Coloman of Stockerau

Saint Coloman of Stockerau
Born 10th century
Ireland
Died October 18, 1012
Stockerau
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church
Major shrine Abbey of Melk
Feast October 13
Attributes pilgrim monk with a rope in his hand; depicted being hanged on a gibbet; tongs and rod; priest with a book and maniple.
Patronage Austria; Melk; patron of hanged men, horned cattle, and horses; invoked against plague and for husbands by marriageable girls; invoked against hanging; invoked against gout[1]

Saint Coloman of Stockerau (died October 18, 1012), is a saint of the Catholic Church.

Originally known as Colmán (variously rendered Koloman, Kálmán, Colman, and Colomannus), he was an Irish pilgrim en route to the Holy Land "was mistaken for a spy because of his strange appearance, tortured, and hanged at Stockerau, near Vienna, Austria, on 16 July 1012. Later tradition has it that he was a son of Máel-Sechnaill (d. 1022), high king of Ireland." (Breen, 2009)

At the time of his death, there were continual skirmishes among Austria, Moravia, and Bohemia. Coloman spoke no German, so he could not give an understandable account of himself. He was hanged alongside several robbers.

According to Aidan Breen, "He was made a saint by the local people, possibly out of remorse for the deed and because of his endurance under torture and the many miracle reported from where his body was buried." (Breen, 2009)

Veneration

Sarcophagus of Coloman. Melk Abbey, Austria.

On 13 October 1014, his relics were transferred to the Abbey of Melk by Bishop Megingard at the request of Marquis Saint Henry of Austria, however, decades later were taken to Hungary. Coloman became the object of a popular cult and many churches and chapels in Austria, Swabia, the Electorate of the Palatinate, Hungary, and Bavaria are dedicated to him. He is also venerated in Ireland.

A legend states that Coloman's body remained incorrupt for eighteen months, and remained undisturbed by birds and beasts. The scaffolding itself is said to have taken root and to have blossomed with green branches, one of which is preserved under the high altar of the Franciscan church at Stockerau.

His relics were taken to Hungary in the middle of the 11th century, and the King Géza I of Hungary named one of his sons in his honor (King Coloman of Hungary). Later, in the 13th, the younger brother of the King Béla IV of Hungary was Coloman of Galicia-Lodomeria, receiving also this name in honour of the Saint.

Eventually the relics of Saint Coloman were taken again back from the Cathedral of Székesfehérvár, to Melk Abbey in Austria were they are still kept. Many Austrian rulers made modifications to the tomb of this saint, and the actual reliquary was made in baroque style.

See also

References

"Coloman (Colmán)", by Aidan Breen, page 696, volume two, Dictionary of Irish Biography, 2009.

  1. ↑ Patron Saints for Chronic and Incurable Illnesses Retrieved 2012-03-04.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Saint Coloman of Stockerau.