Grave of St. Beatus at the entry of Saint Beatus Caves, municipality of Beatenberg, canton of Bern, Switzerland
Tombo
de Sankta Beato ĉe la enirejo de la Sankt-Beato-Kavernoj, komunumo Beatenberg,
Kantono Berno, Svislando
Grab
des Heiligen Beatus am Eingang der St. Beatus-Höhlen, Gemeinde Beatenberg,
Kanton Bern, Schweiz.
Photographie
: Dietrich Michael Weidmann
Béat (saint)
Version de 1997 (remanié le 10.06.2004)
Autrice/Auteur: Rainald
Fischer Traduction: Pierre-G. Martin
112 selon la
tradition. Apôtre légendaire du christianisme primitif, invoqué notamment
contre les maladies et les épidémies (fête le 9 mai). La grotte de Saint-Béat
sur le lac de Thoune était un pèlerinage très fréquenté au Moyen Age. La
chapelle est mentionnée dès 1231. Les chanoines d'Interlaken, qui en avaient le
patronage, demandèrent en 1511 une histoire du saint au franciscain bâlois
Daniel Agricola, qui s'inspira d'un texte carolingien, la Vita de
l'ermite Béat de Vendôme, en l'adaptant: originaire de Grande-Bretagne, élève
de saint Barnabé, Béat aurait reçu de saint Pierre, à Antioche, la mission de
convertir les Helvètes à la foi chrétienne. Après avoir fondé une communauté à
Vindonissa, il se serait retiré dans une grotte du lac de Thoune, en aurait
chassé un dragon et y serait mort à l'âge de 100 ans. Quand Berne eut adopté la
Réforme, le flux des pèlerins tarit peu à peu. La chapelle fut démolie en 1530
et la grotte murée. Les reliques furent transférées à Interlaken, puis
réparties entre Lucerne et divers lieux de Suisse centrale, où le culte du
saint survécut durant l'époque baroque. En 1904, lors de fouilles, on découvrit
une pierre tombale et des ossements.
Sources et bibliographie
B. Stettler, Studien
zur Geschichte des obern Aareraums im Früh- und Hochmittelalter, 1964
LThK, 2, 86
Rainald Fischer:
"Béat (saint)", in: Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse (DHS),
version de 1997 (article de l’ouvrage imprimé, remanié le 10.06.2004), traduit
de l’allemand. En ligne: https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/fr/articles/010213/2004-06-10/,
consulté le 12.09.2026.
SOURCE : https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/fr/articles/010213/2004-06-10/
Urs Graf (1485–1528). Kapitelillustration,
Kapitel IV in Daniel Agricola: Das leben des heiligen bychtigers vnd
einsidlers sant Batten, des ersten Apostel des oberlands, Heluecia geheissen.
Basel 1511
Also
known as
Apostle of Switzerland
Beatus of Beatenberg
Beatus of Thun
Profile
Convert, baptized in England by Saint Barnabas
the Apostle. Priest, ordained in Rome, Italy by Saint Peter
the Apostle. Missionary to Switzerland.
Lived in a cave above the Lake of Thun, which tradition says is where he fought
a dragon (often
used as a metaphor for chasing the devil out of a region by bringing in Christianity);
it became known as Mount Beatenburg in
his honor, and became a place of pilgrimage in
later years. Confessor of
the faith.
c.112 on
Mount Beatenburg,
Lake of Thun, Switzerland of
natural causes
after the Reformation
his cultus was
transferred to the chapel at
Lungern, Obwalden
in Switzerland
old man in a cave,
usually reading
monk fighting
or chasing a dragon
Additional
Information
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of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
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and Their Attributes, by Helen Roeder
other
sites in english
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webseiten
auf deutsch
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Lexikon der Schweiz
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in italiano
Dizionario
Storico della Svizzera DSS
MLA
Citation
‘Saint Beatus of
Lungern‘. CatholicSaints.Info. 11 March 2024. Web. 12 September 2026.
<http://catholicsaints.info/saint-beatus-of-lungern/>
SOURCE : http://catholicsaints.info/saint-beatus-of-lungern/
Pilgerzeichen
mit dem heiligen Beatus, 15. Jahrhundert. Blei, gegossen. Inv. 1922. 204
(Historisches Museum Basel, Peter Portner).
