EzineAdministrator
(.333 member)
07/11/04 12:02 AM
St Hubertus Day - November 3

St Hubertus Day has just been, on the 3rd of November.

St Hubertus is the patron saint of hunters for those who do not know.

Did anyone celebrate the day with a hunt or other suitable event?


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Some info I have pinched from the 'net.


Definition of Hubertus



Saint Hubertus or Hubert (ca 656 - 658, probably in Toulouse), - May 30, 727 or 728 in Tervueren near Liège , Belgium), called the "Apostle of the Ardennes" was the first Bishop of Liège. Hubertus is a Christian saint, the patron saint of hunters, opticians and metalworkers, and used to be invoked to cure rabies. Saint Hubert was widely venerated in the Middle Ages. For this, and partly because of his high Merovingian lineage, several former military orders were named after him: the Bavarian, the Bohemian and that of the Elector of Cologne.

The iconography of his legend are entangled with the legend of St Eustace.


His worldly career
Hubert was the eldest son and apparent heir of Bertrand or Boggis, duke of Aquitaine, and grandson of Charibert II, the Merovingian king at Toulouse. Bertrand's wife is variously given in hagiographies as Hugbern, and as Afre, and sister of Saint Oda or perhaps Oda herself, a mark of the low rating accorded women in Merovingian culture, where kings fathered heirs upon peasant women. Modern genealogy often lists Aude or Ode as a wife of Bertrand and mother of Hubert's brother Eudo.

As a youth, Hubert was sent to the Neustrian court of Theuderich III at Paris, where his charm and agreeable address led to his investment with the dignity of "count of the palace". Like all nobles of the time, Hubert was addicted to the chase. Meanwhile, the tyrannical conduct of Ebroin caused a general emigration of the nobles and others to the court of Austrasia at Metz. Hubert soon followed them and was warmly welcomed by Pippin of Heristal, mayor of the palace, who created him almost immediately grand-master of the household. About this time (682) Hubert married Floribanne, daughter of Dagobert, Count of Louvain, a great and suitable match. Their son Floribert would later become bishop of Liège, for bishoprics were all but accounted fiefs heritable in the great families of the Merovingian kingdoms.

Unfortunately, his wife died giving birth to their son, and Hubert retreated from the court, withdrew into the forested Ardennes, and gave himself up entirely to hunting. But a great spiritual revolution was imminent. On Good Friday morn, when the faithful were crowding the churches, Hubert sallied forth to the chase. As he was pursuing a magnificent stag or hart, the animal turned and, as the pious legend narrates, he was astounded at perceiving a crucifix standing between its antlers, while he heard a voice saying: "Hubert, unless thou turnest to the Lord, and leadest an holy life, thou shalt quickly go down into hell". Hubert dismounted, prostrated himself and said, "Lord, what wouldst Thou have me do?" He received the answer, "Go and seek Lambert, and he will instruct you."

The story of the hart appears first in one of the later legendary hagiographies (Bibliotheca hagiographica latina, nos. 3994-4002) and has been appropriated from the legend of Saint Eustace or Placidus. It was first attributed to St. Hubert in the 15th century. The apparition may hark back to an older Celtic tale, recorded in the Mabinogion, where Arawn, Lord of the Underworld, is crowned with antlers.


His Christian career
Be that as it may, Hubert set out immediately for Tongres Maastricht, for there Lambert was bishop. Saint Lambert received Hubert kindly, and became his spiritual director. Hubert now renounced all his very considerable honors, and gave up his birthright to the Aquitaine to his younger brother Eudo "the Great", whom he made guardian of his infant son, Floribert. Having distributed all his personal wealth among the poor, he studied for the priesthood, was soon ordained, and shortly afterwards became one of St. Lambert's chief associates in the administration of his diocese. By the advice of St. Lambert, Hubert made a pilgrimage to Rome in 708, but during his absence, Lambert was assassinated by the followers of Pippin. According to the hagiographies of Hubert, this act was simultaneously revealed to the pope in a vision, together with an injunction to appoint Hubert bishop of Maastricht.

