Eustace of Luxeuil (c. 560 – c. 626), also known as Eustasius, was the second
abbot
Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. Th ...
of
Luxeuil from 611. He succeeded his teacher
Columbanus
Columbanus ( ga, Columbán; 543 – 21 November 615) was an Irish missionary notable for founding a number of monasteries after 590 in the Frankish and Lombard kingdoms, most notably Luxeuil Abbey in present-day France and Bobbio Abbey in pr ...
, to whom he had been a favorite disciple and
monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
. He had been the head of the monastic school.
Life
Eustace was born in Burgundy and became a monk at Luxeuil.
When Columbanus, the founder of Luxeuil, was banished from the Kingdom of Burgundy, on account of his reproving the morals of King
Theuderic II, he recommended his community choose Eustace as his successor. Subsequently, Columbanus settled at Bobbio in Italy.
[Cullen, John. "St. Eustace." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 6 Dec. 2014]
/ref> After the death of Theuderic, Clothaire II sent Eustace to Bobbio to ask Columbanus to return, but the exiled abbot declined.[Englebert, Omer. ''The Lives of the Saints'', Barnes & Noble Publishing, 1951]
Under the administration of Eustace, the monastery acquired renown as a seat of learning and sanctity. Through the royal patronage, its benefices and lands were increased, King Clotaire II devoting a yearly sum, from his own revenues, towards its support. Eustace and his monks devoted themselves to preaching in remote districts, not yet evangelized, chiefly in the north-eastern extremities of Gaul. Their missionary work extended even to Bavaria. Between the monasteries of Luxeuil in France and that of Bobbio in Italy (both founded by Columbanus), connection and intercourse seem to have long been kept up.[
During his abbacy, the monastery contained about 600 monks and produced both bishops and saints, including Acarius, ]Amatus
::''This article is not about St. Aimé, who is also called ''Saint Amatus'' and has the same memorial day''
Saint Amatus, (c.560-c.627)) also called Amatus of Grenoble or Saint Ame or Aimee, was a Colombanian monk and hermit. Together with S ...
, Audomar, and Romaric.[ Eustace was noted for his humility, continual ]prayer
Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deifi ...
, and fasting
Fasting is the abstention from eating and sometimes drinking. From a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (see " Breakfast"), or to the metabolic state achieved after co ...
.[ Eustasius undertook missionary journeys to the Variscans on the river Doubs and as far as Bavaria. Around 625 he founded a monastery on the island of Herrenchiemsee. He was succeeded as abbott by Waldebert.
A tradition states that he cured ]Sadalberga
Sadalberga (or Salaberga) (c. 605 – c. 670) was the daughter of Gundoin, Duke of Alsace and his wife Saretrude. Sadalberga founded the Abbey of St John at Laon. She is the subject of a short hagiography, the '' Vita Sadalbergae''.
Life
Gundoin ...
of blindness
Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment†...
. Upon returning from Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...
, her father, Gundoin, Duke of Alsace provided hospitality to the abbot on his travels. Duke Gundoin and his wife brought two of their sons for the abbot's blessing but were hesitant to present the blind child. Through the prayers of Eustace the child was cured of her blindness.[
His feast day is March 29.
]
References
*
External links
Biografie der Diözesanbibliothek Münster
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eustace Of Luxeuil
560s births
620s deaths
French abbots
7th-century Frankish people
7th-century Frankish saints
Colombanian saints
Year of birth uncertain
Year of death uncertain
Year of birth unknown
Baiuvarii