A young lady from Brazil was visiting every country that she had genes from on a genes test.
The video I saw was her visit to Germany.
Now, one point she made was, people from Brazil are proud to be Brazilians, more than to be Paulistanos or Pernambucanos. In Germany you are more proud to be a Saxon or a Bavarian (perhaps especially a Bavarian) than a German.
One possibility that comes to mind to some is of course, after World War II, Germany to some felt somewhat shameful. No, that's not the main reason. It was actually there before Hitler and Hitler tried to curb it. Gleichschaltung means, "we are no longer Bayern or Niedersachsen, primarily, we are all German" (and after 1938, he would make a similar point about Austria). So, the fact she observed in her visit is actually an acto of resistance.
But since this was so even before Hitler, it didn't start as an act of resistance. So, why the difference?
I looked up saints from Brazil, and each "canonised" saint was "canonised" (if at all) very recently by "John Paul II" or "Francis" ... I couldn't get even one canonised by real and undisputed Popes. Which of course means older ones.
St. Isfried von Ratzeburg (Isfrid of Ratzeburg) is celebrated as an Eigenfeier for the Archdiocese of Hamburg (between Lower Saxony and Sleswick Holstein, by the way). He died in 1204, about two decades before St. Francis of Assisi and St. Dominic of Guzmán. Eigenfeier means, the martyrology for June 15th refers to him in the words "Et alibi aliorum plurimorum sanctorum Martyrum et Confessorum, atque sanctarum Virginum. R. Deo gratias." In Latin, it was "festa quae in aliquibus locis celebrantur" ... but in Hamburg, there is an actual mention by name. Also, he has his feast day.
Hemma of Gurk died before the First Crusade and before the Great Schism. 1045.
Buried at Gurk* Cathedral since 1174, she was beatified on 21 November 1287 and canonised on 5 January 1938 by Pope Pius XI.
Given the burial at a Cathedral and the early veneration by beatification in 1287, she was certainly an attraction for Carinthians before Pius XI.
And given she died pre-schism, it's not surprising that Eastern Orthodox venerate her too.
Heribert of Cologne was formally canonised in 1075 by Pope Gregory VII. No need to guess his region, it's in the name; he was archbishop of Cologne for c. 20 years (a few months less), July 999 to March 1021.
The Category:German Roman Catholic saints has 90 pages. It also links to two subcatregories, so there are probably more than 90 saints or groups of saints. For instance, St. Modestus of Trier is mentioned in a subcategory, not the main one. So, any Catholic would have precisely as a Catholic a good dose of local patriotism not quite imaginable in Brazil.
By the way, the patron saints of Vienna include St. Clement Mary Hofbauer who preached there and St. Leopold III who ruled there. St. Peter Canisius, declined becoming Bishop** of Vienna, but was for one year Apostolic administrator there until the new bishop arrived. St. Coloman may have never set his foot there, but he died in Stockerau, 30 km or 20 miles away.*** Similar things can probably be said for Munich or Cologne, but, critically, probably not for Berlin. One reason more why German speaking Catholics are more attached to their little home than to the whole of a Germany that's ruled from (Protestant and Secularist) Berlin.
I'm not saying the fervour is quite the equal of living in Assisi near St. Francis or in Lisieux near Ste. Thérèse, but it's totally there.
Another reason is, the statehood of Germany starts out as Francia. Yes, Cologne as much as what was later to become Brussells were ruled by Clovis who was anointed in Rheims. Saxons were outside. Bavarians were outside. Bavarians joined voluntarily, more or less, as Tassilo III became a vassal of Pepin the Short, in an assembly held in Compiègne. Saxons joined involuntarily, pretty much, as Charlemagne launched basically a Crusade against them for pillaging Christians. This entity of Franks, Bavarians and Saxons only later became separated from France after the time of Charlemagne. For France, Germany and perhaps Lotharingia, the Lewis I is the same, Lewis the Pious, but each of them has a different Lewis II, as the heritage of Lewis I was split in three. Mid Francia has Lewis II of Italy, West Francia or France Lewis the Stammerer, East Francia or (mostly mainly) Germany had Lewis the German.
So, if different parts of Germany joined at different times when France was attached and Germany became Germany just by the French getting disconnected from them, perhaps that does explain why they value their parts of Germany, rather than Germany as a whole.
Then again, there is some significant difference in food. I'd say Knödel are more popular in Vienna than in Hamburg, and Bouletten more popular in Hamburg (or the West, like Munster) than in Vienna.
Austria was separated from Germany in 1864 and from Czechia, Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia, Slovakia in the aftermath of World War I. Beethoven and Mozart can perfectly well be termed German composers, since both died in a Germany that Vienna was still part of.° Mozart was from Salzburg, not from Vienna, and in his day, Salzburg was Reichsunmittelbar, like Cologne it was a bishop ruling his city directly under the Emperor. Culturally there is probably more of a difference between Sweden and Finland, than between Austria and Bavaria, the closest part of Germany to much of the Austrian border, that's why I include Austrian examples (and I also know Vienna a bit).
Hans Georg Lundahl
Paris
St. Susanna of Rome
11.VIII.2025
Item Romae sanctae Susannae Virginis, quae, cum ex nobili prosapia esset orta et beati Caji Pontificis neptis, martyrii palmam, tempore Diocletiani, capitis obtruncatione promeruit.
* Gurk isn't here the German word for cucumber — Gurke — but a town on a river once upon a time called Korkóras by Strabo. Unless Strabo meant the one in Slovenia, flowing into Sava, rather than the one in Carinthia, flowing into Drava. ** If the Diocese of Paris became Archdiocese only in the 17th C, in Vienna it was 1716, even later. *** I also have a special devotion to venerable Sr. Restituta Kafka. °Even kind of capital of. At least the Emperor often resided in Hofburg, Vienna.
No comments:
Post a Comment