.
His biographer,
Jerome Emser, worked a lot of Church versus
State material into the book. Martin
Luther wrote a
furious diatriabe against Benno’s canonization.
Born
1010 at Hildesheim, Germany
16 June 1106 of
natural causes
buried in
the cathedral of Meissen, Germany
when the cathedral was
rebuilt in 1285,
his relics were
translated to the new structure, with many miraculous cures accompanying
the move
relics translated
to the bishop‘s
castle at Stolp when Saxony became Protestant
relics translated
to Munich, Germany in 1580
31 May 1523 by Pope Adrian
VI (equipollent canonization)
–
in Germany
bishop holding
a fish with keys in
its mouth
bishop with
a book on
which lays a fish and
two keys
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Saints
and Their Symbols, by E A Greene
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
Oxford Dictionary of Saints, by David Hugh Farmer
Saints
and Their Attributes, by Helen Roeder
other
sites in english
The Seraph, January 1998
images
video
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti
in italiano
MLA
Citation
“Saint Benno of
Meissen“. CatholicSaints.Info. 22 November 2023. Web. 19 April 2024.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-benno-of-meissen/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-benno-of-meissen/
Book of Saints –
Benno – 16 June
(Saint) Bishop (June 16)
(11th century) Also called Benedict. An Abbot of Hildesheim in Germany, who,
appointed Bishop of Meissen, was much persecuted by the Emperor Henry IV, on
account of his attachment to Rome. He, almost alone of the German Bishops, attended
Saint Gregory the Seventh’s Council, which condemned Henry’s usurpation of
Church Rights. Returned to his See, he died after a long and fruitful
Episcopate, ad. 1106.
MLA
Citation
Monks of Ramsgate.
“Benno”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info. 30
August 2012.
Web. 19 April 2024.
<http://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-benno-16-june/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-benno-16-june/
.jpg)
Socha
svatého Benna, Vysoká cesta, od města ke hřbitovu, Manětín
New Catholic
Dictionary – Saint Benno
(1010–1106)
Confessor. Bishop of
Meissen, born Hildesheim, Prussia; died Meissen,
Saxony. He became a monk and Abbot of
Saint Michael’s, Hildesheim, and was later made master of the canons of Goslar.
In 1066 he
was consecrated Bishop of
Meissen. He joined the Saxon revolt against the emperor, Henry IV, but was
captured and imprisoned for a year. Deposed by the Synod of Mainz, 1085,
for championing Pope Gregory VII, he was reinstated in 1088,
when he recognized the antipope Clement
III; however, he was later loyal to Urban II, the legitimate pontiff. He
labored to convert the Slavs, established numerous religious edifices, and is
said to have founded the cathedral of
Meissen. Patron of Munich. Emblems:
a fish, and a key. Canonized, 1523.
Relics in the cathedral at
Munich. Feast, 16
June.
MLA
Citation
“Saint Benno”. New Catholic Dictionary. CatholicSaints.Info. 17
August 2012.
Web. 19 April 2024. <http://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-benno/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-benno/
Goslar-Grauhof,
St. Georg, hl. Benno von Meißen (Kanoniker im alten Goslarer Georgsstift)
St. Benno
Feastday: June 16
Birth: 1010
Death: 1106
St. Benno, (1010-1106)
bishop. Born in Hildesheim, Germany and
educated in the abey of St. Michael, he bacame a canon at
Gozlar in Hanover, chaplain to
Emperor Henry
III and in 1066 bishop of
Meissen. He was imprisoned for a year for backing the nobility againsty Henry IV supported
Pope Gregory VII was desposed by the bishops who
sold out to the emperor shifted his allegiance to the antipope Guibert
and appears to have been heavily enmeshed in contemporary pollitics. Sources
however are untrustworthy. In his last years he was a missioner to the Wends.
He was canonized in 1523. Feast
day June 16.
SOURCE : https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=167
München,
Relief von Benno von Meißen am Haus Trogerstraße 50. Attribute: Krummstab, Buch
und darauf ein Fisch mit Kirchenschlüssel im Maul.