Beatus of Beatenberg (RM)
(also known as Beatus of
Thun)
Date unknown, possibly
112. Saint Beatus was an early hermit, who found his solitude at a place now
called Beatenberg, above Lake Thun, Switzerland. Local legend claims that he
was the son of a Scottish king. He may be (but more likely is not) the same Beatus
who received a charter in 810 from Blessed Charlemagne to confirm that Honau
Abbey, which he ruled as abbot, would always be administered by Irish monks
(Benedictines, Coulson, D'Arcy, Fitzpatrick, Green, Montague, Tommasini). In
art, Saint Beatus is depicted as an old man reading in a mountain cave. He is
venerated at Beatenberg and Thun (Roeder).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0509.shtml
St. Beatus of Lungern
Feastday: May 9
Death: 112
A monk and
hermit, called Beatus of Lungern and earlier designated as the Apostle of
Switzerland. Baptized in England by St. Barnabas and
ordained by St. Peter, Beatus went to Switzerland. He lived and died on Mount
Beatenburg above Lake Thun. The cave became a popular pilgrim's destination,
the famed site of Beatus' fight with a dragon.
SOURCE : https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=1718
BEATUS, ST.
Apostle of Switzerland;
d. 112. An unauthenticated tenth-century legend says that he was of Gallic
origin, had been ordained by St. peter himself, and went to Switzerland to
convert the heathen Helvetiae in the area around Lake Thun. The legend further
relates that he killed a dragon there, lived in its cave until he died at the
age of 90, and was buried on the site. His cult did not become popular until
the thirteenth century, when the neighboring village of Beatenburg became the
center of pilgrimage to him that lasted until the early sixteenth century.
About 1300 an altar was dedicated to him in the Zurich Frauenmünster and a
confraternity of St. Beatus was set up. In later medieval art he is portrayed
as a hermit with staff and rosary in hand and with a dragon by his side. He was
patron of central Switzerland and his assistance was invoked against plague,
glandular diseases, and cancer. If he had a historical existence, it was
probably as an English or Irish missionary of the sixth century, or else he has
been confused with the ninth-century Beatus of Vendôme.
Feast: May 9.
Bibliography: H. Moretus, "La légende de s. Béat, apôtre de Suisse," Analecta
Bollandiana 26 (1907) 423–453. W. Stammler, Lexikon für Theologie und
Kirche, ed. J. Hofer and K. Rahner (Freiburg 1957–65) 2:86. A. M. Jacquin, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, ed. A. Baudrillart et al. (Paris 1912) 7:86–87. J. Stammler, Der hl. Beatus,
seine Höhle und sein Grab (Bern 1904). O. Scheiwiller,
"Beatus-Frage," Zeitschrift für schweizerische Kirchengeschichte 5
(1911) 21–52. l. rÉau, Iconographie de l'art chrétien, 6 v. (Paris 1955–59)
3:190.
[j. l. grassi]
New Catholic Encyclopedia
SOURCE : https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/beatus-st
Seitenkapelle und Empore der Kirche St. Beat
New Catholic
Dictionary – Saint Beatus
Confessor,
apostle of Switzerland, died near
Lake of Thun, Switzerland, c.112.
Legend relates that Beatus was baptized in England by
the Apostle Barnabas,
ordained in Rome by Saint Peter, and sent to Switzerland. Another version
states that he was an Irish monk who accompanied Saint Columban to Switzerland,
and lived in solitude in a cave above the Lake of Thun. His story is interwoven
with extracts from the life of Saint Beatus of Vendome, but the two are
distinct. For years his cave was a place of pilgrimage; after the Reformation
his cult was transferred to the chapel at Lungern in Obwalden. Feast,
Berne, 9
May.
MLA
Citation
“Saint Beatus”. New Catholic Dictionary. CatholicSaints.Info. 17
August 2012.
Web. 12 September 2026.
<http://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-beatus/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-beatus/
Saint Beatus
Commemorated May 9
According to oral
tradition--often more reliable than the skeptic deliberations of modern
scholarship, the first missionary to the pagan Helvetii was a first-century
hermit of Gaelic origin, St. Beatus (Latin for "blessed''). He is said to
have been baptized in England by St. Barnabas. Upon his conversion, St. Beatus
gave up his earthly possessions and traveled to Rome where he was ordained by
the Apostle Peter and sent with a companion, Achates, to evangelize the area we
know today as Switzerland. The two missionaries settled in Argovia, just east
of the Jura Mountains, where they persuaded many Helvetians to abandon their
pagan cults of Mars and Hercules and to erect temples to the true God.
For the sake of greater
solitude, St. Beatus journeyed south to Interlaken, He settled into a cave
above the lake and there he spent the rest of his life in prayer and fasting.
St. Beatus died in old age c.112. Veneration of the Saint was popular in the
Middle Ages and survived the hostility of the Reformation period when pilgrims
were driven back from his cave at spear-point by Zwingli's followers. Located
in a mountain named after the Saint, Beattenberg, his cave still exists and
remains a place of pilgrimage.
