Saint of the Day – 10 September – St Theodard (c618-670) Bishop and Martyr of Maastricht, formerly the Abbot of of the Double Monastery of Stavelot-Malmedy, Defender and protector of his flock and the Church. Born in c618 in Speyer, Germany and died by being mrdered in Rülzheim, Germany, while journeying to obtain protestion of his Diocese from the plunderings of Frankish nobles. Patronage – of drovers, cattle dealers and the City of Maastricht. Also known as – Theodard of Maastricht, Theodard of Tongres, Teodard, Teodardo…Diethardt or Dodart.
The Roman Martyrology reads today: “At Liege, in Belgium, St Theodard, Bishop and Martyr, who laid down his life for his flock and after his death, was renowned for the gift of miracles.”
Theodard was born around 618 in the area of Speyer in Germany. He is thought to have been a disciple of St Remaclus , the Abbot, at the Monastery of Stavelot in Belgium. When St Remaclus became Bishop of Tongeren-Maastricht in around 653, Theodard succeeded him as the Abbot of the Double Monastery of Stavelot-Malmedy. When Remaclus retired to Stavelot in 663, Theodard again succeeded him and became the Bishop of Maastricht.
His biographers describe him as a cheerful and likeable man who performed his role as the Bishop, with great energy and pastoral care. As Bishop, he built and restored Churches, founded Monasteries, promoted evangelisation, charityand the care of the poor, the ill, orphans and widows.
He was murdered, in around 670, while on a journey through the forests of Bienwald south of Speyer, close to the Village of Rülzheim, on his way to seek justice from Childeric II of Austrasia in a legal dispute against Frankish nobles plundering the property of his Diocese. It is generally suspected that the murder was carried out on behalf of the nobles.
At first buried at the scene in Rülzheim, his body was later translated to Liege by his nephew and successor, St Lambert of Maastricht.
Because he was murdered on his way to defend the rights of the Church, he was honoured as a Martyr. A Chapel was built at his place of death and original burial in Rülzheim, called the ‘Dieterskirchel.’ The place became an important pilgrimage site and is one of the oldest in the Diocese of Speyer. Baronius added his name to the Roman Martyrology when it was revised in the late 1500s. Theodard is venerated as the Patron Saint of Drovers, cattle dealers and the City of Maastrict.
The Dieterskirchel Chapel, below, was built on the eastern edge of the vast forest south of the Town of Rülzheim and attracted pilgrimages and processions from Rülzheim, Rheinzabern and elsewhere. St Anselm (1033-1109) mentions a Church built in honour of St Theodard. A larger Church replaced it the 14th Century but was demolished in the 19th Century. The current Chapel, built in 1957, replaced its predecessor.
AnaStpaul 