| Saint Pirmin | |
|---|---|
Late medieval figure of Saint Pirmin at Murbach Abbey |
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| Born | 700 somewhere in Spain |
| Died | November 3, 753 Hornbach, Germany |
| Feast | November 3 |
Saint Pirmin (ca. 700 - Hornbach 753),[1] also named Pirminius, was a monk, strongly influenced by Celtic Christianity and Saint Amand.
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He originated from the surroundings of Narbonne, possible of Visigothic origin,[1][2] many of whom had to flee to Francia after the conquest of Spain by the Saracens in the beginning of the 8th century.[3]
From 718 onwards, he was abbot of the monastery Quortolodora in Antwerp (Austrasia) [4] and, together with its pupils, the minister of the church inside the broch, het Steen. In the 12th century, this church was dedicated to Saint Walpurga. After a while Pirmin was invited by count Rohingus to stay at his villa in Thommen, near Sankt Vith in the Ardennes.
Pirmin gained the favour of Charles Martel. He was send to help rebuild Disentis Abbey in Switzerland. In 724, he was appointed abbot of Mittelzell Abbey at Reichenau Island, which he had founded.[1] For political reasons he was banished to Alsace. In 753, he died in the abbey at Hornbach, where his body is entombed.
Pirmin's missionary work mainly took place in the Alsace and the upper area of the Rhine and the Danube. Besides actively preaching and converting, he also founded a great number of monasteries, such as those at Amorbach, Gengenbach, Murbach, Wissembourg, Marmoutier Neuweiler, and Hornbach. He had gained the favor of Odilo of Bavaria, one of whose foundations, Niederaltaich Abbey, he settled and organized.[3]
One of Pirmin's books is of special importance to the development of Christianity. His Dicta Abbatis Pirminii, de Singulis Libris Canonicis Scarapsus ("Concerning the Single Canonical Book Scarapsus")[5] is "a collection of quotations from Scripture and the Church Fathers to be used in putting together the sermons a missionary should preach in his evangelistic work."[1] Written between 710-724, provides the earliest appearance of the present text of the Apostles' Creed.[6]