Although the earliest
recorded accounts of St. Beatus' life, dating no earlier than the 10th and
mid-11th centuries, have not been historically authenticated, there is no
reason to dismiss them as legendary, as have ( some modern scholars. It should
be remembered that Helvetia was conquered in 58 BC by the Romans whose
civilizing influence was advantageous to early Christian missionary work, in
spite of pagan Rome's hostility. Nevertheless, in the absence of further
documentation, one would hesitate to agree with a later tradition that calls
St. Beatus the Apostle of Switzerland. This honor has been more justly
conferred upon St. Gall, one of that great company of Irish monks whose major
contribution towards the conversion of Gaul, Germany, the Low Countries and
Switzerland remains to be fully appreciated. But even before St. Galls arrival
in the early 7th century, Christianity had been making inroads into
Switzerland, peopling its rugged landscape with monastics and watering its soil
with the blood of martyrs.
SOURCE : http://www.roca.org/OA/63/63f.htm
St. Beatus Hermit of Thun
St. Beatus Hermit of
Thun, Apostle of Switzerland (ca. †112): While legend claims that he was
the son of a Scottish king, other legends place his birth
in Ireland. Beatus was a convert, baptized
in England by St. Barnabas. He was allegedly ordained a priest
in Rome by St. Peter the Apostle, whereupon he was sent with
a companion named Achates to evangelize the tribe of the Helvetii. The two
set up a camp in Argovia near the Jura Mountains, where they
converted many of the locals. Beatus then ventured south to the mountains
above Lake Thun, taking up a hermitage in what is now known as St.
Beatus Caves, near the village of Beatenberg, probably in the ninth
century. Tradition states that this cave is where he fought a dragon. St.
Beatus’ grave is located between the monastery and the cave entrance.
Orthodoxy’s Western Heritage
- Mission in the Alps
Saint Maurice and the
Theban Legion
Saint Verena
Saint Gall
Zwingli, influential
leaders of the Protestant Reformation, whose forceful contempt of the Roman
Church combined with their sense of mission to sweep away the evidence of
history and have them crowned as Switzerland's apostles. Their apostolate,
however, belonged to a new order which they themselves had devised. It was
severed from the True Vine whose shoots had been rooted in the Swiss soil
centuries earlier by the genuine successors of Christ's Apostles.
Saint Beatus
Commemorated May 9
According to oral
tradition--often more reliable than the skeptic deliberations of modern
scholarship, the first missionary to the pagan Helvetii was a first-century
hermit of Gaelic origin, St. Beatus (Latin for "blessed''). He is said to
have been baptized in England by St. Barnabas. Upon his conversion, St. Beatus
gave up his earthly possessions and traveled to Rome where he was ordained by
the Apostle Peter and sent with a companion, Achates, to evangelize the area we
know today as Switzerland. The two missionaries settled in Argovia, just east
of the Jura Mountains, where they persuaded many Helvetians to abandon their
pagan cults of Mars and Hercules and to erect temples to the true God.
For the sake of greater
solitude, St. Beatus journeyed south to Interlaken, He settled into a cave above
the lake and there he spent the rest of his life in prayer and fasting. St.
Beatus died in old age c.112. Veneration of the Saint was popular in the Middle
Ages and survived the hostility of the Reformation period when pilgrims were
driven back from his cave at spear-point by Zwingli's followers. Located in a
mountain named after the Saint, Beattenberg, his cave still exists and remains
a place of pilgrimage.
Although the earliest
recorded accounts of St. Beatus' life, dating no earlier than the 10th and
mid-11th centuries, have not been historically authenticated, there is no
reason to dismiss them as legendary, as have ( some modern scholars. It should
be remembered that Helvetia was conquered in 58 BC by the Romans whose
civilizing influence was advantageous to early Christian missionary work, in
spite of pagan Rome's hostility. Nevertheless, in the absence of further
documentation, one would hesitate to agree with a later tradition that calls
St. Beatus the Apostle of Switzerland. This honor has been more justly
conferred upon St. Gall, one of that great company of Irish monks whose major
contribution towards the conversion of Gaul, Germany, the Low Countries and
Switzerland remains to be fully appreciated. But even before St. Galls arrival
in the early 7th century, Christianity had been making inroads into
Switzerland, peopling its rugged landscape with monastics and watering its soil
with the blood of martyrs.
Saint Maurice and the
Theban Legion
Commemorated September 22
Towards the end of the
third century (c. 285), the Roman Emperor Maximian Herculius summoned a select
legion from Thebes (in Upper Egypt)to strengthen his western front. The legion
was composed of Christian warriors whose ardor in battle was matched by an
equally ardent faith.
