Gerard Sagredo

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St. Gerard Sagredo, O.S.B.
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Statue of St. Gerard in Székesfehérvár.
Monk, bishop and martyr
Born 980
Venice, Republic of Venice
Died 24 September 1046
Buda, Kingdom of Hungary
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church
(Hungary)
Canonized 1083 by Pope Gregory VII
Feast 24 September
Patronage Hungary, Budapest

Gerard Sagredo, O.S.B. (Italian: Gerardo di Csanád ; Hungarian: Szent Gellért; Romanian: Sfântul Gerard) (23 April 980 – 24 September 1046), was an Italian Benedictine monk from Venice, who served in the Kingdom of Hungary (specifically in Buda) and in Csanád.

Life

Born in Venice, Gerard Sagredo joined the Benedictines as a young man and became prior at San Giorgio Maggiore.[1] While travelling on pilgrimage to Jerusalem he met Stephen of Hungary and became tutor to the king's son, Emeric.

Stephen established an Episcopal see in Csanad with and Gerard its first bishop.[2] He played a major role in converting Hungary to Christianity as the Bishop of Csanád (today Cenad in Romania).

After Stephen's death in 1038 there was a revolt against Christianity.[1] Gerard's martyrdom took place on 24 September 1046, during the Vata pagan uprising. His co-martyrs were Bystrik and Buldus. There are various accounts of his death. According to one, he was stoned, pierced with a lance, and his body thrown from the Blocksburg cliff into the Danube.[2] An alternate account claims that he was placed on a two-wheel cart, hauled to the hilltop and rolled down a hill of Buda, now named Gellert Hill, then still being alive at the bottom, was beaten to death. Other unverified tales report him as being put in a spiked barrel and rolled down the hill during a mass revolt of pagans.

Canonized in 1083, along with St. Stephen and St. Emeric, Gerard is currently one of the patron saints of Hungary. His feast day is September 24.[2]

References

External links

File:SzentGellert68.jpg
A miniature from the Anjou Legendarium showing St. Gerard falling to his death (1330)

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