samedi 3 octobre 2015

Saint EWALD le Brun et saint EWALD le Blond, martyrs


Saint Ewald

Prêtre et martyr, bénédictin, disciple de Saint Willibrord ( 695)

Ils sont deux frères qui portent d'ailleurs le même nom, alors on dit saint Ewald le Brun et saint Ewald le Blond. Ils s'étaient faits moines en Irlande et suivirent saint Willibrord quand il partit évangéliser les Frisons sur le continent. Puis ils le quittèrent pour porter l'évangile aux Saxons. Ils rencontrèrent l'un de leurs chefs, mais les notables de la tribu craignirent sa conversion au christianisme et la colère de leurs divinités. Les deux frères furent mis à mort, vraisemblablement à Anlerbeck en Westphalie. Le chef de la tribu vengea la mort de ces deux moines en faisant brûler le village. Ils ne lui avaient pas encore enseigné sans doute la douceur et le pardon évangéliques.

Chez les Saxons, en 695, les deux saints martyrs Ewald, surnommés l'un le Noir, l'autre le Blanc. Prêtres nés en Angleterre et formés par l'exemple de saint Willibrord et d'autres, ils passèrent chez les Saxons et, alors qu'ils avaient commencé à leur annoncer le Christ, ils furent saisis par les païens et massacrés.

Martyrologe romain

SAINT EWALD LE BLOND ET SAINT EWALD LE BRUN, APÔTRES DE LA WESTPHALIE


Saint Ewald le Blond et saint Ewald le Brun nés en Northumbrie (nord de l’Angleterre) sont frères. Tous deux furent moines-prêtres en Irlande et suivirent saint Willibrord quand il partit évangéliser les Frisons sur le continent (Allemagne). Vers 690, ils le quittèrent pour porter l'évangile aux Saxons. Ils rencontrèrent l'un de leurs chefs, mais les notables de la tribu craignirent sa conversion au christianisme et la colère de leurs divinités. Ils décidèrent donc que les Ewalds devaient mourir. Ewald le Blond fut passé par le fil de l'épée, mais Ewald le Noir fut soumis à la torture, parce qu'il était le porte-parole et montrait une fière résistance. Les deux frères furent mis à mort, vraisemblablement à Anlerbeck en Westphalie. Leurs corps jetés dans le Rhin flottèrent miraculeusement à contre-courant sur quarante miles dans une lumière céleste. On dit qu’une fontaine jaillit au lieu de leur martyr. Les deux saints Ewald sont honorés comme martyrs et saints patrons de la Westphalie.


Saint Ewald le Blond et saint Ewald le Brun sont fêtés le 3 octobre

SOURCE : http://www.eoc-coc.org/eglise-orthodoxe-celtique-accueil/saints-du-mois/octobre/saints-ewald/


Hl.Brüder Ewald aus Dorsten-Rhade (NRW, Deutschland)

Saint Ewald the Black


Also known as

  • Ewald the Dark
  • Hewald

Memorial

Profile

PriestStudied in Ireland. Knew Saint Willibrord of EchternachMissionary to Saxony with Saint Ewald the Fair c.690Tortured and murdered by pagan Saxons who feared to give up the old religion. Martyr.

Born

Died

Canonized

Patronage

SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-ewald-the-black/

Saint Ewald the Fair


Also known as

  • Hewald the Fair

Memorial

Profile

PriestStudied in Ireland. Knew Saint Willibrord of EchternachMissionary to Saxony with Saint Ewald the Black c.690Tortured and murdered by pagan Saxons who feared to give up the old religion. Martyr.