In celebration of a
military success, all the soldiers were ordered to sacrifice to the pagan gods.
The Theban legion refused to comply and withdrew from the encampment at
Octodurum (today's Martigny) southeast to Agaunum. Maximian tried to intimidate
them into submission by randomly executing one tenth of the legion. But he did
not succeed. The head of the legion, St. Maurice, encouraged his soldiers to
stand fast in their faith and prepare themselves for the honor of suffering for
Christ in imitation of their martyred companions who had already joined the
armies of Christian warriors in heaven. Another tenth of the legion was
executed. Finding the remaining soldiers still unwilling to surrender their
faith, Maximian ordered a general slaughter. The legionnaires, numbering
several thousand, did not resist. The site of their martyrdom, outside Agaunum
(today's St. Maurice), received the name Verroliez which is old French
for vrai lieu or "actual place," i. e., where the martyrs
were slaughtered, a name it carries to this day.
In Agaunum the pagan
executioners celebrated their bloody operation. A man by the name of Victor, on
learning the cause of such revelry, refused to drink with the soldiers or to
accept any of the dead legionnaires' belongings. On being questioned he
unhesitatingly confessed the Christian faith and was promptly executed.
Unfortunately, of the
nearly 6,000 martyrs slain in Agaunum, tradition has handed down to us only the
names of St. Maurice, St. Exuperus, St. Victor and St. Candidus (a senator).
Their story was recorded by St. Euchertus, bishop of Lyons (c. 434);
Two of the Theban
soldiers, Victor and Ursus, escaped the slaughter and fled north to Solothurn
where they began preaching the Gospel. It wasn't long, however, before they
were caught by soldiers of the pagan governor Hirtacus and executed. Their
relics are still in Solothurn.
Soon after the Agaunum
slaughter, the Theban martyrs began working miracles. A church was built in
Agaunum and also a monastery. The latter was enlarged in 515 by the pious
Burgundian King Sigismund, a convert from the Arian heresy. Agaunum, with 900
monks, became the chief monastic center of Burgundy. Day and night choirs of
monks took turns in chanting psalm s.
Commemorated September 1
Not long after the
martyrdom of Victor and Ursus, there came to Solothurn a Theban girl, a
relative of one of the slain legionnaires. She had left her native Egypt for
Italy where she heard news of the slaughter, and made her way to Switzerland in
search of the relics of her martyred Theban brethren. After praying on the spot
of their martyric exploit, she proceeded to Octodurum, but the local pagans
forced her departure, and so she went to Solothurn where one surviving legionnaire
was still living. There the young woman, Verena, settled in a cave and began
leading a solitary life of prayer.
St. Verena had one
companion, an elderly woman who was a secret Christian and who provided her
with food and in general looked after her needs. The recluse began to attract
the local populace and converted members of the Almani tribes who, in turn,
asked that she take charge of their daughters and educate them. And so it
developed that St, Verena became a kind of abbess of a small community of
women.
Naturally, the pagan
governor Hirtacus was not pleased by the Saint's activity, and he had her
imprisoned. One night St. Maurice appeared to St. Verena in her prison cell and
comforted her, giving her courage to remain firm in her faith. That same night
Hirtacus was struck by a violent fever which doctors were unable to relieve.
Knowing St. Verena's reputation, he asked her to pray for him. Cured through
the holy virgin's prayers, Hirtacus freed her to resume her pious activities.
The great veneration
which the people had for the Saint gave her no rest. She decided to leave
Solcthurn and went first to Coblenz and then to an island on the Rhine. It was
infested with snakes which she chased out by' her prayers. She did not stay on
the island, however, but went to Zurzach. After spending some time near a
church dedicated to the Mother of God, she resumed her solitary life in a cell.
A church was built there after her repose, and miracles continued to manifest
the grace of God which St. Verena had acquired during her earthly
sojourn.
From St. Gregory of
Tour’s Vita Patrium (Life of the Fathers--serialized in "The
Orthodox Word") and other early sources, we know that in the 5th century
the monastic centers of Gaul, notably Lerins and Lyons, spilled their influence
north and east into the Jura Mountains. There, alpine clefts and forested
ravines provided a suitable 'desert' for monastic lovers of solitude whose
severe asceticism was styled after that of the Egyptian Fathers. As their
number increased a more established form of cenoebitic monasticism was
introduced as, for example, at Agaunum. In the Jura, disciples of the brother
Saints Romanus and Lupicinus spread out to found a whole series of monasteries.
There also the Saints' sister Yole governed what was perhaps the first
wilderness monastic community for women in the West, known as "La
Balme."
