Guido of Pomposa, St.
GUIDO OF POMPOSA, ST.
Benedictine abbot; b. Casamari, near Ravenna, Italy, c. 1010; d. Borgo San Donnino, March 31, 1046. After living as a hermit for three years in the spirit of St. romuald, he came to the Abbey of pomposa, where he was shortly afterward elected abbot. During his tenure, Pomposa became one of the more celebrated monasteries of northern Italy. At Guido's invitation, peter damian visited the abbey and for two years (c. 1039–41) lectured on Sacred Scripture. When Emperor Henry III entered Italy in 1046 on his way to the Synod of sutri, Guido joined the imperial retinue at Henry's request, but he took sick en route and died near Parma, where he was temporarily buried. In 1047 his remains were brought to Speyer, Germany, and they are buried at the present time in the Sankt Guidostift.
Feast: May 4, translation; March 31 in Speyer.
Bibliography: Acta Santorum, March 3:912–915, legendary. Bibliotheca hagiographica latina antiquae et mediae aetatis, 2 v. (Brussels 1898–1901; suppl. 1911) 8876–78. a. m. zimmerman, Kalendarium Benedictinum: Die Heiligen und Seligen des Benediktineorderns und seiner Zweige, 4 v. (Metten 1933–38) 1:394–396. a. butler, The Lives of the Saints, rev. ed. h. thurston and d. attwater, 4 v. (New York 1956) 1:709–710. j. e. gugumus, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner, 10 v. (2d, new ed. Freiburg 1957–65) 4:1269.
[o. j. blum]