Benno of Meissen B (RM)
Born at Hildesheim,
Germany, in 1010; died on June 16, 1106; canonized in 1523 or 1525 by Pope
Adrian VI; feast day formerly August 3. Benno, a spirited saint who died at a
great age, was a noble Saxon by birth. He was educated at Saint Michael's Abbey
in Hildesheim. After serving at court, he became a canon of Goslar, an
important imperial chapel, and chaplain to Emperor Henry IV. The emperor also
nominated him to be bishop of Meissen, Saxony. Benno is one of the protagonists
in the quarrel between Pope Gregory VII (Hildebrand) and Henry IV over lay
investiture. He upheld the former but not at all times with equal zeal.
Thus the history begins.
During the war between Henry and the Saxons, Benno provided lukewarm support to
his compatriots. In consequence of his disloyalty to the emperor, when Henry
invaded Meissen, his soldiers occupied the bishopric's property until Henry was
excommunicated by the pope. At that time Benno regained his liberty.
Then Benno participated
in the synod of Forcheim (1078), when Rudolf was elected emperor. In 1085 Benno
supported Gregory VII, but was deposed by Henry's partisans at the Diet of Mainz.
After Gregory's death that year, Benno pledged allegiance to the antipope
Guibert and recovered his see. In 1097, however, he once again supported the
lawful pope, Urban II.
In the midst of all this
strife, Benno remained a zealous diocesan bishop. He preached frequently,
visited his diocese, enforced discipline, and abolished simony as much as
possible. He was also an accomplished musician, who was especially devoted to
the chants of his native Hildesheim. He also found the time and the energy to write
exegetical works on the Gospels.
Before obeying one
summons to Rome, he took the precaution of bidding two trusty canons to lock
his cathedral doors in case Henry should try to occupy it and throw the keys
into the Elbe. He did. When the bishop returned the keys were recovered--under
the fin of an obliging fish.
In his later years he
preached to the Wends. Bishop Benno was buried in his cathedral. When the
cathedral was rebuilt in 1285, his relics were translated--an occasion of many
cures. When Saxony became Protestant, the bishop translated Benno's relics to
his castle at Stolp. From there they were moved to Munich in 1580, at which
time Benno became the patron of the city.
Benno's life was written
in 1512 by Jerome Emser, a doctor of canon law, author of a dialogue as to
whether potation is to be tolerated in a properly constituted State, and of
tracts against the more spiritual intemperances of Luther and Zwingli. Benno's
canonization in 1525 roused Luther to fury. In response he composed a diatribe
against his cultus, which was refuted by Jerome Emser (Benedictines,
Encyclopedia, Farmer).
The following story is
related about Saint Benno (His erudite frog in the story had to know his Pliny
to catch the allusion.)
"It was often the
habit of the man of God to go about hte fields in meditation and prayer; and
once as he passed by a certain marsh, a talkative frog was croaking in its
slimy waters: and lest it should disturb his contemplation, he bade it to be a
Seraphian, inasmuch as all the frogs in Seraphus are mute. But when he had gone
on a little way, he called to mind the saying in Daniel: 'O ye whales and all
that move in the waters, bless ye the Lord. O all ye beasts and cattle, bless
ye the Lord.'
"And fearing lest
the singing of the frogs might perchance be more agreeable to God than his own
praying, he again issued his command to them, that they should praise God in
their accustomed fashion: and soon the air and the fields were vehement with
their conversation" (Emser).
In art, Saint Benno is a
bishop holding a fish with the keys of Meissen Cathedral in its mouth. At times
the fish may be laying on a book and hold two keys (Roeder). Benno is the
patron of cloth weavers, fishermen (Roeder), and Munich (Farmer).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0616.shtml
Saint
Benno. Peterskirche, Munich, Bavière, Allemagne.
Saint
Benno. Peterskirche, Munich, Bavaria, Germany.
