Saint Wolfgang

Bishop of Regensburg
(c. 924–994)

Saint Wolfgang was born around 924 in Swabia, Germany, and received his early education at the monastery of Reichenau on Lake Constance. He then studied at the cathedral school of Würzburg and formed a close friendship with Henry, the brother of the Bishop of Würzburg, who became his lifelong companion in the pursuit of learning and holiness. When Henry was appointed Archbishop of Trier, Wolfgang accompanied him and served as head of the cathedral school, which he raised to a high level of learning and discipline.

After Henry's death Wolfgang entered the Benedictine Order at the monastery of Einsiedeln in Switzerland, where he was ordained a priest. In 972 he was sent on mission to the Magyars of Hungary, though his efforts there bore little immediate fruit. The following year he was appointed Bishop of Regensburg by the Emperor Otto II, an appointment he accepted reluctantly after resisting it as long as possible.

As bishop he reformed the monasteries and clergy of his diocese with great energy, restoring regular observance and raising the standard of clerical life and education. He was deeply devoted to the poor and gave away a large portion of the episcopal revenues in charity. He is credited with voluntarily detaching a portion of his diocese to create the new diocese of Prague, a selfless act that reduced his own ecclesiastical territory for the pastoral benefit of Bohemia.

In his later years he sought the solitude of a hermitage near the lake now called Wolfgangsee in Austria, but was always recalled to his duties by the Emperor and by his people. He died at Pupping on the Danube on October 31, 994, while on a pastoral journey. He was canonised by Leo IX in 1052 and is the patron saint of Regensburg, carpenters, woodcutters, and those who suffer from strokes. His feast is observed on October 31st.