Bishop of Utrecht, Apostle of the Frisians, and son of St. Hilgis,
born in Northumbria, 658; died at Echternach, Luxemburg, 7 Nov., 739.
Willibrord made his early studies at the Abbey of Ripon near York, as a
disciple of St. Wilfrid, and then entered the Benedictine Order. When
twenty years old he went to Ireland and spent twelve years in the Abbey
of Rathmelsigi (identified by some as Mellifont in Co. Louth) under St.
Egbert. From him Willibrord and eleven companions received the mission
to Frisia, at the request of Pepin. They came to Utrecht but did not
remain there, repairing to the court of Pepin. In 692 Willibrord went to
Rome, received Apostolic authorization, and returned to his missionary
labours. At the wish of Pepin he went for a second time to Rome, was
consecrated Bishop of the Frisians by Sergius III (21 Nov., 695) in the
Church of St. Cecilia, and given the name of Clement. He also received
the pallium from the pope. On his return he laboured among the people
assigned to him; to raise recruits for future apostolic work he founded a
monastery at Utrecht, where also he built a church in honour of the
Holy Redeemer and made it his cathedral. In 698 he established an abbey
at the Villa Echternach on the Sure; this villa had been presented to
him by St. Irmina, daughter of St. Dagobert II, the donation being
legally confirmed in 706.When Radbod gained possession of all Frisia (716) Willibrord was
obliged to leave, and Radbod destroyed most of the churches, replaced
them by temples and shrines to the idols, and killed many of the
missionaries. Willibrord and his companions made trips between the Maas
and the Waal, to the North of Brabant, in Thuringia and Geldria, but met
with no success in Denmark and Helgoland. After the death of Radbod he
returned (719) and repaired the damages done there, being ably assisted
in this work by St. Boniface. Numberless conversions were the result of
their labour. Willibrord frequently retired to the Abbey of Echternach
to provide more particularly for his own soul; he was buried in the
oratory of this abbey, and after death was almost immediadely honoured
as a saint. Some relics were distributed in various churches, but the
greater part remained at the abbey. On 19 Oct., 1031, the relics were
placed in a shrine under the main altar of the new basilica. His feast
is celebrated on 7 Nov., but in England, by order of Leo XIII, on 29
Nov. Since his burial Echternacht has been a place of pilgrimage, and
Alcuin mentions miracles wrought there. The old church was restored in
1862 and consecrated in Sept., 1868. Another solemn translation of the
relics took place on 4 June, 1906, from the Church of St. Peter to the
new basilica. On this occasion occurred also the annual procession of
the holy dancers (see below). Five bishops in full pontificals
assisted; engaged in the dance were 2 Swiss guards, 16 standard-bearers,
3045 singers, 136 priests, 426 musicians, 15,085 dancers, and 2032
players (Studien u. Mittheilungen, 1906, 551).
No writing can with certainty be attributed to St. Willibrord except a
marginal note in the Calendar of Echternach giving some chronological
data. On his testament or last will, which is probably genuine, see
“Acts SS.”, III Nov., 631. In the national library of Paris (No. 9389)
there is a copy of the Gospels under the name of Willibrord; this is an
old Irish manuscript and was probably brought by Willibrord from Ireland
(Bellesheim, “Gesch. der kath. Kirche in Irland”, I, Mainz, 1890, 623).
The Life was written by Alcuin and dedicated to
BEORNRAD. (Abbot of Echternach). He probably made use of an older one
written by a British monk, which is lost. This was used also by
THEOFRIC.
FRANCIS MERSHMAN (Catholic Encyclopedia)
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