The Oblation Journal

Saint Henry II (May 6, 973 – July 13, 1024), called the Holy or the Saint, was the fifth and last Holy Roman Emperor of the Saxon dynasty from his coronation in Rome in 1014 until his death a decade later. He was crowned King of Germany in 1002 and King of Italy in 1004. He was the only German king to be canonised.

He was the son of Henry II, Duke of Bavaria. As his father had rebelled against two previous emperors, he was often in exile. This led the younger Henry to turn to the Church at an early age, first finding refuge with Abraham, Bishop of Freising, and later being educated at the cathedral school of Hildesheim. He succeeded his father as Duke of Bavaria in 995 as Henry IV.

St. Henry’s most significant contributions as emperor came in the realm of church-state relations and ecclesiastic administration within the Empire. He supported the bishops against the monastic clergy and aided them in establishing their temporal rule over broad territories. He strongly enforced clerical celibacy in order that the public land and offices he granted the church would not be passed on to heirs. This ensured that the bishops remained loyal to him, from whom they received their power, and provided a powerful bulwark against rebellious nobles and ambitious family members. Henry founded the Diocese of Bamberg, which quickly became a center of scholarship and art, in 1007.

St. Henry had been working with the pope to call a Church Council to confirm his new system of politico-ecclesiastical control when he died suddenly in 1024, leaving this work unfinished. St. Henry and his wife, St. Cunigunde of Luxemburg, had no children, reportedly because they had taken a mutual vow of chastity. The Church canonised Henry in the year 1146 (possibly by Pope Clement II, and his spouse, Cunigunde, in 1200, by Pope Innocent III.

Most of his adult life St. Henry was himself an lay Benedictine Oblate and protected and promoted the Oblate vocation. St. Henry is buried in Bamberg Cathedral, which also has the tomb of Pope Clement II. He is the patron saint of the city of Basel, Switzerland and of Benedictine Oblates.

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

COMMEMORATION OF SAINT HENRY
Principal Patron of Benedictine Oblates

Antiphon:
The world, † and all things earthly, this man despised, triumphant: he laid up treasures in heaven by word and deed [alleluia].

V. The Lord guided the righteous in right paths [alleluia].
R. And showed him the kingdom of God [alleluia].

Let us pray.
O God, who didst cause thy blessed Confessor Saint Henry to pass from the crown of
earthly empire to thy everlasting kingdom of heaven: We humbly beseech thee that, as by the
abundance of thy grace preventing him, thou didst enable him to overcome the temptations
of this life, so thou wouldst suffer us, following his pattern, to avoid the deceits of this world,
and in perfect purity of heart to attain unto thee; Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, through all the ages of ages. R. Amen.