Hierarch Wolfgang of Regensburg

St. Wolfgang of Regensburg was born around 924 in Swabia, Germany. He was educated at the monastery school of Reichenau and later at Würzburg under the eminent teacher Stephen of Novara. He taught for a time at the cathedral school of Trier, where he actively supported the church reform of Archbishop Henneman. Around 964 he took monastic vows at the renowned reform abbey of Einsiedeln (Switzerland), where he headed the monastery school for several years. Seeking missionary labor, he went to preach to the Hungarians, but in 972 was recalled by Emperor Otto II and made Bishop of Regensburg. As bishop he became known as a zealous reformer of monastic life (introducing a strict rule at the monastery of St. Emmeram), a patron of the poor, and an educator: he became tutor to the young future Emperor Henry II, instilling in him the qualities of a pious ruler. He supported the separation of the sees of Prague and Olomouc from the Regensburg diocese, an important step toward the ecclesiastical organization of Bohemia and Moravia. He died on October 31, 994, while traveling to Pupping, Austria. He became one of the most venerated saints of medieval Bavaria, patron of carpenters, shepherds, and the city of Regensburg.