Blessed Notkar Balbulus
Blessed Notkar Balbulus (born about 840 AD in Thurgau, Switzerland; died April 6, 912 AD in the Abbey of Saint Gall, Switzerland) was a Benedictine monk of the great monastery of Saint Gall, renowned as a poet, musician, scholar, and one of the most celebrated writers of the Carolingian age. Also known as Notker the Stammerer, he is venerated as a Blessed of the Church. His feast day is April 6.
Gentle, learned, and devout despite the speech impediment from which he took his name, Notkar Balbulus enriched the Church's worship with his hymns and sequences and left works of history and hagiography. His cultus was confirmed in the sixteenth century.
Stored in Cargo: Blessed Notkar Balbulus
| Blessed Notkar Balbulus | |
|---|---|
| Feast Day | April 06 |
| Profession | Benedictine monk; poet; musician; scholar |
| Rel. Affiliation | Catholic Church; Order of Saint Benedict |
| Patronage | Musicians; poets |
| Attributes | Benedictine habit; a book or scroll of music |
| Birthplace | Thurgau, Switzerland |
| Death Place | Abbey of Saint Gall, Switzerland |
| Cause of Death | Natural death; Benedictine monk of Saint Gall |
| Primary Shrine | Abbey of Saint Gall, Switzerland |
Biography
Notkar was born about the year 840, in the region of the Thurgau in what is now Switzerland. As a boy he was given to the famous Benedictine abbey of Saint Gall, where he was educated and where he spent his whole life as a monk. He suffered from a stammer, which gave rise to his nickname "Balbulus," the Stammerer; but this impediment of speech was joined to a keen mind, a gentle and humble character, and remarkable gifts of learning and music.
At Saint Gall—then one of the great centers of scholarship and culture in Europe—Notker served as librarian, guest-master, and teacher, and became a leading figure in its intellectual life. He is especially celebrated for developing and composing "sequences," poetic and musical texts sung in the liturgy, and he enriched the Church's worship with these compositions. He also wrote works of history and hagiography, including a life of Charlemagne and a martyrology.
Esteemed for his holiness as well as his learning, Notker died at Saint Gall on April 6, 912. He was venerated as a Blessed, and his cultus was confirmed in 1512 by Pope Julius II. His feast is kept on April 6.
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Feast day
April 6
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