But despite the
successful rooting of the monastic tradition in Swiss soil, the missionary
field was in need of Still more laborers. The warring Franks and Burgundians
presented just the challenge for those indomitable missionaries par
excellence--the Irish monks.
Commemorated October 16
It was in Ireland that
St. Gall was born, just about the time that St. Comgall founded his famous
monastery of Bangor(c. 555) where St. Gall was sent by his parents to be
educated. There the young Cellach (St. Gall's name at birth') became
well-versed in both Sacred Scripture and poetry.
St. Comgall was a strict
and righteous ascetic who guided several thousand monks. Among his disciples
was St. Columban (not to be confused with St. Columba or Columcille of Iona)
who ordained St. Gall to the priesthood after the latter had spent some years
in ascetic labors. With St. Comgull's blessing, St. Gall was chosen together
with eleven other monks to accompany St. Columban on a missionary venture.
Full of the evangelistic
fervor that characterized the Bangor monks, the group traveled first to England
and then, about the year 585, they crossed the channel. Thanks to the support
and kindness of a Frankish king, they settled in Annegray, in the Vosges
Mountains, where they founded a monastic community. Disciples began to gather,
attracted by St. Columban's reputation as a strict ascetic. In 590 St. Columban,
together with St. Gall, founded the famous monastery at Luxeuil, a former spa
that had been plundered by the Huns. In the ruins of an old house the Irish
monks built first a chapel and then established a monastery. The monks became
more and more numerous and the fame of St. Columban and his community was such
that they were often visited by King Thoudoric (Thierry), son of Childebert II.
In character with his
strictness, St. Columban never compromised in applying the teachings and
regulations of the Church. He reproached King Thoudoric for abandoning his wife
and living with his mistress, an arrangement which suited Theuderic' s mother,
Queen Faileuba, for she was thereby able to share her son's power. Although the
King had great respect for St. Columban, his willful mother, to protect her
interests, managed to estrange the two men and have the holy monk banished from
the kingdom.
In 610 St. Columban left
Luxeuil with St. Gall and some of the other monks. They went to King
Theuderic’s half-brother, King Theodebert of Austrasia whose residence was in
Metz. Travelling south through Germany they met with great difficulty in
preaching the Gospel, being persecuted and expelled from almost every place
where they wanted to establish themselves. Finally, a God-fearing priest living
near the Lake of Constance, Willemar, allowed them to stay in Bregentz. There
the monks built cells and started converting the surrounding pagan populace.
But they had to pay for their success. Two of the monks were killed by some of
the pagans in their militant resentment of the Gospel preaching. The bodies of
these two martyrs were placed under the altar of the Brigantina Monastery
(later called Mererau).
About this time there
occurred an incident recorded by St. Columban's biographer, Jonas of Bobbio,
who also knew St. Gall. The latter was given an obedience to fish in the
Breuchin, a river which flows into the Lauterne. But he decided to try his luck
in the L'Ognan, a tributary of the Aar, instead. He caught nothing. On being
reproved by St. Columban for his disobedience,, be went as he had been told to
the Breuchin and there he had a large catch.
In 612 Theuderic killed
Theodebert and became King of Austrasia. Once more St. Columban had to leave
his kingdom and move on. He asked St. Gall to accompany him to Italy (where he
was to found the famous Bobbio Monastery). But St. Gall, severely ill, was
unable to fulfill such an obedience. St. Columban had to accept his disciple's
remaining in Bregenz, but as a penance he forbade him to celebrate the Divine
Liturgy as long as he, Columban, was still alive.
After St. Columban's
departure and St. Gall’s recovery, the latter took some of the monks that had
remained in Bregenz, and moved further up the Lake of Constance to what is now
Saint-Gall. There they built a few cells. St. Gall studied the local language
and converted so many pagans that he was popularly called the Apostle of
Constance. He also had the gift of healing and performed several miracles. The
daughter of Duke Gonzon (or Gunzon) was possessed by an evil spirit. When St.
Gall delivered her from the chains of the devil, her father was so thankful
that he wanted St. Gall to become a bishop, but the Saint declined.
True to his strict Celtic
monastic training St. Gall carefully guarded himself from acquisitiveness.
Money that he could not refuse he distributed to the poor. The chronicle of his
Life states that once a deacon of his monastery wanted to keep a precious vase
for the altar, St. Gall sternly forbade him: Do not keep it; one must be able
to say with St, Peter: "Silver and gold have I none" (Acts 3:6). '
After Matins one morning,
St. Gall was miraculously informed of the death of St. Columban. He told the
other monks and they celebrated a funeral service. One of the monks was then
sent to Italy for a report. He returned with the confirmation of St. Columban's
repose and a letter from his Bobbio disciples. Among other things, the letter
explained that before dying St. Columban had asked them to give his abbot's
staff to St. Gall as a token of forgiveness for his incapacity to follow him to
Italy three years earlier. St. Gall wept abundantly, for he had never forgotten
his spiritual father's love, and until receiving this confirmation of his
death, out of obedience he had not celebrated the Divine Liturgy and more than
once had refused offers to become bishop. His obedience thereby preserved him
in the rigorous monastic life so cherished by the Irish monks.
