July 4 - Saint Ulrich of Augsburg
Ulric of Augusta
Udalric
Udalrich
Udalricus
Ubric
Uldaricus
Ulderic
Ulrich
Memorial
4 July
Profile
Son of Count Hucpald and Thetbirga; related to the dukes of Alamannia and the imperial family of the Ottos. He was a sickly child. Educated at the monastic school of Saint Gall where he proved to be an excellent student. Chamberlain to his uncle Blessed Adalbero, bishop of Augsburg. Priest. Bishop of Augsburg on 28 December 923.
Built churches, worked with the sick in hospital, endlessly visited his parishes, set a good example for his priests, brought relics from Rome – and his good work paid off in the form of improved moral and social conditions for both the clergy and laity.
When the Magyars plundered Germany, they besieged Augsburg. Due to Ulric’s courage, his leadership, and his ability to organize the resistance, Augsburg held until Emperor Otto arrived. On 10 August 955, a battle was fought in the Lechfeld, and the invaders finally defeated. Some legends say that Ulrich fought in the battle, but that was impossible.
After 48 years as bishop, an ill and exhausted Ulric resigned his seat, and handed the diocese to his nephew, a move which had the blessing of the emperor, but which the Synod of Ingelheim ruled un-canonical. They charged and tried the aging bishop for nepotism; Ulrich apologized, did penance, and was forgiven, the message of which reached him on his death bed.
A letter circulated for a while that indicated Ulric did not support priestly celibacy, seeing it as an unnecessary burden. However, this was later proven a forgery, and certainly Ulric had enforced the discipline on himself and his clergy.
Ulric was the first Saint canonized by a Pope, which led to the formal process which continues today. Legend has it that pregnant women who drank from his chalice had easy deliveries, and thus his patronage of them, and for easy births. The touch of his pastoral cross was used to heal people bitten by rabid dogs.
Born
890 at Kyburg, Zurich, Switzerland
Died
4 July 973 at Augsburg, Germany of natural causes
buried in the Church of Saint Afra
earth from his grave is reported to repel rodents, and over the centuries, much has been carried away for that purpose
Canonized
3 February 993 by Pope John XV
Patronage
against birth complications
against dizziness
against faintness
against fever
against frenzy
against mice
against moles
against vertigo
–
happy death
pregnant women
–
farmers
weavers
–
Augsburg, Germany, city of
Augsburg, Germany, diocese of
Creazzo, Italy
Klosterneuburg, Austria
Ovasta, Ovaro, Italy
Paderborn, Germany, archdiocese of
Representation
bishop holding a fish
at dinner with Saint Wolfgang
rewarding a messenger with a goose leg, which turns into a fish on Friday morning
giving a fish to a beggar
giving a garment to a beggar
with Saint Afra
riding through a river on horseback as his companion sinks
with a cross given him by an angel

www.ulrichswoche.de/mobile.html
Saturday of the Thirteenth week in Ordinary Time

Feast of the Church : In the USA: Independance Day

Saint(s) of the day : St. Elizabeth of Portugal (1271-1336)
Other saints of the day

Readings

Commentary of the day : Saint Pacian of Barcelona
"The bridegroom is with them"

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 9:14-17.
The disciples of John approached Jesus and said, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?"
Jesus answered them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse.
People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved."
dailygospel.org/M/AM/