Berthold of Garsten, Bl.
BERTHOLD OF GARSTEN, BL.
Benedictine, first abbot of Garsten (Germany); d. July 27, 1142. He was descended from a family of ministeriales, probably Swabian. He became a monk at sankt blasien and rose to position of subprior. He was prior at gÖttweig (1107) and abbot of Garsten (1111–42); the abbey flourished as a center of reform under his guidance. He was a strict but loving master in enforcing monastic observances. Humble, much given to prayer and the ascetical life, he was noted for charity to the poor and much sought as a wise and helpful confessor. Miracles at his grave in the monastery church made it a place of pilgrimage; a decree of canonization was issued by the bishop of Passau, July 16, 1236. Hearings on the recognition of his cult began in Rome in 1951; the cult was approved as a beatus.
Feast: July 27.
Bibliography: Acta Sanctorum July 6:469–494. f. x. pritz, Kurzgefasste Lebensgeschichte des heiligen Berthold (Linz 1842). w. neumÜller, "Berthold von Garsten: Ein Kremsmünster Beitrag zur Geschichte seiner Verehrung," Kremsmünster ober-Gymnasium Jahresbericht 94 (Wels 1951). j. lenzenweger, Berthold: Abt von Garsten (Linz 1958), includes vita and rich bibliog.
[d. andreini]