Blessed Burchard of Beinwil
ALso known as
- Burcardo
- Burkard
- 18 May
- Monday after Ascension Day (Beinwil, Switzerland)
- 27 June on some calendars
- 20 August (pilgrimage date)
Profile
Educated at the Benedictine monastery near his home village. Had some connection to the Kappel monastery as he is mentioned in their records. Parish priest in Beinwil, Switzerland. Known as a miracle worker, but primarily for his decades of concern for the physical and spiritual well-being of his parishioners.
Legend says that Burchard raised a wild bird from a chick (an owl, crow or jackdaw; records vary), and taught it not only to speak, but to hold conversations with him. When his household fell into evil and dissolute ways while Burchard was gone, the bird told the priest what it had witnessed. The servants killed the bird and threw the carcass into a mine shaft near the vicarage. The dead bird returned to him and managed to explain what had happened and who had done it.
Burchard once travelled to the nearby village to Unterhorben to minister to a dying woman. He was met on the road by a messenger who told him that the woman had died and he need not continue. Father Burchard went on to the house, prayed over the woman, and she came back to life long enough to receive the final sacraments and blessings.
Born
- early 12th century in Langemat, Muri, Switzerland
- c.1192 in Beinwil, Switzerland of natural causes
- buried in his parish church graveyard
- tomb opened and relics moved during the construction of a chapel on his grave site in 1619
- tomb opened and relics moved during renovation in 1754
- relics returned to the tomb in 1784
- a spring-fed holy well is found near his tomb
- beginning immediately after his death locals visited his grave to ask for intercession
- by 1228 there was a lamp burning perpetually at his grave
- by 1407 there are records of pilgrimages to his tomb
- by 1587 there are statements by witnesses to miracles obtained through the intercession of Father Burchard
- a confraternity dedicated to Blessed Burchard, Saint Peter and Saint Paul was founded in 1588
- titular patron of his parish church in 1813
- Sacred Congregation of Rites granted the celebration of a Mass and Office in his honour in 1817
- feast added to the Proper of the diocese of Basel, Switzerland in 1866
- priest with an owl, crow, jackdaw or blackbird, which sometimes has a broken wing, and which sometimes sits in his hand
MLA Citation
- “Blessed Burchard of Beinwil“. CatholicSaints.Info. 21 August 2022. Web. 28 March 2024. <>