Bogumilus, in Polish Bogumił Piotr, (also known as Bogimilus and Theophilus)Bunson, Matthew. "Bogumilus", ''Our Sunday Visitor's Encyclopedia of Saints'', OSV Publishing, 2003
was Archbishop of Gniezno and a

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...

.St. Bogumilus
Catholic Online

Life

Bogumilus and his twin brother, Boguphalus, were born into a noble family in about 1135 at Dobrów,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. They studied in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. Having completed his studies Bogumilus was ordained a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

near Dobrów. His uncle, who was the Archbishop of Gniezno, made him the chancellor of

Gniezno Gniezno (; german: Gnesen; la, Gnesna) is a city in central-western Poland, about east of Poznań. Its population in 2021 was 66,769, making it the sixth-largest city in the Greater Poland Voivodeship. One of the Piast dynasty's chief cities, ...

. Bogumilus succeededed his uncle as Archbishop of Gniezno in 1167. Bogumilus founded a Cistercian

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The con ...

Koronowo Koronowo (Polish pronunciation: ; , archaic ''Polnisch Krone'') is a town on the Brda River in Poland, located in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, 25 km from Bydgoszcz, with 11,029 inhabitants (2010). It is located in the historic regi ...

. He resigned his

see See or SEE may refer to: * Sight - seeing Arts, entertainment, and media * Music: ** ''See'' (album), studio album by rock band The Rascals *** "See", song by The Rascals, on the album ''See'' ** "See" (Tycho song), song by Tycho * Television * ...

in 1172, possibly due to opposition by his clergy to what they viewed as his excessive strictness. Bogumilus then joined the Camaldolese hermits at Uniedow, Poland, where he remained until his death. While on his deathbed, it is believed that Bogumilus saw a

vision Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain und ...

of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

and Child, surrounded by a throng of

angels In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles incl ...

, who were inviting him to heaven.

Legacy and Veneration

The cult and

veneration Veneration ( la, veneratio; el, τιμάω ), or veneration of saints, is the act of honoring a saint, a person who has been identified as having a high degree of sanctity or holiness. Angels are shown similar veneration in many religions. Ety ...

of Bogumilus began almost immediately after his death, especially in

Eastern Poland Eastern Poland is a macroregion in Poland comprising the Lublin, Podkarpackie, Podlaskie, Świętokrzyskie, and Warmian-Masurian voivodeships. The make-up of the distinct macroregion is based not only of geographical criteria, but also econo ...

. Many people prayed for his

intercession Intercession or intercessory prayer is the act of praying to a deity on behalf of others, or asking a saint in heaven to pray on behalf of oneself or for others. The Apostle Paul's exhortation to Timothy specified that intercession prayers s ...

for things such as

health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

, good

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animal ...

and a good catch while

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

. When they were answered, many faithful visited his tomb and it became a place for local

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

. Yet it was not until 1625 that the formal process of

beatification Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...

began under the

Primate of Poland This is a list of archbishops of the Archdiocese of Gniezno, who are simultaneously primates of Poland since 1418.Archbishop

Maciej Łubieński Maciej Łubieński (1572 in Łubna – 1652 in Łowicz), of Pomian coat of arms, was a primate of Poland, archbishop of Gniezno, bishop of Poznań, bishop of Kujawy and interrex in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was educated in Sieradz ...

The files were sent to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1651, however the process was never completed as the ''Book of Miracles'', which was in the hands of a

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

, by the name of Sebastian Głębocki, was burned at his

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...

in Głębokie,

Kruszwica Kruszwica (german: Kruschwitz) is a town in central Poland and is situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship (since 1999), previously in Bydgoszcz Voivodeship (1975–1998). It has a population of 9,412 (2004). Initially founded in the 6th ...

. In 1788 a small wooden chapel dedicated to Bogumilus was built, in the wetlands of the Rivers

Warta The river Warta ( , ; german: Warthe ; la, Varta) rises in central Poland and meanders greatly north-west to flow into the Oder, against the German border. About long, it is Poland's second-longest river within its borders after the Vistula, a ...

and Teleszyny, near Dobrów, and still stands until this day. The process of

would remain dormant until 1908, when Stanislaw Zdzitowiecki, the

Bishop of Kujawy A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, reactivated the process. On 27 May 1925 Pope Pius XI proclaimed Bogumilus, as

Blessed Blessed may refer to: * The state of having received a blessing * Blessed, a title assigned by the Roman Catholic Church to someone who has been beatified Film and television * ''Blessed'' (2004 film), a 2004 motion picture about a supernatural ...

. Later

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

would bestow on Bogumilus the patronage of the

Archdiocese of Gniezno The Archdiocese of Gniezno ( la, Archidioecesis Gnesnensis, pl, Archidiecezja Gnieźnieńska) is the oldest Latin Catholic archdiocese in Poland, located in the city of Gniezno.scholars believe that Bogumilus is the amalgamation of two historical figures by the names of Bogumił and Piotr, one of whom was the archbishop and the other a monk or the

bishop of Poznań A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

. There is no definitive evidence, to support this, however, and most modern historians regard Bogumił Piotr, as one historical person, who is

venerated Veneration ( la, veneratio; el, τιμάω ), or veneration of saints, is the act of honoring a saint, a person who has been identified as having a high degree of sanctity or holiness. Angels are shown similar veneration in many religions. Etym ...

in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. In support of this view, it is possible that the archbishop had been christened as Piotr and might have taken the name Bogumił as his monastic name. The support for this theory is the fact that this name already had a place of honor in the Camaldolese Order, as the original Bogumilus was a member of the first

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...

of the Order outside of Italy. All the members of this 11th-century community were murdered and are considered martyrs within the Order. An account of their deaths was written by their colleague, Saint

Bruno of Querfurt Bruno of Querfurt ( 974 – 14 February or 9/14 March 1009), also known as ''Brun'' and ''Boniface'', was a Christian missionary bishop and martyr, who was beheaded near the border of Kievan Rus and Lithuania for trying to spread Christianity. H ...

, and the memory of these martyred monks would have been still fresh to the Polish Camaldolese monks of his day. Archbishop Bogumił is mentioned as the probable founder of Gniezno door

References

External links

Virtual tour Gniezno Cathedral
{{Authority control Polish beatified people Archbishops of Gniezno Hermits 1130s births 12th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Poland Beatifications by Pope Pius XI Polish twins People from Koło County Bishops of Poznań