St Donatus of Muenstereifel (Sv. Donát) - Úvaly, Czech Republic
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N 50° 03.181 E 014° 44.683
33U E 481724 N 5544555
Baroque statue of St Donatus of Muenstereifel from 1765 located at a crossroad of former merchant roads near Úvaly.
Waymark Code: WMRDV5
Location: Středočeský kraj, Czechia
Date Posted: 06/14/2016
Views: 28
Nice Baroque statue of St Donatus can be found at the crossroad of red and yellow tourist paths between Uvaly and Skvorec. According to chronicles the statue was commissioned by Princess Maria Theresia of Liechtenstein who ordered in each of her manors "to erect at suitable place near a fields" the statue of St Donatus of Muenstereifel, the Patron Saint of protection against lightning and hailstorm. The statue was erected in 1765 at a former merchant road between Úvaly and Škvorec. Although the statue depicts correctly St Donatus holding a lightning in one of his hand, the creator of the statue mistakely depicts St Donatus as a bishop or priest. It is a quite frequent mistake as another of St Donatus, i.e. St Donatus of Arezzo was actually a bishop. But he has never been the Patron Saint of protection against lightning. It was just St Donatus of Muenstereifel who was a Roman soldier and just like this is frequently depicted accross the country.
Saint Donatus of Muenstereifel is a saint whose relics are found in the Jesuit church in Bad Muenstereifel. He is widely venerated in the Rhine valley region of Germany and the Low Countries, and he is a patron saint of Buda and of protection against lightning. His relics were translated to Muenster Eifel in the 17th century from the Catacombs of Rome, where he had been originally buried.
Legend
Saint Donatus is said to be a 2nd century Roman soldier and martyr. His parents were named Faustus and Flaminia. When Faustus was deathly ill, his wife Flaminia sought the intercession of Saint Gervasius, who assured her that her husband would recover and beget a son. This came to pass, and Flaminia named the boy Donatus, which means "gift". She educated him in the Christian faith. At the age of 17, he enlisted in the famed 12th Legion "Fulminatrix", i.e., the "Thundering Legion". He rapidly rose through the ranks and soon became a personal bodyguard to the emperor, Marcus Aurelius.
In the year 173 the 12th Legion was engaged in the Marcomannic Wars in Moravia along the Danube frontier. According to the contemporary writer Dio Cassius, part of the legion was surrounded and nearly overwhelmed when it was miraculously saved by a divine thunderstorm. Cassius attributed the thunderstorm to the invocation of Mercurius by Aurelius' Egyptian sorcerer, Arnuphis, but Tertullian and other Christian writers ascribed the miracle to the prayers of the many Christians in that Legion. Later legend credited Donatus as the leader of the Christians' prayers. After the miracle, Donatus gave thanks to God, and he was martyred by the emperor.
He was buried by his mother in the Catacombs of Saint Agnes. Over the centuries, access to the catacombs was lost. In 1646, the catacombs were re-opened, and the relics of Donatus and many other saints were re-discovered. Pope Innocent X bequeathed Donatus's relics to the Jesuit church in Muenster Eifel, and they were carried in procession from Rome to the Rhineland. On June 30, 1652 the relics were at St. Martin's church in Euskirchen as a Jesuit priest, Fr. Heerde, was saying mass in the morning. With the conclusion of benediction, lightning struck the church and lit the altar and the priest on fire. He immediately invoked the aid of Saint Donatus and was miraculously restored unharmed. This miracle spread the fame of the Roman martyr throughout the region.
Some writers comment on the alliteration between the Latin name Donatus and the German title Donner, which means "Thunderer".
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