Saint Quirinus of Neuss

Infobox Saint
name= Saint Quirinus of Neuss
birth_date=
death_date=116 or 117 AD?
feast_day= April 30; March 30 [ [http://www.heiligenlexikon.de/BiographienQ/Quirinus_von_Rom_von_Neuss.htm Quirinus von Rom (von Neuss) - Ökumenisches Heiligenlexikon ] ]
venerated_in= Roman Catholic Church,
Eastern Orthodox Church


imagesize= 170px
caption= Saint Quirinus and Saint Balbina
birth_place=
death_place=
titles=
beatified_date=
beatified_place=
beatified_by=
canonized_date=
canonized_place=
canonized_by=
attributes=military attire; knight with lance, sword, hawk; banner or sign with nine balls [Nine in reference to an interpretation of the Latin name of Neuss, "Novesia", from "novem," meaning "nine."]
patronage=Neuss; Correggio, Italy; invoked against the bubonic plague, smallpox, and gout; afflictions associated with the legs, feet, ears; paralysis; ulcers; goiter; skin conditions; diseases affecting cattle and horses [ [http://www.heiligenlexikon.de/BiographienQ/Quirinus_von_Rom_von_Neuss.htm Quirinus von Rom (von Neuss) - Ökumenisches Heiligenlexikon ] ] ; patron saint of animals [ [http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/92135 San Quirino ] ] ; patron saint of knights, soldiers, and horsemen [ [http://www.diu-minnezit.de/realie_details.php?sid=0&tid=4&lid=0&rid=197 Diu Minnezît - Kleidung - Filzkappe ] ]
major_shrine= Neuss
suppressed_date=
issues=

Saint Quirinus of Neuss ( _de. Quirin, Quirinus), sometimes called "Quirinus of Rome" (which is the name shared by another martyr) is venerated as a martyr and saint of the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. His cult was centered at Neuss in Germany, though he was a Roman martyr.

According to the "Catholic Encyclopedia", a Roman martyr named Quirinus was buried in the Catacomb of Prætextatus on the Via Appia. The "Martyrologium Hieronymianum" (ed. De Rossi-Duchesne, 52) mentions Quirinus' name and place of burial. The "Itineraries" to the graves of the Roman martyrs (Giovanni Battista De Rossi, "Roma sotterranea", I, 180-1) also mention these two pieces of information. [ [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12615a.htm CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Sts. Quirinus ] ]

The "Martyrologium Hieronymianum " assigns him under the feast day of April 30, the date that appears in the catalogue of Roman martyrs of the 4th century. [ [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12615a.htm CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Sts. Quirinus ] ]

Legend

Quirinus is introduced into the legendary Acts of Sts. Alexander and Balbina, where it is said he was a tribune (Dufourcq, loc. cit., 175). He is said to have been decapitated in 116. Legends make him a Roman tribune who was ordered with executing Alexander, Eventius, and Theodolus, who had been arrested by order of Trajan. [ [http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/92135 San Quirino ] ] Quirinus converted to Christianity, however, after witnessing miracles performed by these three saints, and he was baptized along with his daughter Balbina. [ [http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/92135 San Quirino ] ] He was then martyred on March 30 by being decapitated and was then buried catacomb of Prætextatus on the Via Appia.

Veneration

Ado took the name from these Acts and put it in his Martyrology under date of March 30, on which day it is now also found in the "Roman Martyrology" (Quentin, "Les martyrologes historiques", 490). For April 30, the Roman Martyrology states: “Item Romae in coemetério Praetextáti via Appia, sancti Quirini mártyris, qui tribúnus confessiónem fídei martyrio coronávit.” [ [http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/92135 San Quirino ] ]

According to a document from Cologne dating from 1485, Quirinus' body was donated in 1050 by Pope Leo IX to an abbess of Neuss named Gepa (who is called a sister of the pope). [ [http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/92135 San Quirino ] ] In this way the relics came to the Romanesque Church of St. Quirinus at Neuss (Quirinus-Münster) which still exists. A statue of Quirinus sits atop the church (which Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte attempted to plunder during the Napoleonic Wars [ [http://www.bautz.de/bbkl/q/quirinus_v_n.shtml QUIRINUS von Neuss ] ] ).

Inhabitants of that city invoked him for aid during Siege of Neuss by Charles the Bold that occurred in 1474-5. [ [http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/92135 San Quirino ] ] [ [http://www.heiligenlexikon.de/BiographienQ/Quirinus_von_Rom_von_Neuss.htm Quirinus von Rom (von Neuss) - Ökumenisches Heiligenlexikon ] ] His cult spread to Cologne, Alsace, Scandinavia, western Germany, the Netherlands, and Italy, where he became the patron saint of Correggio. [ [http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/92135 San Quirino ] ] Numerous wells and springs were dedicated to him, and he was invoked against the bubonic plague, smallpox, and gout; he was also considered a patron saint of animals. [ [http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/92135 San Quirino ] ] Pilgrims to Neuss sought the "Quirinuswasser" (Quirinus water) from the "Quirinusbrunnen" (Quirinus spring or pump-room). [ [http://www.bautz.de/bbkl/q/quirinus_v_n.shtml QUIRINUS von Neuss ] ]

A farmers' saying associated with Quirinus' feast day of March 30 was "Wie der Quirin, so der Sommer" (“As St. Quirinus’ Day goes, so will the summer”). [ [http://www.heiligenlexikon.de/BiographienQ/Quirinus_von_Rom_von_Neuss.htm Quirinus von Rom (von Neuss) - Ökumenisches Heiligenlexikon ] ]

Quirinus, along with Hubertus, Cornelius and Anthony, was venerated as one of the Four Holy Marshals ("'Vier Marschälle Gottes") in the Rhineland. [ [http://www.heiligenlexikon.de/BiographienQ/Quirinus_von_Rom_von_Neuss.htm Quirinus von Rom (von Neuss) - Ökumenisches Heiligenlexikon ] ] [ [http://www.soetele.de/links/quellen/kalvarien/muhresoat/marschaelle/marschaelle.html marschaelle ] ] [ [http://www.ahrdorf.de/html/body_die_kapelle.html Die Kapelle ] ] Portraits of Quirinus and of St. Valentine appear at the top of the recto of the "Nuremberg Chronicles" ("Folio CXXII [Geneva] "). [ [http://www.oldworldauctions.com/Auction111/detail.asp?owa_id=2145217770 Old World Auctions - Lot Detail ] ]

References

Further reading

* Walter Bader: "St Quirinus zu Neuss". 1955
* Max Tauch: "Quirinus von Neuss". 2000, ISBN 3-8790-9692-9
* Helmut Wessels: "Neuss und St. Quirin zu Fuß". 2004, ISBN 3-761-61801-8, Engl. ISBN 3-761-61956-1)
* Erich Wimmer: "Qurinus von Neuss." in [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexikon_f%C3%BCr_Theologie_und_Kirche Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche (LThK) Bd. 8]

External links

* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12615a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia]
*it icon [http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/92135 San Quirino]
*de icon [http://www.heiligenlexikon.de/BiographienQ/Quirinus_von_Rom_von_Neuss.htm Quirinus von Rome (von Neuss)]
*de icon [http://www.bautz.de/bbkl/q/quirinus_v_n.shtml Quirinus von Neuss]
*PND|118743228
*BBKL|http://www.bautz.de/bbkl/q/quirinus_v_n.shtml