Catholic Saints
Saint Rupert of Salzburg
Feast Day 09/24/2012
Patronage State of Salzburg
Little is known of St. Rupert of Salzburg, but tradition states that he was a scion of the Frankish royal Merovingian family. It is also known that he was the uncle of St. Erentrude. St. Rupert was the Bishop of Worms, until 697 when he was appointed to become a missionary to Regensburg in Bavaria. It is also believed that he baptized a number of nobles, one being Duke Theodo of Bavaria.
After he has success at evangelizing this area, he moved to Altotting, and was successful at converting their area to Christianity. He was known for introducing education and other reforms in the area that he catechized. After converting and baptizing Duke Theodo, the duke gave him land at Iuvavum, where he built the Abbey of St. Peter, and the Nonnberg Convent, where his niece Erendruda was the Abbess. He was also known to have converted pagan temples into Christian Churches.
He promoted the salt mines of Salzburg, and was the creator of the salt mining industry. That is why it was renamed Salzburg. He made this area his base after renaming it. It is reported that he died on Easter Sunday, in the year 710. His relics are now located in the Cathedral of Salzburg.
Practical Take Away
St. Rupert of Salzburg was a Bishop that was willing to go where the people needed him. He spent his time going throughout the areas catechizing the people, baptizing them as Christians, introducing to them education and reform. He was successful at converting entire areas that he was sent to as a missionary, before moving on to the next. Many have tried to convert entire areas with out a lot of success, but St. Rupert was known for his great success of conversions. So much so – that he even converted pagan churches into Christian churches. We can rely on his intercession to help us; he’s only a prayer away. He also was attributed for creating the salt mining industry, changing the name of their town to Salzburg.