SAINT HENRY

SAINT HENRY

Saint Henry, son of Henry, Duke of Bavaria, and of Gisella, daughter of Conrad, King of Burgundy, was born in 972. Saint Henry succeeded his father as Duke of Bavaria. In 1002 upon the death of
his cousin, Otho III, he was elected emperor.

Saint Henry was most watchful over the welfare of the Church and exerted his zeal for the
maintenance of ecclesiastical discipline through the instrumentality of the Bishops. He gained several victories over his enemies and he used these with great moderation and clemency. In
1014 he went to Rome and received the imperial crown at the hands of Pope Benedict VIII.

He led an army to the south of Italy against the Saracens and their allies, the Greeks, and drove them from the country. The humility and spirit of justice of the Saint were equal to his zeal for religion. He cast himself at the feet of Herebert, Bishop of Cologne, and begged his pardon for having treated him with coldness on account of a misunderstanding. He wished to abdicate and retire into a monastery but yielded to the advice of the Abbot of Verdun, and retained his dignity.

Both he and his wife, Saint Cunegundes, lived in perpetual chastity. His holy death occurred at the castle of Grone in 1024.

His feast day is July 13th. He is the patron saint of the childless, Dukes, handicapped and those rejected by Religious Order.

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