Some Pastors of Tirol (Continuation)

Appendix.

History.

Some Pastors of Tirol. 2/3

(Continuation.)

Beatus's remains were interred, presumably at his own request, in the branch church of Our Lady in Riffian. This is evidenced by a moderately sized, very well-preserved white marble monument on the right side wall of this church with the following inscription:

EPITAPHIUM BEATI EPISCOPI CURIENSIS.

HIC JACET ARTE PLATO, JACET HIC CATO TULLIUS ORE,

QUI SIDIUL ALCIMEDON ARTE, ET APPLLES ERAT.

HIC PIETATE GRAVIS, NULLI PROBITATE SECUNDUS,

HIC DOCUIT SANA RELIGIONE GREGEM.

NE VENERIS NEVE BACHI CAPERETUR AMORE,

LASSARE EST SOLITUS MEMBRA LABORE GRAVI.

NUNC TANDEM HIC PLACIDE REQUIESCUNT OSSA BEATI,

CUI GENUS A PORTA NOMINA CLARA DEDIT.

CORPUS ALIT VERMES, PUTREFACTAQUE MEMBRA

SEPULCHRO

IN CINERES ABEUNT, SPIRITUS ASTRA PETIT.

ANNO M.D.XC.

Above this inscription, one sees the coat of arms in relief: a quarterly shield; in its upper right and lower left quarters is the Chur ibex, in the opposite quarters on a pedestal an open portal with wings flung wide; above it hovers the princely coronet with hanging tassels.

Johann Flugi von und zu Aspermont, the elder, formerly pastor at Feldkirch and canon, later cathedral dean in Chur, was elected bishop on February 1, 1601, and consecrated as such on July 29 of the same year in Luzern. At that time, violent unrest against Catholics was still raging in the Three Leagues. The holy missionary Fidelis of Sigmaringen fell beneath the murderous swords and clubs of the zealots; the blessed archpriest of the Valtellina, Nikolaus Ruska, yielded his spirit on the rack; Kaspar Baselga, captain of Fürstenburg, Georg Bellino von Bellfort, Austrian governor in Prättigau, Pompejus von Planta, and many other priests and laymen perished after enduring torture on the scaffold in Christian martyrdom for the holy faith of their fathers. 1) The bishop himself was repeatedly in extreme danger. Most of the time he was obliged to reside outside the borders of Raetia. To demonstrate sympathy and favor toward him in this distressed situation, the sovereign Archduke Maximilian the Teutonic Master conferred upon him the parish of Tirol, which had fallen vacant through the death of Pastor Romedius Benedikti. 2) He expressed his heartfelt gratitude for this in a letter to the Archduke, the draft of which is still extant, stating among other things: 'Thus I offer my most humble thanks to Your Princely Highness for the grace so kindly shown to me by conferring the aforesaid parish, and I shall apply all my possible diligence that it be tended and administered in such a manner that Your Princely Highness may find full gracious satisfaction therein; and wherever I may during the days of my life earn in return such a magnificent and notable favor from Your Princely Highness and the entire most laudable House of Austria, you shall at all times find me your faithful servant.' He then excused himself for not being able to leave Chur at the moment, but assured him that he had already made proper arrangements for the administration of the parish. He continued: 'This parish in particular shall be cared for and managed in proper and fitting order, with the due celebration of the required divine services, so that I may answer for it before Almighty God and Your Princely Highness. Commending myself most humbly to Your enduring Archducal Grace. Dated Chur, December 20, 1610. Your Princely Highness's obedient chaplain Joan. Eps. Curiens.' — Already on the 16th of the preceding month, the bishop had appointed his vicar in the Vinschgau, the canon and (at least prior to 1620) cathedral dean of Chur, Kaspar Sayn, previously pastor of Schluderns, as his deputy in Tirol, albeit with the explicit proviso: 'Should we sooner or later intend to reside there in person, at whatsoever time he shall depart from the parish, and we shall be obligated to pay him pro rata temporis fair compensation for all expenses, trouble, diligence, and labor.' — In order to end the detrimental misunderstandings that had prevailed for some time between the town of Meran and its pastor in Tirol, Prince-Bishop Johann entered into a new agreement with the municipal magistrate on January 6, 1611. — On October 29, 1617, he consecrated the newly built Capuchin church in Meran in honor of Saint Bishop Maximilian. — The Jesuits also maintained a rented mission house in Meran at that time. On August 15, 1623, they established the Marian Congregation there, whose first members were Nikolaus von Knillenberg, Christoph von Zöttl, Johann Leonhard Gadold von Seeloshausen, Benedikt von Mammingen, Benedikt Hueber von Maur, Adam Kleinhans von Labers, and the then parish administrator of Meran, Johann Leben. However, the fathers of the Society of Jesus, Father Christoph N. and Father Georg Moser, applied in vain to obtain the parish of Tirol and thereby secure a permanent seat. Much regretted, they were obliged to leave Meran after a stay of at least five years and return to Trento. — Weakened by advanced age (he was 78 years old) and by many labors and hardships, Prince-Bishop Johann resigned all his offices and entered into eternal rest shortly thereafter on September 1, 1627.

(Conclusion to follow.)

1) Eichhorn. Epistus Curiensis. p. 174 — 194.

2) Taken from documents of the Archivium olim Flugianum in castro Knillenberg