Saint of the Day – 28 June – St Heimerad (c970-1019) Priest, Pilgrim

Saint of the Day – 28 June – St Heimerad (c970-1019) Priest, Pilgrim, Hermit, Miracle-worker. Born in c970 at Baden, Swabia, Germany and died on 28 June 1019 in Germany, of natural causes. Also known as – Eimerado, Heimrad, Haimrad or Heimo.

According to some sources Heimrad was born of a noble family but others say he was the son of a slave who was in the service of a wealthy lady who encouraged Heimerad to study to become a Priest. Heimerad was being Ordained at around 30 years of age.

Around 1006 he undertook numerous pilgrimages, to the seven pilgrimage Churches in Rome and to the Holy Land. After his return, he wanted to enter the Monastery in Memleben but was rejected and then went to the Benedictine mother Monastery in Hersfeld – today’s Bad Hersfeld – where he lived for a few years. But, he declined to take the religious vows and was, therefore, insulted, whipped and cast out by the enraged Abbot.

Heimerad then settled in Kirchberg as a Hermit and was soon accused of stealing from the Chapel and was again expelled. Heimerad then worked nearby (this period is mentioned in an extant sermon dated 1012). But, even from here he was chased out of town by the local Priest because he had reproached the Priest’s housekeeper, for her unvirtuous way of life and the Priest recognised this as an attack on himself.

He asked Bishop Meinwerk in Paderborn for accommodation but he was turned away because of his unkempt appearance, called the devil and whipped. As a holy fool, he continued to endure shame and ridicule, finally he found a place on the Hasunger Berg near Kassel and, together with his servant, took over the care of the St Michael’s Chapel there. Bishop Meinwerk visited him there and asked his forgiveness for his harshness.

At first Heimerad was mocked and scorned even there but with the passage of time he came to be revered as a saint and his advice was sought by the great – the Count Dodiko von Warburg and the Empress Kunigundebecame protectors and spiritual disciples of our Saint. Heimerad became the guardian of Christianity in the Franconian-Saxon border region, which had only recently been Christianised. His holiness attracted many followers to join the Monastery.

Numerous miracles and anecdotes have been handed down from this time. One day, while climbing the mountain, Hemmo, a friend of Heimerad’s, recognised the devil who was smashing the trees on the mountain with a large boulder. Hemmo crossed himself and boldly continued the climb, for Heimerad had foreseen this attack and warned Hemmo not to fear but to cross himself.

Heimerad died as the mountain’s guardian, well respected and loved by the people, the nobles and the Bishops and Priests of the surrounding area.

Two years after Heimerad’s death, Archbishop Eribo of Mainz built a Church on the site of his Hermitage which served as the nucleus of Hasungen Abbey, founded in 1074. Pilgrimages to his grave reached their high point in the second half of the 11th Century, when Hasungen ranked as the most visited place of pilgrimage in Germany.

Around 1076, Heimerad’s life story was written by the Monk Ekkebert on behalf of Abbot Hartwig of Hersfeld The Hasunger Berg quickly became one of the most visited German pilgrimage site. But the Monastery was dissolved during the Reformation in 1527.

There have been many ‘Lives’ written about Heimerad and his fascinating and often misunderstood, earthly pilgrimage. In 2019, on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of St Heimerad’s death, Stefan Blanz published a collection of contributions entitled “The Holy Heimerad – Priest. Pilgrim. Pauper of Christ.” The authors devote themselves to testimonies of veneration from the 11th Century to the present day.