Born

Died

Canonized

Patronage

SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-ewald-the-fair/

Sts. Ewald

 (Or HEWALD)

Martyrs in Old Saxony about 695. They were two priests and natives of Northumbria, England. Both bore the same name, but were distinguished as Ewald the Black and Ewald the Fair, from the difference in the colour of their hair and complexions. According to the example of many at that time, they spent several years as students in the schools of Ireland. Ewald the Black was the more learned of the two, but both were equally renowned for holiness of life. They were apparently acquainted with St. Willibrord, the Apostle of Friesland, and were animated with his zeal for the conversion of the Germans. Indeed, by some they have been actually numbered among the eleven companions of that saint, but it is more probable they did not set out from England till after St. Willibrord's departure. They entered upon their mission about 690. The scene of their labours was the country of the ancient Saxons, now part of Westphalia, and covered by the dioceses of Münster, Osnabrück, and Paderborn. At first the Ewalds took up their abode in the house of the steward of a certain Saxon earl or ealdormen (satrapa). Bede remarks that "the old Saxons have no king, but they are governed by several ealdormen [satrapas] who during war cast lots for leadership, but who in time of peace are equal in power" (Hist. Eccl., V, 10). The steward entertained his two guests for several days, and promised to conduct them to the chieftain, as they affirmed they had a message of considerable importance to deliver to him.

Meanwhile, the Ewalds omitted nothing of their religious exercises. They prayed often, recited the canonical hours, and celebrated Mass, for they carried with them all that was necessary for the Holy Sacrifice. The pagan Saxons, understanding from these things that they had Christian priests and missionaries in their midst, began to suspect that their aim was to convert their over-lord, and thus destroy their temples and their religion. Inflamed with jealousy and anger, they resolved that the Ewalds should die. Ewald the Fair they quickly despatched with the sword, but Ewald the Black they subjected to torture, because he was the spokesman and showed greater boldness. He was torn limb from limb, after which the two bodies were cast into the Rhine. This is understood to have happened on 3 October at a place called Aplerbeck, where a chapel still stands.

When the ealdorman heard of what had been done he was exceedingly angry, and took vengeance by ordering the murderers to be put to death and their village to be destroyed by fire. Meanwhile the martyred bodies were miraculously carried against the stream up the Rhine, for the space of forty miles, to the place in which the companions of the Ewalds were residing. As they floated along, a heavenly light, like a column of fire, was seen to shine above them. Even the murderers are said to have witnessed the miraculous brightness. Moreover, one of the martyrs appeared in vision to the monk Tilmon (a companion of the Ewalds), and told him where the bodies would be found: "that the spot would be there where he should see a pillar of light reaching from earth to heaven". Tilmon arose and found the bodies, and interred them with the honours due to martyrs. From that time onwards, the memory of the Ewalds was annually celebrated in those parts. A spring of water is said to have gushed forth in the place of the martyrdom.

Pepin, Duke of Austrasia, having heard of the wonders that had occurred, caused the bodies to be translated to Cologne, where they were solemnly enshrined in the collegiate church of St. Cunibert. The heads of the martyrs were bestowed on Frederick, Bishop of Münster, by Archbishop Anno of Cologne, at the opening of the shrine in 1074. These relics were probably destroyed by the Anabaptists in 1534. When St. Norbert visited Cologne in 1121, he obtained two small vessels containing the relics of several saints, and among them were bones of the sainted Ewalds. These were deposited either at Prémontré, or at Florennes, a Premonstratensian monastery in the province of Namur. The two Ewalds are honoured as patrons in Westphalia, and are mentioned in the Roman Martyrology on 3 October. Their feast is celebrated in the dioceses of Cologne and Münster.

Edmonds, Columba. "Sts. Ewald." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 25 Oct. 2020 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05672a.htm>.

Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Gerald M. Knight.

Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. May 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.

