Bishop and Confessor
Feast Day: June 16
Patron of: Fishermen, the Diocese of Dresden-Meissen
Life and Sanctity
Saint Benno was born around the year 1010, likely of noble Saxon lineage, in the region of Hildesheim in what is now northern Germany. His early years were marked by a pious upbringing, nourished in the discipline and traditions of the Catholic Church. Drawn to the ecclesiastical life, Benno became a canon regular and embraced the Rule of St. Augustine, dedicating himself wholly to the service of God in humility and obedience.
His learning, austerity, and zeal for the faith soon made him known, and around the year 1066, under the reign of Emperor Henry IV, Benno was consecrated as Bishop of Meissen, a diocese located along the Elbe River in the eastern marches of the German kingdom, then a frontier of Christendom.
A Bishop Tried by Fire
Saint Benno’s episcopacy coincided with the great trial of the Investiture Controversy, in which the Holy Church struggled against the encroachments of secular power upon ecclesiastical appointments. True to the Roman See and the reforming spirit of Pope St. Gregory VII, Benno resisted imperial intrusion into the governance of the Church.
For his fidelity to the Holy Father, Benno was at one point deposed and exiled by Emperor Henry IV, who appointed another in his stead. Nevertheless, Benno remained steadfast, accepting his sufferings in a spirit of penance and perseverance. When peace was partially restored, Benno was reinstated and returned to his see, where he continued to labor with apostolic fervor.
Benno was known not only for his orthodoxy but also for his charity toward the poor, his pastoral zeal, and the evangelization of the Slavic peoples east of the Elbe. He promoted sacred learning and discipline among the clergy, restored churches, and lived a life of great personal holiness.
A Saint for Fishermen
One of the most enduring legends of Saint Benno concerns a miraculous event during his exile. Forbidden from administering his diocese, Benno is said to have cast the keys of the cathedral into the Elbe River, entrusting his office to the providence of God. Upon his return, a fisherman, guided by divine inspiration, caught a fish bearing the cathedral keys in its mouth, a sign of God’s favor and Benno’s rightful place as bishop. For this miracle, Saint Benno became the patron of fishermen.
Death and Veneration
Saint Benno reposed in the Lord on June 16, 1106, after a long and fruitful episcopacy. He was buried in Meissen, and his tomb soon became a site of local pilgrimage. His cultus spread in Saxony and Bavaria, especially in Munich, where his relics were translated in 1576 at the request of Duke Albert V of Bavaria, who desired to strengthen Catholic identity amid the Protestant Reformation.
He was canonized by Pope Adrian VI in 1523, one of the last canonizations before the outbreak of the Protestant revolt.
Despite attacks on his cult by Protestant reformers—most famously by Martin Luther, who mocked Saint Benno as a symbol of what he deemed “popish superstition”—his veneration endured, especially among the faithful who clung to the old faith and the authority of Holy Mother Church.
Legacy
Saint Benno stands as a model of episcopal fidelity, a confessor of the faith in times of trial, and a reminder that the Church’s pastors must ever be loyal to Christ and His Vicar, even amid temporal adversity. His feast, long celebrated with solemnity in the dioceses of Germany, especially in Dresden-Meissen and Munich, remains a day of pious recollection and gratitude for his labors.
Collect (from the Traditional Roman Missal):
O God, who didst make the blessed Benno, Thy Confessor and Bishop, glorious for the zealous propagation of the faith and for patience in persecution: grant, we beseech Thee, that by his example and intercession, we may persevere in the truth and grow strong in virtue. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.