St.Benno

June 16 reminder
Position: Bishop OSB
Death: 1106
Patron: of fishermen and cloth workers; helper against plague; protection against bad weather and supplicant for rain
Attributes: bishop, keys, fish
CURRICULUM VITAE

He received priestly ordination as a Benedictine monk and was elected bishop at the age of 56. He faithfully led the Meissen diocese for 40 years and, in the process, learned the Slavic language. With tireless patience and love, he preached the Gospel to the surrounding Slavs. In the territory of the Elbe Slavs, he built churches and supported the poor, and was called their apostle. During the war of the oppressed Slavs against the king, Benno remained on the sidelines; therefore, the king imprisoned him and plundered the bishopric. When Benno gained his freedom, he repaired what had been destroyed. During the schism, he stood loyally by the Pope.
CV FOR MEDITATION

RELIGION OF THE POLABIAN SLAVS
He was born in 1010 in Hildesheim, Germany, during the reign of Henry II, as the second son of Count Frederick of Bullenburg and his wife, Bezela. His name, Benno, translates as Zbyněk. His father had extensive estates in Lower Saxony. From the age of about six, Benno was with the local bishop and later saint Bernward (d. 20 November), who was his relative and promised the boy a good upbringing and education. This was provided to him by the prior Viger of Hildesheim. Bishop Bernward spent the last five years of his illness confined to his bed, and his comfort was Benno, who spent a lot of time with him. He strongly encouraged him to live a virtuous life and gave him fatherly advice. When the bishop died, Benno was 12 years old and then continued his education. At twenty, his father died and, with his mother’s consent, he entered the Benedictine monastery of St. Michael in Hildesheim.

He lived ascetically, was a patient and very good monk. At the age of 25, he was ordained a deacon, and five years later, a priest. At the age of 32, he was elected his successor after the abbot’s death. He submitted to the election only out of obedience, and after three months, he managed to take the rank.

Emperor Henry III founded a chapter in Goslar on the Gose River, which he wanted to staff with the best clergy. According to his wishes, later bishops were to come from the school there. He also requested Benno there through Pope Leo IX. Benno managed the school there for 17 years. In 1066, he was called as bishop to Meissen. The former provost of Goslar, Archbishop Hanno, took care of this.

Benno received episcopal ordination in Magdeburg with the determination to exert all his strength and act as a good shepherd even if it meant laying down his life.

Despite years of suppression and denationalization by German rulers, the Meissen diocese was still mostly Slavic, and Slavs also lived in the neighborhood. Many of these Slavs had previously been forced to accept Christianity, but over time, they returned to idolatry. At the time of Benn’s accession to the bishopric, the Elbe Slavs in Lončina murdered the Christian king Gotsalk for submitting to a ruler who belonged to the enemy. And so the rebellion of the Slavs from the Elbe to the Baltic against German rule grew. It was a national-pagan act. Temples and monasteries were demolished, Christians were expelled, clergy were stoned, and Bishop Jan of Raróż was murdered in honor of the pagan god Radegast. This happened in the neighboring diocese. The Slavs had already had bad experiences: soon, the German priest was followed by his sovereign’s army. The imperial men assumed the right to rule, imposed taxes and other burdens, so that distrust of the heralds of Christianity was rooted in the pagan Slavs.

Benno came to this poorly prepared soil as a bishop to sow the word of God. He first won over his Slavic charges with kindness and gentleness. He then tried to convert them to Christianity through kind instruction. He thoroughly learned the Slavic language and armed himself with patience. He supported the poor and built churches among the Slavs. Their initial distrust weakened when they saw that he behaved completely differently from what they were used to from the Germans. He leaned towards them like a father, showed his sincere love, and had a blessed effect.

In 1075, war broke out between King Henry IV and the Saxon nobles. The Slavs rose against the king to free themselves from oppression. Benno remained on the sidelines, did not interfere in politics or in the fighting. The arrogant Henry IV resented him for not helping him, attacked Meissen, captured him, imprisoned him, took everything from him, and plundered the entire bishopric. Benno’s greatest pain was that his flock was left without a shepherd, and the war severely damaged his work among the Slavs. He endured the other sufferings associated with imprisonment patiently and with surrender to the will of God. After a year, he gained his freedom and set about restoring what had been damaged by the war.

Henry, possessed by pride, summoned the German bishops to Worms to depose the Pope. Benno disobeyed him and instead traveled to Rome. This made it clear whose side he was on. Gregory VII welcomed his faithful bishop and wished to keep him with him. Benno was able to return to his bishopric only after Henry IV was forced to submit to the Pope.

His return is the subject of a story for which he has a key and a fish among his attributes. Before leaving for Rome, he gave the canons the key to the main church, ordering them to guard it against the emperor’s followers. They were to throw the key into the Elbe as soon as Henry’s curse occurred. They supposedly did so. According to legend, the key was then found in a large fish being cooked at an inn where Benno stopped on his way back with the relics of the saints.

After his return, he only cared about the spiritual well-being of the people entrusted to him. In his zealous activity, he did not neglect the spiritual connection with the Lord, deepened by prayer. People came to him in large numbers with their idols, which they broke, and received the sacraments from him. A legendary story mentions the Svatodoł valley, somewhere near Meissen, in which Bishop Benno preached and baptized. Once, during a very hot day, many people gathered around him; there was no water, and some in the crowd fainted. The bishop is said to have helped by driving a shepherd’s staff into the ground, and when he pulled it out, a spring of water gushed out behind it.

He administered his diocese for forty years, and at the age of 96, after preparing for death, he said goodbye to the canons and gave up his soul to the Lord.