Saint of the Day – 19 July – Saint Stilla of Abenberg (Died c1140) Consecrated Virgin, Apostle of the poor and the sick. Born in the early 12th Century in Abenberg, in the Diocese of Eichstätt, Bavaria (in modern Germany) and died in c1140 in the same place of natural causes. Patronage of Abenberg. Name means: ‘Silence ‘(Old High German). Additional Memorial – 21 July on some calendars.
The details of Stilla’s life are uncertain; her Vita was written at the end of the 16th Century by the Proost of Spalt, Wolfgang Agricola.
Stilla was one of 5 children of the Count of the House of Abenberg. In 1132, she founded the Church of St Peter opposite the Abenberg Castle which Church was Consecrated in 1136 by St Otto the Bishop of Bamberg. In his presence, she and three companions took a vow of virginity and the four led a life of prayer and service to the sick in Abenberg.
St Stilla with donor and her Church
The Marienburg Monastery next to the Church of St Peter which was actually only founded in 1142 by Wolfram von Abenberg, was inhabited by Augustinian Nuns from 1482 and dissolved in 1806 during secularisation, is also sometimes attributed to Stilla. In 1920, this Monastery was resettled by the Sisters of our Sorrowful Mother, a regular Third Order of the Franciscans. .
Stilla’s Sarcophagus and her Gravestone – probably made around 1250 – are in the Church she had founded and dedicated to St Peter which was renovated between 1677 and 1685. The Grave has been a destination for pilgrims since 1480 and continues to be so today and many miracles are reported there. Below is an Ex Voto in gratitude to our Saint for the preservation of the Church during the Second World War.
In 1897, Stilla’s cult was approved by the local Bishop and on 12 January 1927 by Pope Pius XI.
St Stilla Shrine and Relics in the Monastery Church at Abenberg
St Ambrose Autpertus Bl Antonio of Valladolid St Aurea of Cordoba
St Arsenius the Great (c354-c 449) Deacon, Hermit, Desert Father, Theologian, writer. Arsenius one of the most highly regarded of the Desert Fathers, whose teachings were greatly influential on the development of asceticism and the contemplative life. His contemporaries so admired him as to surname him “the Great”. His Lifestory: https://anastpaul.com/2021/07/19/saint-of-the-day-19-july-saint-arsenius-the-great-c-354-c-449/
St Macrina the Younger (c 327-379) Virgin, Ascetic. With charm and grace, St Macrina ruled the roost in a family of saints. St Basil the Elder and St Emmelia, her parents, had ten children including the younger St Basil the Great (329-379) Father and Doctor of the Church, St Gregory of Nyssa (c 335–C 395) Father of the Church and St Peter of Sebaste Bishop (c 340–391). As the eldest child, Macrina exercised a formative influence on her more famous brothers and even on her mother. Her Life: https://anastpaul.com/2019/07/19/saint-of-the-day-19-july-saint-macrina-the-younger-c-327-379/
St Martin of Trier St Michael the Sabaitè Bl Pascasio of Lyon
St Romain of Ryazan St Pope Symachus (Died 514) Bishop of Rome from 22 November 498 until his death.
St Stilla of Abenberg (Died c1140) Virgin St Vicente Cecilia Gallardo
Martyrs of Meros – 3 Saints: Three Christians tortured and Martyred together in the persecutions of emperor Julian the Apostate and governor Almachio. We know nothing else about them but the names – Macedoniuis, Tatian and Theodule. They were burned to death on an iron grill in Meros, Phrygia (in modern Turkey).
Martyrs of China: 3 Beati: Beatified on 17 April 1955 by Pope Pius XII. Elisabeth Qin Bianshi Elisabeth Ioannes Baptista Zhu Wurui Simon Qin Chunfu
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