Saints and Blesseds

Saint Frederick, Abbot

February 4

Frederick was born at Hallum in Friesland around the beginning of the twelfth century. He was the son of a poor widow who sent him at a very young age to herd the family's sheep. During the long hours he spent alone in the fields, Frederick developed a taste for prayer. When he showed signs of a vocation to the priesthood, his mother hesitated on account of their poverty. But the local parish priest took an interest in the boy and prepared him for priestly studies. During his training for the priesthood Frederick cultivated three devotions that were commonplace at the time: a filial devotion to the Blessed Virgin, a spiritual companionship with John the Evangelist, and devotion to St. Cecilia, the early Christian martyr who heroically met death to safeguard her purity. His studies completed, Frederick gave himself to teaching until he reached the prescribed age for ordination to the priesthood. He became the assistant of the parish priest at Hallum but continueally felt called to a more religious way of life. During a long illness he experienced a dream in which St. Peter spoke to him of the ideal lifestyle led by the apostles: "Behold, we have left all things in order to follow the Lord Jesus, and he has promised us a hundredfold." At the death of his mother, Frederick offered himself completely to God by embracing the canonical religious life under the spiritual inspiration of St. Augustine. Eventually he affiliated himself and his companions to the Norbertine Order, founding in 1164 the Abbey of Mariengaarden, of which he became the first abbot. The name of the abbey, meaning "Mary's Garden", reflected the rich surroundings of the monastery. Novices of both sexes presented themselves, so Frederick also founded a convent for nuns in the vicinity of the abbey. The abbey boasted a celebrated clerical school for the education of boys and young men. The new foundation was ultimately affiliated as a daughterhouse of Steinfeld. At the beginning of March, 1175, Frederick fell seriously ill. He managed to celebrate a last Mass in honor of the Blessed Virgin before dying on March 3, 1175. He is pictured in the garb of an abbot, sometimes holding flowers which recall the beauty of Mariengaarden (see black and white illustration below).

PRAYER

Almighty God and Father, you have given us a radiant example of fidelity and love in the life of your abbot Frederick. May we be given the grace to serve as he served, to teach as he taught, and to love as he loved. We ask this through Christ our Lord, AMEN.

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Reprinted with permission of St. Michael's Abbey, Orange, California, U.S.A.