St. Benno of Meissen
June 16
Born in Hildesheim,
a city in central Germany, around 1010, Benno was the second son of Count
Frederick of Bultenberg. As a young man, Benno was sent off to his uncle,
Bernward, to be educated. Bernward was a bishop at the nearby city of
Gildesheim. After completing his education, Benno stayed on until his uncle
died. Soon afterward, he joined the monastery in Hildesheim. In 1066, Benno was
named Bishop of Meissen. As a leading prelate in Saxony, Benno had to walk a
tightrope between helping the people of Saxony and not arousing the displeasure
of Henry IV, who for the past 10 years had served both as emperor and the king
of Saxony. Benno favored Saxon resistance to the taxes and forced labor imposed
by Henry IV, and was arrested for his defiance.
Upon his release from
prison a year later, Benno supported Pope Gregory VII in the Pope's conflicts
with King Henry IV: In keeping with long-standing feudal custom, Henry had
invested a number of bishops and other Church officers in his domain.
Denouncing this practice, Gregory nullified these investitures, thus setting
off eight years of conflict between the two men. For his support of Pope
Gregory, Benno was deposed as Bishop of Meissen in 1085. After spending several
years as a missionary to the Slavs and Wends, Benno was reinstated as bishop by
Guibert, the antipope who had been installed by Henry IV: The rightful Pope,
Urban II, confirmed Benno's tenure in 1097.
Benno is said to have
been well liked by the Saxons for his generosity to the poor and his generosity
of time with his people. Benno died in 1106 and was canonized in 1523. Today,
his relics rest in Munich.
SOURCE : http://www.catholictradition.org/Saints/saints6-10.htm
Metten
( Lower Bavaria ). Abbey church: Fresco ( 1722/24 ) by Wolfgang Andreas Heindl
- Saint Benno and his emblem.
Metten ( Niederbayern ). Klosterkirche : Fresko ( 1722/24 ) von Wolfgang Andreas Heindl - Heiliger Benno mit Emblem.
Metten
( Lower Bavaria ). Abbey church: Fresco ( 1722/24 ) by Wolfgang Andreas Heindl
- Emblem of saint Benno with biblical quotation: "DE SION EXIBIT" (
He will go out from Zion ).
Metten ( Niederbayern ). Klosterkirche : Fresko ( 1722/24 ) von Wolfgang Andreas Heindl - Emblem des heiligen Benno mit Bibelzitat: "DE SION EXIBIT" ( Von Zion wird er ausgehen ).
Metten
( Lower Bavaria ). Abbey church: Fresco ( 1722/24 ) by Wolfgang Andreas Heindl
- Saint Benno.
Metten
( Niederbayern ). Klosterkirche : Fresko ( 1722/24 ) von Wolfgang Andreas
Heindl - Heiliger Benno.
Today, June 16, we
celebrate the feast of Saint Benno (1010-1106), Confessor, Bishop of
Meissen, Germany, and patron saint of fishermen. Saint Benno worked throughout
his long life to reform the Church, supported the legitimacy of the Pope at a
time when the papacy was being politically attacked, suffered persecution and
exile, and worked numerous miracles. Saint Benno remains one of the most
venerated saints throughout Germany.
Benno was born to a noble
family in Saxony (modern day Germany), and was educated from a young age by the
monks of the abbey of Saint Michael. He was ordained a priest, and eventually,
at the age of 56 became Bishop of Meissen. Soon thereafter, he was appointed
Canon to the imperial chapel of Emperor Henry III, a pious ruler who looked to
the Church for guidance in political matters. Upon his death, Henry IV ascended
to the throne, at the young age of sixteen. Unlike his predecessor, he sought
to subjugate the Church to the state, and restrict the legitimacy of the papacy
throughout Germany.
However, at that time,
one of the greatest of the Church’s popes, Pope Gregory VII, sat on the Chair
of Peter, and wished for nothing more than to preserve the role of the Pope in
investing bishops—that is, providing bishops with the symbols of their holy office,
signifying their marriage to the Church. This “Investiture Contest” spread
throughout Europe, and many bishops sided with the political leaders of their
regions, rather than the Pope. However, Saint Benno stood alongside Pope
Gregory VII, against the Emperor, instituting the reforms of the Church and
maintaining the divine duties of the Pope. For his trouble, he was imprisoned
and exiled for many years.