St. Gall then resumed the
celebration of the Divine Liturgy. He spent most of his time in his cell,
leaving it only to preach the Gospel and to instruct his humble flock. Like St.
Seraphim of Sarov centuries later, St. Gall used to spend days and nights
praying and meditating on God's Word. A bear would visit him and bring him
wood. (Today a bear is represented on the town flag of St. Gall as the symbol
of the Saint!) The chronicle mentions that the God-fearing King Sigebert (to be
distinguished from the one mentioned above) who founded several monasteries,
had great veneration for St. Gall. His daughter refused to marry in order that
she might become a nun and live close by the holy apostle.
In 625 St. Eustase, abbot
of Luxeuil, died. His monks chose St. Gall as his successor, but the Saint
declined the position. Luxeuil had become a very rich monastery, and St. Gall’s
love for poverty was as firm as his love for obedience and humility.
With his disciples St.
Gall followed the rule of St. Columban. It was-very strict, based upon absolute
obedience, silence. fasting and abstinence. Infractions brought severe
consequences.
The only writing of St.
Gall that has come down to us is a homily which he delivered when his disciple
John became a bishop. St. Gall himself had been proposed for this honor but he
again declined, recommending his disciple in his stead. (The text of the homily
is found in Canisius' Lectiones Antiquae.)
St. Gall died on the 16th
of October 646 (some sources say 630). at an advanced age. (As an added note of
interest, the Oxford Dictionary of Saints states that his shrine remained until
the Reformation; when it was rifled, his bones were seen to be unusually
large.)
Hundreds of saints,
bearers of the Orthodox faith, preached and died in Switzerland during the
first centuries of Christianity. Aside from those already mentioned, we should
not overlook the names of St. Felix and Regula, St. Lucius, St. Emerita, St.
Fridolin (who appears on a Swiss cantonal flag!), St. Pirmin, St. Theodulus,
St. Ursula and the numerous saints of the Jura, St. Maire--bishop of Lausanne,
St. Salonins-Bishop of Geneva. These are but some of those known to us, whose
memory is gradually being revived to the glory of God, wondrous in His saints.
After the Schism of 1054,
Switzerland followed Rome into the Latin error together with the rest of
Western Christendom. Ties with its Orthodox heritage were further weakened in
the 16th century when its major cities of Zurich and Geneva became strongholds
of the Reformation. But by God's merciful Providence, beginning in the 18th
century, through immigrants from Greece and Russia, an Orthodox presence became
manifest once again on Swiss soil. By the following century Switzerland had
become a popular resort and cultural center for Russia' s intelligentsia.
Although some were thoroughly westernized, others preserved an Orthodox piety
and stimulated the growth of parishes. A Russian parish established in Bern in
1816 was transferred to Geneva in 1848 where, thanks to the generosity of the
Geneva authorities who offered the Russians a piece of land, a proper Orthodox
church was built. Completed in 1866, it was expanded in 1916 and stands today
as the episcopal see of Geneva and Western Europe, presided over by Archbishop
Anthony (Bartosevich). The next church to be erected was St. Barbara's in Vevey
on the Swiss Riviera, a charming town where several famous Russians lived for a
time, among them: Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (in 1857) and Fyodor
Michailovich Dostoevsky.
Saint Barbara's Church in
Vevey
Count Peter Shuvalov,
Russia's diplomatic representative at the Berlin Congress in 1878, had a church
built in Vevey in memory of his daughter Barbara. She had married Count Orlov
in 1870 and died two years later while giving birth to a daughter, Mary, who soon
followed her mother into the next world, Construction began in 1874 and in 1878
the church was ready for divine services. It was the Count's desire that the
remains of his daughter be transferred next to the church, but the local
authorities refused permission, and her tomb remained in St. Martin's cemetery,
a stone's throw from St. Barbara's.
According to Swiss law
and tradition, after a certain number of years tombs are opened, their remains
buried further down in the ground, and new tombs are erected in the place of
the old ones. In 1955 this fate threatened to obliterate the tomb of Barbara
and Mary Orlov. Fortunately, Vladika Leonty the Russian bishop of Geneva and
Switzerland at the time (brother of the pre sent Archbishop Anthony), managed
to secure permission to have the remains of Barbara Petrovna and her daughter
transferred next to the church, in fulfillment of her father's original wish. A
beautiful marble cross, exquisitely incised with Slavonic lettering, stands to
this day over her simple tomb behind the church.
