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Corbinian

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Saint Corbinian
Saint Corbinian depicted in The Miracle of the Bear (1489) by Jan Polack. Diocesan Museum in Freising, Germany.
Bishop
Bornc. 670
Châtres, France
DiedSeptember 8, c. 730
Freising, Germany
Venerated inRoman Catholic Church
FeastSeptember 8 and November 20
Attributesbear; bishop making a bear carry his luggage because it has eaten his mule; bishop with a bear and mule in the background; bishop with Duke Grimoald at his feet[1]
PatronageFreising, Germany; archdiocese of Munich, Germany[1]

Saint Corbinian (c. 670 - September 8, c. 730) was a Frankish bishop. His feast day is September 8. The commemoration of the translation of his relics is November 20.[1]

Life

Corbinian was born and baptized as Waldegiso at Châtres, near Melun, in Frankish territory. He was named after his father, who may have died when Corbinian was an infant. Soon after his father's death, his mother Corbiniana[2] soon renamed Waldegiso to "Corbinian," after herself.[3] Nothing else is known of his childhood.[1] The early source for Corbinian's life is the Vita Corbiniani of Bishop Arbeo of Freising.[4]

He lived in Châtres on the road to Orléans as a hermit for fourteen years, near a church dedicated to Saint Germain. His reputation attracted students to him, which distracted him from his hermitage. His devotion to Saint Peter the Apostle prompted a decision to make a journey to Rome, accompanied by some of the disciples. While in Rome, Pope Gregory II admonished him to use his talents to evangelize Bavaria. Corbinian, who may already have been a bishop or who was so consecrated by Gregory, was sent to minister to Grimoald, the Frankish Duke of Bavaria.[5] Corbinian probably arrived in Bavaria in 724.[6]

On a mountain near Freising, where there was already a sanctuary, the saint erected a Benedictine monastery and a school, which came to be governed by his brother Erembert, after his death. In 738, when Saint Boniface regulated the ecclesial structure in the Duchy of Bavaria by creating four dioceses to be governed by the archbishop of Mainz, Erembert was chosen first Bishop of Freising.[7]

File:1970 2.58.jpg
Saint Corbinian of Freising and the Bear, by Kosmas Damian Asam, c. 1725

Soon after settling, Corbinian denounced Grimoald's marriage to his brother's widow, Biltrudis, though Grimoald had already repented of his incest. This incited his anger and the chagrin of his wife, who excoriated Corbinian, labeling him a foreign interloper and a British bishop. Finally, she arranged to have him murdered. Corbinian fled Freising until Grimoald was killed and Biltrudis carried off by invaders in 725.[3] Corbinian returned on the invitation of Grimoald's successor, Huebert,[8] and continued his apostolic labors at Freising until his own death in 730.

Corbinian's body, buried at Merano, was translated to Freising in 769 by the aforementioned Bishop Arbeo, author of Corbinian's vita, and is now entombed in Freising Cathedral.

Corbinian's Bear

Corbinian's symbol is the saddled bear. According to his hagiography, a bear killed Corbinian's pack horse on the way to Rome and so the saint commanded it to carry his load. Once he arrived in Rome, however, he let the bear go, and it lumbered back to its native forest.[9] Both the heraldic element and the legend itself carry significant symbolism. One interpretation is that the bear tamed by God's grace is the Bishop of Freising himself and the pack saddle is the burden of his episcopate.[10] The bear's submission and retreat can also be interpreted as Christianity's "taming" and "domestication" of the ferocity of paganism and, consequentially, the laying of a "[foundation] for a great civilization in the Duchy of Bavaria."[9]

Recent research suggests, however, that the bear was probably just some fat hairy serf.[11]

In Catholic iconography

Papal Arms of Pope Benedict XVI.

Corbinian's Bear is used as the symbol of Freising in both civic and ecclesiastical heraldry. It appears on the arms of Pope Benedict XVI, who first adopted the symbol when, still known as Joseph Ratzinger, he was appointed Archbishop of Freising-Munich in March 1977.[12] He retained the bear in his revised coat of arms when he was elevated to Cardinal in June of the same year, and again on his papal coat of arms when he was elected in 2005.

The scallop shell is a traditional reference to pilgrimage, and the crowned Moor is a regional motif in heraldry often seen in Bavaria, Benedict's German homeland. Benedict has been quoted saying that, in addition to the obvious reference back to St. Corbinian, the founder of the diocese where Benedict would become bishop in 1977, the bear represents Benedict himself being "tamed by God" to bear the spiritual burdens of Benedict's own ministries first as bishop, then as cardinal, and now as pope.[13]

On January 17, 2007, Stephen Colbert made a facetious reference to St. Corbinian's bear-taming skills on that night's episode of The Colbert Report. The Report, a very popular cable television comedy show in the United States, has a recurring motif emphasizing the Catholic main character's purported dread of bears. After engaging in traditional sports trash-talk about football teams he disfavored, the character then broke into "treasure-talk" delivered in the same exaggerated and confrontational style, but meant to encourage the teams or players he prefers. Speaking of an upcoming New Orleans Saints game, Colbert's character said, "Hey, Saints! You "saint" gonna lose! Drew Brees is gonna tame the Chicago Bears like St. Corbinian tamed an actual bear in the eighth century!'