Copyright © 2020 by Kevin Knight. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

SOURCE : https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05672a.htm



The Two Ewalds, Martyrs

SOON after St. Willibrord with eleven companions in 690 had opened the spiritual harvest in Friesland, two brothers, both priests, of the English nation, followed their example, and went over into the country of the ancient Saxons in Westphalia, in Germany, to preach the gospel to blind idolaters. 1 They had travelled into Ireland, to improve themselves in virtue and sacred learning. Both were called by the same name, Ewald or Hewald; but, for distinction’s sake, from the colour of their hair, the one was called the Black, the other the White Ewald. The first was esteemed more learned, in the holy scriptures, but both seemed equally to excel in the fervour of devotion and holy zeal. The old Saxons in Germany were at that time governed by several petty princes, who in time of war joined their forces, and cast lots who should command the army in chief, and him the rest were bound to obey; and, as soon as the war was over, they were all reduced to their former condition. The two brothers arriving in this country about the year 694, met with a certain steward, whom they desired to conduct them to his lord. All the way they were constantly employed in prayer and in singing psalms and sacred hymns, and every day offered the sacrifice of the holy oblation, for which purpose they carried with them sacred vessels, and a consecrated table for an altar. The barbarians observing this, and fearing lest the preachers might prevail upon their lord to forsake his idols, resolved to murder them both. The White Ewald they killed by the sword upon the spot; but they inflicted on the other brother most cruel torments, and at length tore him limb from limb. The lord of the territory being informed of this inhuman action, was highly incensed, put the authors of it to the sword, and burned their village. The bodies of the martyrs, which had been thrown by the murderers into the Rhine, were discovered by a heavenly light which shone over them, and by other miracles, to their companions, who were forty miles distant from the place where they were martyred; and one of them, whose name was Tilmon, or as it is more correctly written in King Alfred’s paraphrase of Bede, Tilman, was admonished in a vision to take them up. This Tilman being a person of high birth, had formerly been an officer in the English army, but was then a monk, and one of the missionaries in Germany. These relics were first taken up and interred by their fellow missionaries, Tilman and his companions, forty miles from the place of their martyrdom; but, immediately after, by an order of Pepin, duke of the French, were honourably conveyed to Cologn, where they are kept at this day in a gilt shrine in the church of St. Cunibert. Their martyrdom happened between the years 690 and 700, most probably in 695. They were honoured among the saints immediately after their death, as appears from Ven. Bede’s prose Martyrology, which seems to have been written a year after their death. St. Anno, archbishop of Cologn, in 1074, translated their relics in this church. He bestowed their heads on Frederic, bishop of Munster, where they seem to have been destroyed by the Anabaptists in 1534. They are honoured through all Westphalia as tutelar saints of the country, and are mentioned in the Roman Martyrology on the 3rd of October, which was probably either the day of their death or of some translation. See Bede, Hist. l. 5, c. 11, and in his prose Martyrology; Alcuin’s poem on the saints of the diocess of York, published by Gale, v. 1045; Massini, Vite de Santi, t. 2, p. 232, 3 Oct.

Note 1. Old Saxony, in the age of Charlemagne, lay betwixt the Rhine, the Yssel, and the Wesel, where are now the bishoprics of Munster, Osnaburgh, and Paderborn, and the county of La Mark. See Cluverius in Germania Antiqua, l. 3. D’Anville, &c. [back]

Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73).  Volume X: October. The Lives of the Saints.  1866.


Мощевик священномучеников Светлого и Тёмного Эвальдов в кёльнской церкви святого Куниберта.

Ewald Reliquien Schrein in St. Kunibert (Köln).