One of the most famous
legends told of Saint Benno involves his barring the emperor from receiving the
Holy Eucharist following his excommunication (the Pope had excommunicated Henry
IV, due to his decisions to challenge the Church’s legitimate authority to
invest bishops). Henry, however, hoped that the German bishops would take no
notice of this `excommunication' and rode to Meissen—to the cathedral served by
Saint Benno—to receive the Eucharist. Saint Benno realized that there was
nothing he could do to keep the emperor out, save barring the cathedral to
everyone. So that is what he did. He locked the cathedral doors, and threw the
keys into the river Elbe. Henry knew that if he attempted to break down the
doors to the cathedral, he would anger the crowds gathered, so simply rode away
vowing vengeance on the holy bishop.
After he had gone, Saint
Benno ordered the local fisherman to cast their nets into the Elbe, and after
praying over the water, they hauled in their nets. In the net was a fish that
had the keys to the cathedral hanging upon its fins. Benno retrieved the key
and reopened the cathedral. It was not soon thereafter that he was both
imprisoned and exiled, although would not stray from the teachings of the
Church, even under threat of punishment.
Saint Benno lived to be a
very old man, and spent the last years of his life preaching the faith to those
who had not yet converted. He never lost sight of his calling as a diocesan
bishop, visiting and preaching at all the parishes in his diocese, celebrating
the Mass, enforcing discipline and enacting reform amongst the clergy, and
building many grand cathedrals for the glory of the Lord. An accomplished
musician, Saint Benno encouraged music and chanting during Masses throughout
the diocese, penned many hymns, and wrote extensively on the Gospels.
Following his death, at
the age of nearly one hundred, Saint Benno was buried in the cathedral at
Meissen. When the cathedral was rebuilt in 1285, his relics were translated to
the new cathedral, and many miraculous cures were reported at that time. His
relics were later translated to Munich in 1580, and Saint Benno remains the
patron saint of that city today.
Saint Benno lived during
a difficult political time, and managed—despite threat, imprisonment, and
punishment—to remain true to the teachings of the Church, and his role as
priest and bishop. At a time when the Church is criticized and attacked from
both the inside and outside, we look to saints like Saint Benno as inspiration.
His witness provides example to each of us, inspiring fidelity and truth, even
when these are the “hard decisions” to make.
SOURCE : http://365rosaries.blogspot.ca/2011/06/june-16-saint-benno-of-meissen.html
16.03.2007
01099 Dresden, Stauffenbergallee 9 (GMP: 51.074545,13.759698): Katholische St.
Martin Kirche (Garnisonkirche, 1895-1900). Abendmahlskelch (1892). Im
Trinkrand: ST. BENNO [DSCN21488.TIF]20070316045DR.JPG(c)Blobelt
ST BENNO
(ST BENNO'S DAY: JUNE 16)
IN the year 1066 a
nobleman named Benno was made Bishop of Meissen, in Saxony. The Emperor of
Germany at that time, Henry IV, was a boy of sixteen, and he was a very
different kind of person from St. Henry II, who had always tried to rule the
State for the good of religion and the Church. Henry IV, on the other hand,
intended to try to make the Church obey the State, and one of his plans was to
make the German bishops entirely dependent on him. He, and not the Pope, gave
to each newly made bishop the crozier and the ring which showed his `marriage'
to the Church.
But it happened that at
that time there was one of the greatest of the Popes, St. Gregory VII, who was
equally determined that the Emperor should do nothing of the kind; and this led
to the long struggle you read about in your history books. It was called the
`Investiture Contest,' and went on for many years all over Europe to decide
whether the Pope, as Head of the Church, or the ruler of the State should
`invest' bishops with the symbols of their holy office.
The reason St. Benno is
important among the saints of Germany is because, unlike some of the German
bishops, he stood out against the Emperor, and because not even imprisonment
could make him say that Henry was right. We do not know very much about his
life, apart from the warfare and struggles of the time. But there is one story
which has become famous. When the Pope had said that the Emperor, because he
would not obey the Church, was not to be allowed to receive Holy Communion
Henry hoped that the German bishops would take no notice of this
`excommunication.' He rode with his followers to Meissen and demanded entry to
the cathedral. Benno realized that there was nothing he could do to keep him
out unless he shut the cathedral to every one, so he ordered everything to be
fastened up from the inside and then the great door locked on the outside. When
this had been done, in front of all the people, he threw the key far out into
the river Elbe.
