Feast Day of St Henry-July 13, 2009

Patron of the childless, of Dukes, of the handicapped and those rejected by Religious Order 1024

St. Henry, son of Henry, Duke of Bavaria, and of Gisella, daughter of Conrad, King of Burgundy, was born in 972. He received an excellent education under the care of St. Wolfgang, Bishop of Ratisbon. In 995, St. Henry succeeded his father as Duke of Bavaria, and in 1002, upon the death of his cousin, Otho III, he was elected emperor. Firmly anchored upon the great eternal truths, which the practice of meditation kept alive in his heart, he was not elated by this dignity and sought in all things, the greater glory of God. He was most watchful over the welfare of the Church and exerted his zeal for the maintenance of ecclesiastical discipline through the instrumentality of the Bishops. He gained several victories over his enemies, both at home and abroad, but he used these with great moderation and clemency. In 1014, he went to Rome and received the imperial crown at the hands of Pope Benedict VIII. On that occasion he confirmed the donation, made by his predecessors to the Pope, of the sovereignty of Rome and the exarchate of Ravenna. Circumstances several times drove the holy Emperor into war, from which he always came forth victorious. He led an army to the south of Italy against the Saracens and their allies, the Greeks, and drove them from the country. The humility and spirit of justice of the Saint were equal to his zeal for religion. He cast himself at the feet of Herebert, Bishop of Cologne, and begged his pardon for having treated him with coldness, on account of a misunderstanding. He wished to abdicate and retire into a monastery, but yielded to the advice of the Abbot of Verdun, and retained his dignity. Both he and his wife, St. Cunegundes, lived in perpetual chastity, to which they had bound themselves by vow. The Saint made numerous pious foundations, gave liberally to pious institutions and built the Cathedral of Bamberg. His holy death occurred at the castle of Grone, near Halberstad, in 1024. His feast day is July 13th. He is the patron saint of the childless, of Dukes, of the handicapped and those rejected by Religious Order.

I couldn't find the Saint on my Traditional Catholic calendar online so I picked from several others. My great-grandparents, or someone from my grandfather's family, came from Bavaria. My Bavarian great-grandmother's first name was Kunigunda, or something like that, and Henry happened to be the name of one of her sons, my great-uncle.

The priest who says our Latin Mass told me and his Confirmation class that he's going to give the name "Kunigunda" to any child who doesn't come up with a name of their own. I told him I was considering suggesting the names "George" and "Theodore" for the boys. The priest's first name is George and the Latin Mass community I belong to is "St Mother Theodore Guerin." Then I thought of a male Saint's name that was about as different as Kunigunda. Polycarp. St. Polycarp was Bishop of Smyrna, in Asia Minor and was believed to have died a martyr at an advanced age. St. Polycarp was an "Apostolic Father", one of the bishops who were immediate disciples of the Apostles.