Sant' Ewaldo il Nero ed Ewaldo il Bianco Monaci e martiri

3 ottobre

Britannia, VII sec. - † Renania, Germania, 3 ottobre 695

I santi con questo nome che vengono ricordati oggi, in realtà, sono due: Edwaldo il Bianco ed Edwaldo il Nero, patroni della Westfalia, così chiamati dal colore dei loro capelli. Di origini anglosassoni, nacquero in Britannia nel VII secolo e seguirono nel 690 il loro abate Willibrordo (657-739), che con undici monaci aveva intrapreso la sua opera evangelizzatrice tra i Frisoni occidentali. Nel 695 Willibrordo li inviò ad evangelizzare i Sassoni. Le loro intenzioni però non poterono attuarsi, perché nello stesso 695, i due monaci subirono il martirio per mano di alcuni fanatici, difensori delle loro tradizioni pagane e timorosi della propagazione del cristianesimo fra il popolo sassone. Il martirio fu diverso per i due monaci; Ewaldo il Bianco fu trafitto subito con la spada, mentre Ewaldo il Nero fu invece torturato a lungo crudelmente e come narra lo storico anglosassone Beda il Venerabile (672-735), gli assassini infierirono su di lui con orribili mutilazioni; i resti dei due martiri furono gettati nel fiume Reno e ripescati e sepolti poi, da un monaco di nome Tilmon. (Avvenire)

Martirologio Romano: In Sassonia, nell’odierna Germania, due santi martiri di nome Evaldo, il primo detto Nero, l’altro Bianco: sacerdoti di origine inglese, formati sull’esempio di san Villibrordo e dei suoi compagni, passarono in Sassonia e, avendo cominciato a predicare Cristo, catturati dai pagani, subirono il martirio.

La festa dei due santi monaci e martiri Ewaldo, venerati come patroni della Westfalia, viene comunemente celebrata il 3 ottobre, giorno del loro martirio, mentre nella diocesi di Colonia, essi sono festeggiati il 12 ottobre.

I due omonimi monaci, sono anche gli unici a portare questo nome, fra la variegata costellazione dei santi e beati del cattolicesimo.

Di origini anglosassoni, nacquero in Britannia nel VII secolo e seguirono nel 690 il loro abate s. Willibrordo (657-739), che con undici monaci aveva intrapreso la sua opera evangelizzatrice tra i Frisoni occidentali, (abitanti della Frisia, antica regione dell’Europa nord-occidentale, oggi divisa fra i Paesi Bassi e la Germania).

Data la loro omonimia, per distinguerli furono soprannominati uno Ewaldo il Bianco (Albus) e l’altro Ewaldo il Nero (Niger) dal colore dei loro capelli; il Nero si distingueva anche per la sua ottima conoscenza della Sacra Scrittura; ambedue si prodigarono con grande ardore missionario.

Nel 695, s. Willibrordo li inviò ad evangelizzare i Sassoni, antica popolazione della Germania di N.O.; le loro intenzioni però non poterono attuarsi, perché nello stesso 695, i due monaci subirono il martirio per mano di alcuni fanatici, difensori delle loro tradizioni pagane e timorosi della propagazione del cristianesimo fra il popolo sassone.

Il martirio fu diverso per i due monaci; Ewaldo il Bianco fu trafitto subito con la spada, mentre Ewaldo il Nero fu invece torturato a lungo crudelmente e come narra lo storico anglosassone s. Beda il Venerabile (672-735), gli assassini infierirono su di lui con orribili mutilazioni; i resti dei due martiri furono gettati nel fiume Reno (o in uno degli affluenti che li trascinò poi nel Reno), e ripescati poi, dal monaco ex nobile soldato di nome Tilmon, che li seppellì cristianamente.

I due martiri, furono uccisi secondo alcuni a Laer (presso Steinfurt) e secondo altri ad Aplerbeke (presso Dortmund), ma studi concreti affermano che vennero martirizzati in una località della Renania, a nord di Colonia, dove qualche anno più tardi, Pipino di Heristal (padre di Carlo Martello), fece trasportare le loro reliquie, che furono deposte nella Chiesa di S. Clemente, intitolata poi a san Cuniberto, primo evangelizzatore della Germania.

S. Beda il Venerabile, nel suo “Martirologio”, compose un elogio in onore dei due gloriosi santi Ewaldo, che poi fu riportato immutato anche da altri scrittori, storici e agiografi, come Floro di Lione, Usuardo, Rabano Mauro, Cesare Baronio.

Autore: Antonio Borrelli

SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/Detailed/93285.html