Scenes from the life of Saint Corbinian from a panel in the crypt of Freising Cathedral.

  • S. Corbinianus adolescens - Castri vitam solitariam agit - Saint Corbinian as a young man decides upon a life of holy solitude
    S. Corbinianus adolescens - Castri vitam solitariam agit - Saint Corbinian as a young man decides upon a life of holy solitude
  • St. Corbinianus Romam venit et episcopus creatur - Saint Corbinian travels to Rome and is created a bishop
    St. Corbinianus Romam venit et episcopus creatur - Saint Corbinian travels to Rome and is created a bishop
  • St. Corbinianus Adalbertum a supplicio liberat - Saint Corbinian frees Adalbert at his humble entreaty
    St. Corbinianus Adalbertum a supplicio liberat - Saint Corbinian frees Adalbert at his humble entreaty
  • Sanctus Corbinianus urso sarcinas imponit - Saint Corbinian commands the bear to carry his luggage
    Sanctus Corbinianus urso sarcinas imponit - Saint Corbinian commands the bear to carry his luggage
  • S. Corbinianus a Grimoaldo honorifice excipitur - Saint Corbinian respectfully denounces Grimoald
    S. Corbinianus a Grimoaldo honorifice excipitur - Saint Corbinian respectfully denounces Grimoald
  • Sanctus Corbinian' Frisingae populum docet - Saint Corbinian teaches the people of Freising
    Sanctus Corbinian' Frisingae populum docet - Saint Corbinian teaches the people of Freising
  • Sanct' Corbinian' spiritum sanctissime reddit - Saint Corbinian solemnly gives up his spirit
    Sanct' Corbinian' spiritum sanctissime reddit - Saint Corbinian solemnly gives up his spirit
  • S. Corbiniani reliquiae Frisingam transferuntur - The relics of Saint Corbinian are transferred to Freising
    S. Corbiniani reliquiae Frisingam transferuntur - The relics of Saint Corbinian are transferred to Freising

Further reading

  • Vogel, Lothar (2000-06). Vom Werden eines Heiligen: Eine Untersuchung der Vita Corbiniani des Bischofs Arbeo von Freising. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 3110166968. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Jones, Terry. "Saint Corbinian". Patron Saints Index. Retrieved 2007-01-04. {{cite web}}: Text "publisher" ignored (help)
  2. ^ See Helmut Zenz: Heiliger Korbinian im Internet (Retrieved on 2007-01-06), in which Corbinian's mother is referred to as "Corbiniana". (German - Nach dem Tod seiner Mutter Corbiniana lebte er als Eremit bei der Kirche von Saint-Germain bei Châtres. English - "After the death of his mother Corbiniana he lived as a hermit in the church of Saint Germain in Châtres")
  3. ^ a b Staley, Tony (2004-09-03). "From recluse to missionary". The Compass. Retrieved 2007-01-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ Published in Scriptores rerum Germanicarum 13, Monumenta Germaniae Historica. The writings of Arbeo are of broader significance, as all but the only examples of the Latin used in Bavaria before the Carolingian literary reforms. The modern study is Lothar Vogel, 2000. Vom Werden Eines Heiligen: Eine Untersuchung Der Vita Corbiniani Des Bischofs Arbeo Von Freising (series "Arbeiten Zur Kirchengeschichte". Walter De Gruyter).
  5. ^ "Corbinian of Freising B (RM)". Saint o' the Day (September 8). Retrieved 2007-01-04. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help); Text "last Rabenstein" ignored (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
  6. ^ "Freising". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-04.
  7. ^ "Munich-Freising". Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 10. Robert Appleton Company. 1911. Retrieved 2007-01-04.
  8. ^ "St. Corbinian". Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. Robert Appleton Company. 1908. Retrieved 2007-01-04.
  9. ^ a b "The bear and the scallop-shell - a unique papal coat of arms". Catholic World News. 2005-04-27. Retrieved 2007-01-05. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ "The Coat of Arms of His Holiness Benedict XVI". Vatican. Retrieved 2007-01-05.
  11. ^ Grindley, Carl James. Corbinian's Bear: Hirsute, Corpulent Chattel?. Catholic World Press (2008) Exhaustive study of Catholic iconography. English translation ISBN: 0978980824 (paperback).
  12. ^ "L'Osservatore Romano publishes new Papal coat of arms". Catholic News Agency. 2005-04-28. Retrieved 2007-01-05. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ Ratzinger, Joseph. Milestones: Memoirs 1927-1977. Ignatius Press (1998) Autobiography written during his pre-papal years. English translation ISBN: 0739456261 (hardcover); 0898707021 (paperback).
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