Pirmin

{{Infobox saint | honorific_prefix = Saint |name=Pirmin |birth_date= 700 |death_date= {{death date|753|11|3}} |image=Hornbacher_Sakramentar_fol._8v.jpg |imagesize= |caption=Illustration from the {{ill|Hornbach Sacramentary|de|Hornbacher Sakramentar}}: Abbot Adalbert of Hornbach presents the manuscript to his patron saint, Pirmin |birth_place= somewhere in Spain |death_place= Hornbach, Germany |feast_day= November 3 |titles= |venerated_in= Roman Catholic Church<br>Eastern Orthodox Church<br> |beatified_date= |beatified_place= |beatified_by= |canonized_date= |canonized_place= |canonized_by= |attributes= |patronage= |suppressed_date= |issues= |prayer= |prayer_attrib= }} [[File:Relic of Saint Pirminius - Speyer Cathedral - Speyer - Germany 2017.jpg|thumb|upright|Relic in Speyer Cathedral.]] '''Pirmin''' ({{langx|la|Pirminius}}; before 700 – November 3, 753),<ref name="old">{{cite book|last=Old|first=Hughes Oliphant|author-link=Hughes Oliphant Old|title=The reading and preaching of the scriptures in the worship of the Christian church|year=1998|publisher=Wm. Eerdmans|isbn=978-0-8028-4619-8|pages=137–40|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oEHfx7RRGcIC&pg=PA137|chapter=3}}</ref> was a Merovingian-era monk and missionary who founded or restored numerous monasteries in Alemannia. He is regarded as a saint in the Catholic Church.

==Biography== Pirmin was probably from the area of Narbonne, possibly of Visigothic origin.<ref name="old"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Jecker|first=Gall|title=Die Heimat des hl. Pirmin des Apostels der Alamannen|year=1927|publisher=Aschendorf}}</ref> Many Visigoths fled to Francia after the Arab conquest of Spain at the beginning of the 8th century.<ref name="fletcher">{{cite book|last=Fletcher|first=Richard A.|title=The barbarian conversion: from paganism to Christianity|year=1999|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-21859-8|pages=203–204|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RB5aWgr7l-gC&pg=PA203}}</ref>

From 718 onwards, he was abbot of the monastery ''Quortolodora'' in Antwerp (Austrasia)<ref>"De ecclesia in Antweppo ''(sic)'' castello" by Theodoricus, Codex aureus, Echternach, 1190-1191</ref> and, together with its pupils, served the church inside the broch, Het Steen. (In the 12th century, this church was dedicated to Saint Walpurga.) According to legend, Pirmin blessed a spring that wells up near Kaundorf. The spring’s water is said to have healing properties. A chapel on the site is dedicated to him.<ref>[https://www.naturpark-sure.lu/en/offer/st-pirmin-kapelle-kaundorf/ "St. Pirmin Kaundorf", Naturpark Öewersauer]</ref>

After a while Pirmin was invited by count Rohingus to stay at his ''villa'' in Thommen, near Sankt Vith in the Ardennes. Pirmin gained the favour of Charles Martel, mayor of the palace of Francia. He was sent to help rebuild Disentis Abbey in what is today Switzerland. In 724, he was appointed abbot of Mittelzell Abbey on Reichenau Island, which had earlier founded.<ref name="old"/> Later, for political reasons, he was banished to Alsace. In 753, he died in the abbey at Hornbach, where his body is entombed.

==Missionary and other activities== Pirmin's missionary work mainly took place in the Alsace and the upper area of the Rhine and the Danube. Besides actively preaching and converting, he also founded or reformed many monasteries, such as those at Amorbach, Gengenbach, Murbach, Wissembourg, Marmoutier, Neuweiler, and Reichenau. Pirmin secured endowments from area nobility: Odilo of Bavaria financed the foundation of Niederaltaich Abbey,<ref name="fletcher"/> Werner I of what became the Salian dynasty endowed the new abbey at Hornbach.

The most important of Pirmin's books is ''Dicta Abbatis Pirminii, de Singulis Libris Canonicis Scarapsus'' ("Words of Abbot Pirminius, extracts from the Single Canonical Books").<ref>J.P. Migne, ''Patrologia Latina'' 89, 1029 ff. ; {{cite book |editor1-first=Eckhard|editor1-last=Hauswald|title=Scarapsus|series=Monumenta Germaniae historica. Quellen zur Geistesgeschichte des Mittelalters|volume=25|year=2010|publisher=Hahnsche Buchhandlung|location=Hannover|isbn=978-3-7752-1025-6}}</ref> The book collects quotations from Church Fathers and scriptures, presumably for use by missionaries,<ref name="old"/> or reading during monastic meals. Written between 710-724, it contains the earliest appearance of the present text of the Apostles' Creed.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kelly|first=J.N.D.|title='Early Christian Creeds|year=1974|publisher=Longman|pages=398}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{cite web|language=italian|url=http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/76055|title=San Pirmino Abate|website=santiebeati.it}}

== See also == *Saint Boniface *Saint Willibrord *Schottenklöster

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pirmin}} Category:753 deaths Category:Medieval German saints Category:German abbots Category:8th-century Christian saints Category:670 births Category:Alsatian saints Category:Colombanian saints