Above:  Venantius Fortunatus Reading His Poems to Radegonda, by Lawrence Alma-Tameda

Image in the Public Domain

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SAINT RADEGUNDA (518/520-AUUST 13, 587)

Thuringian Roman Catholic Princess, Deaconess, and Nun

Her feast transferred from August 13

mentor and patron of

SAINT VENANTIUS HONORIUS CLEMENTI(AN)US FORTUNATUS (CIRCA 530-CIRCA 610)

Roman Catholic Poet, Hymn Writer, and Bishop of Poiters

His feast = December 14

Different spellings of the names of Saints Radegunda and Venantius, who have different feast days on the Roman Catholic calendar, exist.  Despite the separate feast days, one cannot properly tell the story of one saint without recounting the story of the other.   I merge the feasts here, on my Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, for that reason.

On a light note, perhaps you, O reader, will agree that, regardless of whether one prefers Venantius Honorius Clementius Fortunatus or Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus, he had the best name of any saint, canonized or otherwise.  The name rolls off one’s tongue nicely.

St. Radegunda, born in 518/520, was a princess of Thuringia, in modern-day Germany.  In 531 the Franking king Clothar/Clotaire/Lothair I (reigned 511-561) conquered Thuringia and killed most of the royal family.  He forced Radegunda to marry him the following year.  This was a political move, far from a love match.  St. Radegunda led a pious and simple life; she avoided extravagance and performed many good works while she endured her marriage.  She fled from that childless union in 550, after her husband had ordered the murder of her brother, thereby ending the male line in the Thuringian royal family.  The Church protected St. Radegunda, and Médard, the Bishop of Noyon, ordained her a deaconess.

St. Venantius Honorius Clement(ian)us Fortunatus, born in Treviso, Italy, circa 530, became a great Latin poet.  He, educated in Ravenna and Milan, traveled in Gaul and southern Germany.  (Contradictory stores provided various reasons for the road trip.)  He settled in Poitiers, at the Frankish royal court, and befriended Queen Radegunda.

In 560 St. Radegunda, deaconess and a former queen, founded the Convent of the Holy Cross, the first convent in Europe, at Poitiers.  The name of the first abbess was Agnes.  St. Radegunda lived there as a nun and devoted herself to good works.  St. Venantius became a priest and served as the chaplain of the convent.  He also composed Latin hymns about topics ranging from the cross of Christ to St. Mary of Nazareth, the Mother of God.  He also wrote poetic praise of wine.  In 569 the Roman Emperor Justin II (reigned 565-574) gave the convent a piece of the alleged True Cross.  St. Venantius composed Vexilla Regis (still part of the Roman Catholic rites for Holy Week) for the occasion.

St. Radegunda died at the convent on August 13, 587.

St. Venantius became the Bishop of Poitiers in 599.  He served in that position for the rest of us life, until circa 610.

St. Venantius left behind a fine literary legacy.  He composed biographies of St. Martin of Tours, St. Hilary of Poitiers, St. Germanus of Paris, St. Radegunda, and other figures.  Friend St. Gregory of Tours encouraged our saint to publish his poetry.  St. Venantius did, and blessed generations of Christians.  English translations of some of those texts have included the following:

1. “Welcome, Happy Morning;”
2. “The Royal Banners Forward Go;”
3. “Sing, My Tongue, the Glorious Battle;”
4. “See the Destined Day Arise;” and
5. the Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost versions of “Hail Thee, Festival Day.”

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Loving God, who teaches us that we depend on you and each other,

we thank you for Sts. Radegunda and Venantius Honorius Clementi(an)us Fortunatus,

who helped each other and many others, and whose intertwined legacies have endured.

May their examples inspire us to support each other in holy living, for your glory and the common good.