The church of St. Barbara
is a classic example of Russian religious architecture. Although built by local
craftsmen, its plans came from Russia as did most of its paintings and icons.
Surmounted by a single gold cupola, it is decorated outside with Slavonic
calligraphy; inside, similar designs adorn the walls around the frescoes and
icons.
Services at St. Barbara's
are chanted in Church-Slavonic and French. The faithful who attend these
services are a mixture of native Russians, Serbs, Greeks, Bulgarians and
Romanians, with the addition of a growing number of Swiss converts. A special
service to all the saints of Orthodox Switzerland was written in French by
Priest Pierre Cantacuzene and is celebrated annually at St. Barbara' s.
Today, Switzerland has a
population of some 38,000 Orthodox Christians. These are predominantly
descendents of Russian, Greek Serbian and Romanian immigrants, as well as
exiles from communist dominated countries and refugees from the Middle East. The
different parishes reflect this ethnic diversity. An increasing number of
Orthodox are native Swiss, German and French, the majority of whom have been
received into the Church by priests of the Russian Church Abroad. These
converts have, quite naturally, been the most active in the rediscovery of
Orthodoxy' s Western heritage, an endeavor stimulated and pioneered by Blessed
Archbishop John Maximovitch. Through his prayers, may the spiritual fruit,
inspired by the lives of those men and women saints whose wholesale dedication
to Christ cultivated the flowering of the True Vine in Switzerland in centuries
past.
Material provided by
Claude Lopez-Ginisty. illustrated by Dominique Lopez; map--OA. Life of St. Gall
first published in "L'Observateur Orthodoxe ," Montreal, Sept.
1984; based on the life of St. Gall written by Vualfrid Strabon (d. 849), a
monk of St. Gall’s monastery. Additional facts from "The Orthodox
Word" Nos. 25 and 74.
[OA/_private/oabot.htm]
SOURCE : https://web.archive.org/web/20070614114447/http://www.roca.org/OA/63/63f.htm
An
Orthodox icon of the Venerable Saints Beatus and Achatus of Thun. - https://en.orthodoxe-heilige.ch/die-ikone
San Beato Eremita e
apostolo della Svizzera
† Thun (Svizzera), 112
Martirologio Romano: A
Vendôme lungo la Loira in Francia, san Beato, sacerdote, che condusse vita
eremitica.
C’è un po’ di confusione
nell’identificazione di questo santo di nome Beato, perché la leggenda della
sua vita s’interseca con un omonimo santo eremita di Vendôme, pure lui
celebrato il 9 maggio.
Ad ogni modo teniamo
presente la sua ‘Vita’, scritta e pubblicata per primo dall’umanista Agricola
nel 1511, così riassunta: San Beato è posizionato nel tempo nell’età
apostolica; secondo questa ‘Vita’, Beato era di origine inglese, convertito
dall’apostolo s. Barnaba, al battesimo cambiò il suo nome di Svetonio in quello
di Beato.
Poi partì per Roma per
istruirsi nella nuova religione; qui l’apostolo Pietro gli conferì in seguito
tutti gli Ordini sacri, inviandolo poi ad evangelizzare la Svizzera, mentre
altri partivano per le altre regioni d’Europa e del vasto impero romano.
Operò fattivamente
nell’allora regione Helvetia, operando un gran numero di conversioni con la sua
predicazione ed i tanti miracoli fatti. Dopo un certo periodo si sentì
attratto dalla vita solitaria e si ritirò in una grotta presso il lago di Thun,
nella Svizzera centrale, cantone di Berna; ma questa grotta era occupata da un
terribile dragone, allora Beato con un segno di croce, lo scacciò dalla
caverna, facendolo precipitare nel lago.
Visse in questa grotta
con il suo discepolo Achates, occupati nella preghiera e nella penitenza, morì
nel 112, vecchio di 90 anni; i due eremiti furono sepolti nella grotta uno a
fianco all’altro.
Bisogna dire che il
cristianesimo comparve in Svizzera nel III-IV secolo e non nel I come narra la
leggenda. Comunque non c’è dubbio che almeno dal secolo XII, esisteva in
Svizzera un culto per un s. Beato, sulla cui identificazione gli studiosi non
sono concordi; chi lo considera un personaggio storico, chi lo identifica con
s. Beato di Vendôme eremita francese, chi lo considera un missionario
anglosassone o irlandese del VI secolo.
