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Saint Meinrad, 11th Centenary of Death Left to right: Saint Meinrad, Our Lady of Einsiedeln, and Monastery at Einsiedeln Scott 298-300 (1961) January 21st is the feast day of St. Meinrad of Einsiedeln. Born around the year 767, he was a hermit and martyr, associated with the 10th-century refounding of a Benedictine monastery, which continues to the present day at Einsiedeln, Switzerland, with branches worldwide. A current photograph of the monastery is shown here:  Einsiedeln Monastery, Switzerland Photo by Monster4711 (2021) From Wikimedia Commons Used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license Born into the Hohenzollern family, Meinrad became a monk and was also ordained. In ca. 829, he began an eremitical life, establishing a hermitage on the slopes of the Etzel Pass, a popular pilgrimage road in the Swiss canton of Schwyz. His hermitage contained a wonder-working statue of the Virgin Mary. He was so frequently visited that in ca. 835 he relocated to Einsiedeln where he practiced an austere form of an aesthetic lifestyle. In 861 he was murdered by two robbers seeking treasure left at his hermitage by pilgrims. Subsequently, St. Meinrad became known as the Martyr of Hospitality. The abbey at Einsiedeln is one of the most important baroque monastic sites and the most-visited pilgrimage site in Switzerland. St. Meinrad's cell became a shrine to the Black Madonna of Einisedeln, an icon that turned black due to the smoke from many candles burned at the site. The Black Madonna of Einsiedeln in the Chapel of Grace is shown here:  Black Madonna at the Einsiedeln Monastery Photo by Beat Ruest (2017) From Wikimedia Commons Used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license The Saint Meinrad Archabbey in St. Meinrad, Indiana, is named in his honor. Many Benedictine foundations in the United States and elsewhere are from the Swiss-American Congregation associated with St. Meinrad. REFERENCES: |