He distributed his episcopal revenues among the poor, was diligent in fasting and prayer, and became famous for his eloquence in the pulpit. In 720, in obedience to a vision, Hubert translated St. Lambert's remains from Maastrict to Liège with great pomp and ceremonial, several neighboring bishops assisting. A basilica for the relics was built upon the site of Lambert's martyrdom, and was made a cathedral the following year, the see being removed from Maastricht to Liège, then only a small village. This laid the foundation of the future greatness of Liège, of which Saint Lambert is honored as patron, and Saint Hubert as founder and first bishop.

Hubert actively proselytized among the pagans in the extensive forest Ardennes in Toxandria, a district stretching from near Tongres to the confluence of the Waal and the Rhine, and in Brabant. He died peacefully in Fura, Brabant, May 30, 727 or 728. He was first buried in the collegiate church of St. Peter, Liège, but his bones were exhumed and translated to the Benedictine Abbey of Amdain ("Andagium", present-day Saint-Hubert, Belgium) in the Ardennes in 825. The abbey became a focus for pilgrimages, until the coffin disappeared during the Reformation.

His feast day is the 3rd of November, probably the date of the translation of his relics to Amdain.

The Bollandists published seven early lives of this popular saint (Acta Sanctorum November, i. 759-930), the first being the work of a contemporary. Unfortunately, it is very sparing of details.


External link
Catholic Encyclopedia: (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07507a.htm) Saint Hubert
Extract from Das Ökumenische Heiligenlexikon (http://www.st-remigius-duesseldorf.de/st__hubertus.html) (German); illustration of Jan van Eyck's: Ghent Altarpiece, 1432, with scenes from the life of Saint Hubert

http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Hubertus

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And ...

This past week-end was the day of St. Eustace, also known as St. Hubertus. He was a pagan Roman general in the army of the emperor Trajan. Converted to Christianity following a hunting trip during which he saw a glowing cross between the antlers of a stag, after which he received a prophecy that he would suffer for Christ. He was baptized with his wife and two sons, and given the name Eustachius. Denounced as a Christian, he lost his property, was reduced to abject poverty, and Roman authorities took his wife and children. However, being a capable general, he was recalled to duty by Trajan to help repel barbarians from Rome, which he did. He and his family were reunited with the expectation they would sacrifice to idols in thanks for a military victory. When they refused, an enraged Trajan ordered them thrown to the lions; the big cats played like kittens around them, so they were martyred together by being burned in a brass bull. St. Hubertus is the patron saint of firefighters, hunters, torture victims, and trappers.

And guess what our cousin Tobi was doing on the day of St. Hubertus? Well, let's hear from Tobi himself:
" It`s not an official holiday. But St. Hubertus is the patron saint of the hunters. And every year on November 3, we celebrate his name day. In Germany most of the hunters go hunting this day. My uncle Gunter is a forester at the Harz, one of the highlands in the middle part of Germany. So he invited my father (he`s a hunter,too) and me to this big hunting trip. We were 60 people who sat on the raised hides on Friday evening and Saturday morning, after that was a battue, where some beater with hounds went through the wood to chase the game to the hunters. There are hit lists for every year that have to be fulfilled and with such big huntings we try to shoot most of it on 1-2 days, so that the game isn't disturbed the whole year. Altogether we nearly did it. But this year was not very successful for my family... My father and my uncle didn't see anything; I saw a BIG deer, but I wasn't allowed to shoot him because he was too old. But it was nice to be outdoors; we saw a great sunrise!"

http://www.riefkohl.com/news/i11.html

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Jachtslot St. Hubertus (The St. Hubertus hunt lodge is the former residence of the Kröller-Müller family. This impressive hunt lodge was designed in 1914 by H.P. Berlage. Mr. Kröller was an avid hunter. The hunt lodge is based on the legend of St. Hubertus, the patron saint of hunters. Legend has it that Hubertus (665), a lawless and frivolous hunter, encountered a deer during one of his many hunting parties, wearing a shining cross in its antlers. He was so impressed that he reverted to Christianity, and then made it to Bishop. Eventually, Hubertus was canonised. Not only the stained-glass windows in the hall visualise this legend. The two wings of the building and the large tower do so too: they symbolise the antlers and the shining cross of the deer.)

http://www.goldentulip.com/site/PropertyInformation.asp?LandCode=NL&PropCode=GT;21070&ShowLanguage=EN



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