WIRNT, BL.

Benedictine abbot; d. March 10, 1127. Very little is known of the actual events of his life until 1108, when he became the second abbot of Formbach. This was a Benedictine abbey near Passau, founded in 1040 by Himiltrude, daughter of Count Henry of Vornbach. Wirnt proved himself to be a remarkable combination of the strict ascetic and the good administrator, and he was widely known for numerous miraculous cures of the sick. However, the author (gerhoh of reichersberg) of the extant vita was imbued with a superstition excessive even for his time and recorded little beyond miracles that are, in some cases, difficult to believe.

Feast: March 10.

Bibliography: "Wirnt (o)" Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner, 10 v. (2d, new ed. Freiburg 1957–65); suppl., Das Zweite Vatikanische Konzil: Dokumente und Kommentare, ed. h. s. brechter et al., pt. 1 (1966) v.10. Momumenta Germaniae Historica, (Berlin 1826–) "Scriptores" 15:1126–35, ed. o. holder-egger. Patrolgia Latina, ed. j. p. migne, 217 v., indexes 4 v. (Paris 1878–90) 194:1425–44, the vita is attributed to Gerhoh of Reichersberg (d. 1169), but Riezler [Forschungen zur deutschen Geschichte 18 (1878) 547] shows that it could not have been written before 1181. Bibliothec hagiographica latina antiquae et mediae aetatis, 2 v. (Brussels 1898–1901; suppl.1911) 2:8972. u. chevalier, Répertoire des sources historiques du moyen-âge. Biobibliographie, 2 v. (2d ed. Paris 1905–07) 2:4782. a. m. zimmermann, Kalendarium Bendictinum: Die Heiligen und Seligen des Benediktinerorderns und seiner Zweige, 4 v. (Metten 1933–38) 3:231–233.

[f. d. lazenby]