Virgil of Salzburg

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Vergilius of Salzburg
)

Frankish Empire
Venerated inCatholic Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
Canonized1233 by Pope Gregory IX
Feast27 November

Virgil (c. 700– 27 November 784), also spelled Vergil, Vergilius, Virgilius, Feirgil or Fearghal, was an

geometer
".

Biography

He originated from a noble family of Ireland, where his name was Feirgil or Fearghal, and is said to have been a descendant of Niall of the Nine Hostages. Feirgil was probably educated at the Iona monastery.[2]

In

Aghaboe,[3] in County Laois, where he was known as "the Geometer" because of his knowledge of geography.[4]

Around 745, he left Ireland, intending to visit the Holy Land; but, like many of his countrymen, who seemed to have adopted this practice as a work of piety, he settled down in France, where he was received with great favour by

Duke Odilo, where he founded the monastery of Chiemsee, and within a year or two, was made Abbot of St Peter's Abbey at Salzburg. Among his notable accomplishments was the conversion of the Alpine Slavs to Christianity; he also sent missionaries to Hungary.[4]

As Abbot of St Peter's, he clashed with Saint Boniface. A priest having, through ignorance, conferred the Sacrament of Baptism using, in place of the correct formula, the words "Baptizo te in nomine patria et filia et spiritu sancta" (instead of "Baptizo te in nomine patris et filii et spiritus sancti"), Vergilius held that the sacrament had been validly conferred, but Boniface complained to Pope Zachary. The latter, however, decided in favour of Virgil. Later on, Boniface accused Virgil of spreading discord between himself and Duke Odilo of Bavaria and of teaching a doctrine in regard to men descended not from Adam, which was "contrary to the Scriptures". Pope Zachary's decision in this case was that "if it shall be clearly established that he professes belief in another world and other people existing beneath the earth, or in [another] sun and moon there, thou art to hold a council, and deprive him of his sacerdotal rank, and expel him from the church."[6]

The treatise in which Virgil expounded his doctrine no longer exists. Two things, however, are certain: first, that there was involved the problem of

Adam and were not redeemed by Christ.[3]

After the martyrdom of Boniface, Virgil was made

spread of Christianity in neighbouring heathen countries, especially in Carinthia.[3]

Veneration

He is venerated as a saint in both the

Gregory IX.[4]

His doctrine that the earth is a sphere was derived from the teaching of ancient geographers, and his belief in the existence of the antipodes was probably influenced by the accounts which the ancient Irish voyagers gave of their journeys. This, at least, is the opinion of Rettberg (Kirchengesch. Deutschlands, II, 236).

Dedications

Aside from being personally associated with

Irish Catholics
, like himself.

There is a church dedicated to him in

Morris Plains, New Jersey, is also dedicated to him.[8] Fittingly for this Irish geometer who predicted antipodes, several churches in the Southern Hemisphere are dedicated to him. St Virgil's College in Hobart, Tasmania is named for him.[9] There was a St Virgilius Church in Balclutha, New Zealand designed by Francis Petre which moved and was re-dedicated to Mary MacKillop, however the new chapel remains dedicated to Virgilius.[10][11]

Art and culture

A large marble statue of him stands outside the doors of Salzburg Cathedral. A

stained-glass window of St Virgil contemplating the antipodes sits in St John's College, University of Sydney.[12][13] Sebastian Stief painted him amidst Salzburg's construction,[14] Alec Szolomiak painted him,[15] as did Jan Toorop,[16] and Dhiraja McBryde.[11] Yalumba, Australia's oldest family-owned winery, produces a Viognier named Virgilius.[17]

See also

Notes

References

  1. ^ Warren, Frederick Edward (1881). The Liturgy and Ritual of the Celtic Church. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 45.
  2. ^ Clancy, Thomas Owen; Gilbert, Márkus (1995). Iona: The Earliest Poetry of a Celtic Monastery. Edinburgh University Press. p. 17.
  3. ^ a b c "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Vergilius of Salzburg". www.newadvent.org.
  4. ^ a b c "Stevens, Clifford. The One Year Book of Saints, Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, Our Sunday Visitor, Inc., Huntington, Indiana".
  5. ^ Enright, M.J. Iona, Tara, and Soissons: The Origin of the Royal Anointing Ritual. (Arbeiten zur Fruhmittelalterforschung, 17). Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1985. pp. ix, 198
  6. ^ MGH, Epistolae Selectae, 1, 80, pp. 178–9 [1]; translation in M. L. W. Laistner, Thought and Letters in Western Europe, pp. 184–5.; see also Jaffe, Biblioth. rerum germ., III, 191
  7. ^ "St. Camillus-St. Virgillus Roman Catholic Church". Stcstv.com. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  8. ^ "Patron". St. Virgil's Parish.
  9. ^ "St Virgil's College – St Virgil's College Hobart".
  10. ^ "Beginnings". Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart. Archived from the original on 14 September 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  11. ^ a b "A Saint for this Neck of the Woods - Dhiraja". Dhiraja.srichinmoycentre.org. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  12. ^ "Photo". www.dawsoncentre.org. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  13. ^ Centre, Christopher Dawson (8 April 2014). "OUR GOALS | The Christopher Dawson Centre for Cultural Studies".
  14. ^ "St. Virgilius erbaut den ersten Salzburger Dom". Austria-Forum.
  15. ^ "St. Virgil-Painting-Hobart Tasmania". 29 December 2008 – via Flickr.
  16. ^ "jan-toorop.com - This website is for sale! - jan toorop Resources and Information". www.jan-toorop.com. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  17. ^ "The Virgilius Viognier ∙ Yalumba". www.yalumba.com.

Sources

  • Laistner, M.L.W. Thought and Letters in Western Europe: A.D. 500 to 900, 2nd. ed. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Pr., 1955.
    ISBN 0-8014-9037-5
 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Turner, William (1912). "St. Vergilius of Salzburg". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

External links

Media related to Virgilius of Salzburg at Wikimedia Commons

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Virgil_of_Salzburg&oldid=1185210696"