Saint Heribert of Cologne

Saint Heribert was archbishop of Cologne at the turn of the tenth and eleventh centuries, and before that chancellor of Emperor Otto III. He is remembered as a shepherd devoted to prayer, to the poor, and to peace, and as the founder of the abbey at Deutz. The Church commemorates him on March 16.

He was born around 970 in Worms, into a powerful family; his father’s name was Hugo. He studied at the cathedral school in Worms and then at the Benedictine abbey of Gorze in Lorraine. He wanted to become a monk there, but before he made his vows he was called back to his home city, where he became provost of the cathedral chapter and in time was ordained a priest.

The young King Otto III appointed him chancellor for Italy in 994 and in 998 for Germany as well, and had in him his closest adviser. In 999, while Heribert was in Italy with the emperor, he was elected archbishop of Cologne. The Roman Martyrology notes that he was elected against his will. He received the pallium at Benevento from Pope Sylvester II. According to his Life he entered Cologne barefoot, in the middle of winter, and at Christmas 999 he was consecrated bishop.

In January 1002 he was present at the death of Otto III at Paterno and brought his body through a restless Italy to Aachen. On the way Duke Henry of Bavaria, who was reaching for the crown, forced him to hand over the imperial insignia and held him captive for a short time. Heribert was then supporting another candidate, but once Henry II became king he acknowledged him and served him faithfully. For years the king treated him with distrust. The Lives relate that a full reconciliation came only shortly before the archbishop’s death.

In Cologne Heribert became known as a zealous preacher and a protector of those in need. He gave his income to churches and the poor, and under his episcopal vestments he wore, as is reported, a hair shirt. Tradition tells that during a great drought he led a procession of supplication from the Church of Saint Severin to the Church of Saint Pantaleon, after which rain fell, and so he is invoked in prayers for rain. After the death of Otto III, in keeping with the plan they had shared, he founded a Benedictine abbey at Deutz, on the other bank of the Rhine opposite Cologne.

He died in Cologne on March 16, 1021, and was buried in the abbey church at Deutz. He was venerated as a saint from the very beginning. Around the middle of the eleventh century the monk Lantbert of Deutz wrote his Life, and in the following century the theologian Rupert of Deutz reworked it. On August 30, 1147, his relics were solemnly raised. They rest to this day at Deutz, in a reliquary of the twelfth century.

Heribert was not canonized in a formal process. The bull of canonization attributed to Pope Gregory VII is regarded by historians today as a forgery. His veneration is nevertheless ancient, and the Roman Martyrology lists him under March 16. The Archdiocese of Cologne keeps his memorial on August 30, the anniversary of the raising of his relics.