Gothard
was born in the Bavarian village of Reichersdorf. Ratmund, his father,
worked for the Canons of the neighboring Benedictine Abbey of
Nieder-Altaich.
Educated by the Benedictines, the young Bavarian
attracted the attention of the bishops of Passau and Regensburg, and the
favor of the Archbishop of Salzburg. The latter made the studious youth
Provost of the Canons at age nineteen.
When the Benedictine rule
was restored in Nieder-Altaich, Gothard, by now a priest, became a monk
in the abbey. He went on to become abbot, his installation being
honored by the presence of St. Henry, then Duke of Bavaria, and later
Emperor, and who greatly esteemed the holy abbot. St. Cunegunde, the
wife of the saintly Emperor, embroidered a belt for Gothard, which was
long venerated as a relic.
When the see of Hildesheim became
vacant, St. Henry nominated Gothard to the post, to which the saint
submitted complying with the wishes of his monarch and the support of
the clergy.
Despite being already sixty years old, he threw
himself into the work of his diocese with the zest and energy of a young
man. He restored and built many churches, fostered education, and built
a hospice for his beloved sick in the outskirts of Hildesheim.
Though
he had a great love for the truly needy, he looked askance at
able-bodied professional tramps. He called them “peripatetics” and would
not allow them to stay more than two or three days in his hospice.
The holy bishop died after a brief illness on May 4, 1038, and was canonized in 1131.
Photo by: Jirí Janícek
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