In the Name of God:  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Wisdom of Solomon 1:1-11

Psalm 64

1 Corinthians 1:17-25

Luke 1:26-38

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 3, 2019 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS FLAVIAN AND ANATOLIUS OF CONSTANTINOPLE, PATRIARCHS; AND SAINTS AGATHO, LEO II, AND BENEDICT II, BISHOPS OF ROME; DEFENDERS OF CHRISTOLOGICAL ORTHODOXY

THE FEAST OF CHARLES ALBERT DICKINSON, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF IMMANUEL NITSCHMANN, GERMAN-AMERICAN MORAVIAN MINISTER AND MUSICIAN; HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW, JACOB VAN VLECK, U.S. MORAVIAN BISHOP, MUSICIAN, COMPOSER, AND EDUCATOR; HIS SON, WILLIAM HENRY VAN VLECK, U.S. MORAVIAN BISHOP; HIS BROTHER, CARL ANTON VAN VLECK, U.S. MORAVIAN MINISTER, MUSICIAN, COMPOSER, AND EDUCATOR; HIS DAUGHTER, LISETTE (LIZETTE) MARIA VAN VLECK MEINUNG; AND HER SISTER, AMELIA ADELAIDE VAN VLECK, U.S. MORAVIAN COMPOSER AND EDUCATOR

THE FEAST OF JOHN CENNICK, BRITISH MORAVIAN EVANGELIST AND HYMN WRITER

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Above:  Gaul in 561 C.E.

Image in the Public Domain

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SAINT AGRIPINNUS OF AUTUN (DIED 538)

Roman Catholic Bishop of Autun

His feast transferred from July 9

Who ordained

SAINT GERMANUS OF PARIS (CIRCA 496-576)

Roman Catholic Bishop of Paris

His feast transferred from May 28

Who mentored

SAINT DROCTOVEUS OF AUTUN (DIED CIRCA 580)

Roman Catholic Abbot

St. Germanicus entered the world near Autun, Francia.  St. Agripinnus, Bishop of Autun, ordained him to the priesthood and made him Abbot of St. Symphorien Abbey, Autun.  (I can find no other information about St. Agripinnus.)  In 554 Childebert I, Merovingian King of Paris from 511 to 558, named St. Germanicus Bishop of Paris.  At that time St. Droctoveus filled the vacancy St. Germanicus created at St. Symphorien Abbey.

St. Droctoveus, born at Auxerre, had studied under St. Germanicus at St. Symphorien Abbey.

St. Germanicus had a reputaton throughout his life for his extravagant generosity to the poor, receiving the nickname ” Father of the Poor.”  Sometimes this pattern of positive behavior unnerved those around him, in fact.  (If we disturb anyone, may it be with goodness, not maliciousness.)  St. Germanicus was also famous for being an effective evangelist.  And he condemned immoral behavior at the royal court, even excommunicating Charibert I, King of Paris from 561 to 567, who was infamous for his dissolute behavior.  Furthermore, St. Germanicus strove unsuccessfully to end the wars among the nephews of Childebert I:

• Sigebert I, King of Austrasia from 561 to 575;
• Charibert I, King of Paris from 561 to 567;
• Guntram, King of Burgundy from 561 to 592;
• Chilperic I, King of Soisson from 561 to 584.

In 558 St. Germanus dedicated St. Vincent’s Church (with a monastery nearby) in Paris.  The church and abbey took the name St. Germain (a variation on St. Germanus) after he died, with St. Droctoveus as the first abbot.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 13, 2011 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF ELLA J. BAKER, WITNESS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS

THE FEAST OF SAINT LUCY OF SYRACUSE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR

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Lord God,

you have surrounded us with so great a cloud of witnesses.

Grant that we, encouraged by the example of your servants

Saint Agripinnus of Autun,

Saint Germanus of Paris,

and Saint Droctoveus of Autun,

may persevere in the course that is set before us and,

at the last, share in your eternal joy with all the saints in light,

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

–Adapted from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 59

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Revised on December 24, 2016

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