Henry knew that if he
gave his soldiers orders to break down the door he would have every one against
him, so he rode away, vowing vengeance on the Bishop. When he had gone the
question was how the cathedral could be opened again. Benno, after much prayer,
told a fisherman to throw his net into the river as near as he could to where
the key had fallen, and, so the story says, among the fish that were caught
that day was one which had the key hanging on to one of its fins. So, among the
paintings of the saints which you can see today, you can always recognize St.
Benno, because he is holding a fish and a key.
He lived to be a very old
man (some say that he was nearly a hundred when he died), and at the end of his
life he followed the example of so many of the German saints and went to preach
to the barbarians on the outskirts of the country who were still heathen. He
was buried in his cathedral at Meissen, but when, at the time of the German
Reformation, four hundred years later, the countryside left the Catholic Church
and became Protestant his body was removed, for safety, to Munich, and from
that time St. Benno has been considered the Patron Saint of that city.
SOURCE : http://friarsminor.org/xviii5-20.html
_-_shrine_of_Saint_Benno.JPG)
Shrine of Saint Benno, Cathedral of Our Dear Lady, Munich, Germany
San Bennone (Benno) di
Meissen Vescovo
Sassonia XI secolo –
Meissen, 16 giugno 1107
Benno (o Bennone),
vescovo di Meissen, in Sassonia, quando nel 1085 fu deposto dall'imperatore
Enrico IV (per aver difeso Papa Gregorio VII) gettò le chiavi del duomo nel
fiume Elba. Tornando, anni dopo, le recuperò dal ventre di un pesce.
Spesso perciò viene raffigurato mentre accade questo miracolo. Ed è per questo
patrono dei pescatori. Lo è anche della diocesi di Dresda-Meissen e di Monaco
di Baviera. Qui viene festeggiato con grande solennità e anche folklore (un
tempo c'era una birra che portava il suo nome). Morì nel 1106 dopo 40 anni
di episcopato. Fu canonizzato nel 1523 da Adriano VI. E la solenne
esumazione delle spoglie, avvenuta l'anno dopo, diede occasione a Lutero per
scrivere un violento pamphlet contro il culto dei santi. Divenuta la Sassonia
protestante, la tomba di Benno venne distrutta. Ma le reliquie erano già state
portate a Monaco, nella Frauenkirche, dove sono tuttora. (Avvenire)
Martirologio Romano: A
Meissen nella Sassonia in Germania, san Benno, vescovo, che per aver voluto
conservare l’unità della Chiesa e la fedeltà al Romano Pontefice fu scacciato
dalla sua sede e mandato in esilio.
S. Bennone o Benno,
nacque da una nobile famiglia della Sassonia in un anno imprecisato del sec.
XI; nel 1062 era cappellano a Goslar e nel 1066 venne nominato vescovo di
Meissen dall’imperatore Enrico IV, come era consuetudine allora, venendo poi consacrato
dall’arcivescovo di Magdeburgo Werner.
Durante la guerra fra i
Sassoni e l’imperatore, Bennone si schierò con i suoi compatrioti, pur senza
prendere parte attiva negli scontri; finite le ostilità poté riappacificarsi
col sovrano.
Ma questo non impedì, che
il territorio di Meissen fosse invaso dai soldati, i quali lasciati liberi di
farlo, da Enrico IV, saccheggiarono le proprietà vescovili e imprigionarono lo
stesso vescovo.
Riottenne la libertà
quando nel 1076, Enrico IV fu scomunicato; partecipò agli eventi successivi che
portarono sul trono Rodolfo di Svevia; nel 1085 insieme al suo metropolita,
sostenne papa Gregorio VII (1073-1085) nella sua lotta con l’Impero di
Germania, per l’investitura dei vescovi, ma i fautori di Enrico IV nella Dieta
di Magonza, lo fecero deporre e lo sostituirono sulla cattedra episcopale di
Meissen da un certo Felice.