Il “Martyrologium
Romanum” riporta s. Beato con la specifica di eremita al 9 maggio, senza dire
altro.
Autore: Antonio
Borrelli
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/90585
Beato (santo)
Versione del 1997
(aggiornata il 10.06.2004)
Autrice/Autore: Rainald
Fischer Traduzione: Valerio Ferloni
forse nel 112 .
Leggendario apostolo della fede cristiana vissuto in epoca paleocristiana,
invocato come protettore, in particolare contro malattie e pestilenze; si
festeggia il 9 maggio. Nel ME la grotta di B., sul lago di Thun, era meta di
numerosi pellegrinaggi; la cappella dedicata a B. è menz. dal 1231. Nel 1511 i
canonici di Interlaken, che detenevano i diritti di patronato sulla cappella,
incaricarono il francescano basilese Daniel Agricola di scrivere una vita del
santo. Egli trasse ispirazione da un testo carolingio,
una vita dell'eremita Beato di Vendôme, che riprese e adattò al
contesto sviz.: B., originario della Britannia, allievo di S. Barnaba, avrebbe
ricevuto da S. Pietro ad Antiochia l'incarico di annunciare il messaggio
cristiano agli Elvezi. Dopo aver fondato una comunità cristiana a Vindonissa,
si sarebbe ritirato a vivere nella grotta sul lago di Thun, da cui avrebbe
scacciato un drago e dove sarebbe morto centenario. Quando Berna adottò la fede
rif., i pellegrinaggi si fecero via via sempre più rari; nel 1530 la cappella
venne demolita e la grotta murata. Le reliquie furono traslate a Interlaken e da
lì a Lucerna e in varie altre località della Svizzera centrale, dove il culto
di B. aveva ripreso vigore in epoca barocca. Nel 1904 degli scavi hanno
riportato alla luce una tomba a lastroni e contenente resti ossei.
Riferimenti bibliografici
B. Stettler, Studien
zur Geschichte des obern Aareraums im Früh- und Hochmittelalter, 1964
LThK, 2, 86
Rainald Fischer:
"Beato (santo)", in: Dizionario storico della Svizzera (DSS),
Versione del 1997 (voce dell’edizione a stampa del DSS, aggiornata il
10.06.2004)(traduzione dal tedesco). Online:
https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/it/articles/010213/2004-06-10/, consultato
il 12.09.2026.
SOURCE : https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/it/articles/010213/2004-06-10/
Ermitage de Saint-Béat, Beatenberg, Canton de Berne, Suisse.
Ermitage
de Saint-Béat, Beatenberg, Canton de Berne, Suisse.
Beatus
Version von 1997
(bearbeitet am 10.06.2004)
Autorin/Autor: Rainald
Fischer
angeblich 112 .
Legendärer frühchristl. Glaubensbote, Helfer u.a. gegen Krankheiten und
Seuchen. Im MA war die Beatushöhle am Thunersee ein viel besuchter
Wallfahrtsort. 1231 ist die Beatuskapelle erstmals erw.; die Chorherren von
Interlaken besassen das Patronat. Sie veranlassten 1511 den Basler Franziskaner
Daniel Agricola, eine Legende des hl. B. (Heiligentag 9.5.) zu schreiben.
Dieser benützte eine karoling. Vita des Eremiten B. von Vendôme und schrieb sie
für schweiz. Verhältnisse um: Der aus Britannien stammende B., ein Schüler des
Barnabas, habe vom hl. Petrus in Antiochien den Auftrag erhalten, bei den
Helvetiern den christl. Glauben zu verkünden. Er habe in Vindonissa eine
Christengemeinde gegründet, sei dann als Eremit in die Höhle am Thunersee
gezogen, wo er einen Drachen vertrieben habe und im Alter von 100 Jahren
verstorben sei. Mit dem Übertritt Berns zur Reformation versiegte die Wallfahrt
allmählich. 1530 wurde die Kapelle abgebrochen und die Höhle vermauert. Die
Reliquien kamen über Interlaken nach Luzern und in versch. Orte der
Innerschweiz, wo der Kult in der Barockzeit weiterlebte. 1904 entdeckte man bei
Ausgrabungen ein Plattengrab mit Skelettresten.
Quellen und Literatur
B. Stettler, Stud.
zur Gesch. des obern Aareraums im Früh- und HochMA, 1964
LThK 2, 86
Rainald Fischer:
"Beatus", in: Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz (HLS), Version
von 1997 (Artikel aus der HLS-Druckversion, bearbeitet am 10.06.2004). Online:
https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/de/articles/010213/2004-06-10/, konsultiert am
12.09.2026.
SOURCE : https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/de/articles/010213/2004-06-10/
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