Saint Astère
Moine
bénédictin (✝ 1053)
ou Astrik.
Moine bénédictin, il était originaire de la Bohême. Il accompagna saint Adalbert de Prague dans l'évangélisation de son pays. Devenu
premier abbé du monastère de Brevnov, il dut s'enfuir vers la Hongrie où il fut
nommé premier abbé du monastère de Pannonhalma que le roi saint Etienne avait
fondé. Saint Etienne l'envoya à Rome pour obtenir du pape Sylvestre II la
reconnaissance du nouveau royaume de Hongrie et saint Astère lui apporta la
couronne royale.
Statue de Saint Astrik, Kalocsa
Astrik of Pannonhalma,
OSB B (AC)
(also known as Anastasius, Astericus, Ascrick, Astricus)
Born in Bohemia; died c. 1030-1040. Radla, probably a Croat or a Czech from
Bohemia, took the name Anastasius when became a monk of SS Boniface and Alexius
at Rome. He accompanied Saint Adalbert to the Bohemian mission. He became the
first abbot of Brevnov, but had to flee to Hungary.
There he engaged in
missionary work among the Magyars, was in the service of the wife of Duke Geza
in 997, and was named first abbot of Saint Martin's in Pannonhalma, the first
monastery in Hungary, which was founded by the duke.
When Saint Stephen
succeeded his father Geza as duke, Anastasius set up a hierarchy, renewed his
evangelization efforts among the Magyars, to which he devoted the rest of his
life, and was appointed the first archbishop of the Hungarian Church with his see
probably at Kalocsa.
Anastasius was the
king's ambassador, sent to negotiate the recognition of the new Hungarian
kingdom by the Pope Sylvester II. This trip probably was responsible for
Stephen receiving papal recognition as King of the Hungarians and his crowning
by Emperor Otto III in 1001 with a crown sent by the Pope to him through
Anastasius. He worked closely with Stephen the rest of his life and died two
years after him (Benedictines, Delaney).
November 12
ST ASTRIK,
or ANASTASIUS, ARCHBISHOP OF THE HUNGARIANS (c. A.D. 1040)
It is agreed
that the first archbishop in Hungary was called Astrik, but there is a great
deal of uncertainty about his identity. There are three "candidates",
all associated with St Adalbert of Prague: viz. Anastasius, the first abbot of
Brevnov in Bohemia, Astericus, one of Adalbert's clergy, and Radla, Adalbert's
fellow student at Magdeburg and his close friend. The first two of these may be
really one person.
On the whole it seems
likely to have been Radla, a Czech or Croat from Bohemia who is known to have
been a monk in Hungary. He probably received the habit at Brevnov, taking the
name of Anastasius, of which Astrik seems to be an equivalent. Then, when St
Adalbert failed to consolidate his position in Bohemia, and left Prague, Astrik
Radla went to help the missionaries among the Magyars. He is known to have been
in the service of the wife of Duke Geza in 997; and he was almost certainly the
first abbot of St Martin's (Pannonhalma), the first ecclesiastical institution
of Hungary, founded by Geza. On the duke's death and the accession of his son
St Stephen I the evangelization of the Magyars was taken seriously in hand, and
St Astrik was active in the work of preaching the gospel and establishing an
ecclesiastical organization. In connection with this Stephen sent him to Rome
to confer with Pope Silvester II, and soon after his return the sovereign was
crowned with a royal crown, granted no doubt at the instance of the Emperor
Otto III, in 1001. There is a good case for Radla being the Astrik who was now
promoted to be archbishop of the new Hungarian church.
When Astrik attended
a synod at Frankfurt in 1006 he was styled simply Ungarorum episcopus, and it
seems that his seat was not at Esztergom, which before long became the
primatial see; Veszprem is the first Hungarian diocese for which there is
documentary evidence, but Astrik's see may have been at Kalocsa. Throughout the
remainder of his long life he worked hand in hand with King St Stephen for the
proper settlement of the Church in his dominions and for the conversion of the
fierce Magyars to the faith of Christ. He died soon after his royal master,
about the year 1040.
Of the personality
and personal life of St Astrik nothing is known; but it is significant that St
Adalbert of Prague had so much affection for and trust in him: Adalbert wrote
to Geza's wife asking her to send "his master" back to him in Poland
and to Astrik Radla himself he wrote saying that if the duchess would not
release him, he should slip away secretly and rejoin "your Adalbert".
But to Astrik his duty was clear that he must stay among the Magyars.
The best examination
of the problem is doubtless that of F. Dvornik in his Making of Central and
Eastern Europe (1949), pp. 159-166, which shows clearly how confused and
uncertain is the history of the conversion of Hungary, even for scholars who
are natives of Eastern Europe. Cf. C. Kadlec in the Cambridge Medieval History,
vol. iv, p. 214. See also St Bruno's Life of St Adalbert in Fontes rerum
Bohemicarum (1871), vol. i; the Life of St Stephen in MGH., Scriptores, vol.
xi, and cf. vol. iv, pp. 547, 563; and Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, vol. i
(1930), c. 394.
(Butler's Lives of the Saints, Christian Classics, 1995)
Saint Astricus of Esztergom
Also known as
- Astricus of Ungarn
- Anastasius XIX
- Ascrick
- Astericus
- Astericus Anastasius
- Astrik of Pannonhalma
- Astrik-Anastaz
- Radla
- 12
November
- 14
August on some calendars
Profile
Monk
in Rome, Italy,
taking the name Astricus. Friend of Saint Adalbert of Prague, and assisted Adalbert on his missionary work in Bohemia.
First abbot
of Brevnov. Due to anti-Christian
persecution
in the region, he had to flee to Hungary.
Worked as a missionary to the Magyars. Spiritual teacher
to the wife of Duke
Geza, the mother of Saint Stephen of Hungary, in 997.
First abbot
of Saint Martin’s monastery in Pannonhalma, the first monastery
in Hungary, a house founded by Duke
Geza. When Saint
Stephen succeeded his father
Geza as duke, Anastasius renewed his evangelization
work with the Magyars. First archbishop
of the Hungarian Church
with his see
city probably at Kalocsa. He was sent as ambassador
to Rome, and negotiated the recognition of the new kingdom of Hungary
by Pope
Sylvester
II. He transported the crown that
the pope gave for Stephen to be crowned as King
of the Hungarians by Emperor Otto III
in 1001.
Advisor to Stephen on matters of spirit and state until Stephen‘s death. He outlived Stephen by two years, and spent those last days as a prayerful monk.
Born
- in Bohemia as Radla
- c.1035
of natural causes