Dopo la morte di Gregorio
VII nel 1085, Bennone venne in Italia e fece atto di ubbidienza all’antipapa
Guiberto, riottenendo così il suo vescovado, dove rimase senza altri eventi
fino al 1088, gratificato dai doni dell’imperatore.
Le notizie storiche su di
lui terminano nel 1097, quando egli riconobbe il legittimo papa Urbano II; morì
probabilmente il 16 giugno del 1107.
Nel 1285, il suo corpo fu
tolto dal sepolcro e deposto in un urna sull’altare e da allora avvennero molti
miracoli per sua intercessione. È autore di molti scritti esegetici sui
Vangeli.
Fu canonizzato con
solennità nel 1523 da papa Adriano VI, in questa occasione Martin Lutero
compose un libello contro il culto dei santi, a lui rispose Girolamo Emser, che
aveva scritto e pubblicato nel 1512 la ‘Vita’ di s. Bennone.
Quando la Sassonia, passò
al protestantesimo, la sua tomba e l’altare furono distrutti, ma le reliquie
erano state salvate dal vescovo Giovanni VIII, che le aveva trasferite nel suo
castello di Stolp, in seguito giunsero a Wurzen e poi a Monaco di Baviera e
infine nel 1580 definitivamente nella cattedrale di Meissen.
Patrono della stessa
città e della Baviera, è ricordato il 16 giugno. Nell’iconografia è
rappresentato in abiti episcopali mentre estrae dal ventre di un grosso pesce,
che gli viene portato da un pescatore, le chiavi della cattedrale di Meissen,
che secondo una leggenda dell’epoca, sarebbero state buttate nel fiume Elba,
quando Enrico IV fu scomunicato e lui era partito per Roma.
Autore: Antonio
Borrelli
Bennone (chiamato anche Benno) nasce nell’XI secolo in una famiglia nobile della Sassonia (Germania). Diventa monaco e nel 1066 viene proclamato vescovo di Meissen, piccola località sassone, situata sulle rive del fiume Elba. I tempi in cui Bennone vive sono difficili per la Chiesa cattolica: l’imperatore, infatti, pretendeva di nominare vescovi e papi e le guerre sanguinose tra clero e governanti erano, purtroppo, all’ordine del giorno. Anche Bennone subisce gravi persecuzioni. L’imperatore del Sacro romano impero e re di Germania Enrico IV, che rivendica per sé i poteri della Chiesa, dichiara guerra a papa Gregorio VII, deponendolo e nominando al suo posto l’antipapa Clemente III.
Nel 1085 l’imperatore invade la Sassonia e confisca tutti i beni vescovili, mandando in esilio Bennone, rimasto fedele al romano pontefice. Enrico IV viene scomunicato e quindi gli è proibito entrare nella Cattedrale di Meissen. Bennone, prima di lasciare la sua città, chiude la chiesa e getta le chiavi nel fiume Elba. La leggenda narra che quando Bennone, alcuni anni dopo, torna nella sua Meissen, gli venga offerto da un pescatore, durante un banchetto, un grande pesce, all’interno del quale il vescovo trova la chiave che aveva buttato nel fiume Elba. Per questo motivo egli viene quasi sempre raffigurato con l’abito episcopale e con un pesce in mano.
Bennone muore a Meissen nel 1107. Il vescovo è stato autore di vari libri che spiegano il Vangelo e si narra di molti miracoli avvenuti dopo la sua morte. Nel 1523 papa Adriano VI lo proclama santo. Con l’avvento del Protestantesimo in Sassonia, la tomba di San Bennone viene distrutta, ma le sue reliquie sono salve e trasportate a Monaco di Baviera, città di cui il santo è patrono. In seguito, nel 1580, furono trasferite nella Cattedrale di Meissen. È patrono anche della diocesi di Dresda-Meissen e viene invocato sia come protettore dei pescatori, sia per favorire o far cessare la pioggia.
Autore: Mariella Lentini
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/91359
Voir aussi : http://www.christianiconography.info/benno.html
