Saint Wolfgang of Regensburg

**Saint Wolfgang of Regensburg** (c. 934–994) was a Benedictine monk, missionary, and bishop who became one of the three great German saints of the tenth century, alongside Saint Ulrich of Augsburg and Saint Conrad of Constance. Known as the *Eleemosynarius Major*—the Great Almoner—for his boundless charity, he combined contemplative depth with tireless pastoral reform. ## Life Wolfgang was born around 934 into the noble family of the Swabian Counts of Pfullingen. As a boy of seven, he received his first tutor at home before being sent to the renowned Benedictine abbey on the island of Reichenau in Lake Constance. There he formed a lasting friendship with Henry of Babenberg, brother of Bishop Poppo of Würzburg. When Henry became Archbishop of Trier in 956, Wolfgang followed him and taught at the cathedral school, where he came into contact with the reform movements emanating from Saint Maximin's Abbey. The death of Archbishop Henry in 964 turned Wolfgang's heart toward the cloister. He entered the Benedictine Abbey of Maria Einsiedeln in Switzerland, where he was appointed director of the monastery school. Ordained priest by Saint Ulrich of Augsburg in 968, Wolfgang was sent as a missionary to the Magyars of Hungary—a difficult mission that yielded limited results. But Emperor Otto II had recognized his gifts. At Christmas 972, over Wolfgang's protests, he was appointed Bishop of Regensburg. As bishop, Wolfgang never abandoned his monastic identity. He wore the black Benedictine habit throughout his episcopacy and lived an austere life amid the wealth of his see. He reformed Saint Emmeram's Abbey by restoring its independence from episcopal control—a revolutionary act that other German bishops soon imitated. He founded the convent of Mittelmünster in 983 and reformed the convents of Obermünster and Niedermünster. Wolfgang served as tutor to the future Emperor Saint Henry II, who learned from him the principles that would govern his own holy reign. He showed remarkable episcopal generosity in willingly ceding territory from his own diocese to establish the new see of Prague under Saint Adalbert in 975. Around 976, during political turmoil, Wolfgang withdrew to the Salzkammergut region of what is now Upper Austria. He lived as a hermit in caves at Falkenstein above the lake that would later bear his name, and according to legend built a small church at the spot where his thrown axe had landed—the origin of the great pilgrimage church of St. Wolfgang. On October 31, 994, Wolfgang died at Pupping near Linz while traveling on the Danube. His body was returned to Regensburg and buried in the crypt of Saint Emmeram's. Miracles multiplied at his tomb. Pope Leo IX canonized him in 1052. ## Veneration Wolfgang's cult spread rapidly after his canonization. Numerous churches throughout Bavaria, Austria, and beyond took him as their patron, and several towns were named after him. The most famous pilgrimage site remains St. Wolfgang im Salzkammergut, where Michael Pacher's magnificent fifteenth-century altarpiece depicts scenes from his life on its outer wings. He is sometimes counted among the Fourteen Holy Helpers. His remains rest in the crypt of Saint Emmeram's Abbey in Regensburg. ## Feast Day **October 31** ## Patronage Carpenters, woodcutters, wood carvers, the city of Regensburg, protection against apoplexy, paralysis, stomach diseases, and strokes ## Symbols Bishop's vestments with Benedictine habit, axe, church building, devil (referring to the legend of the church construction)