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Blessed Liborius Wagner

detail of a Blessed Liborius Wagner holy card, date and artist unknown; swiped from Santi e Beati Also known as

Liborio

9 December

Profile

Raised a Protestant, he studied in Mühlhausen, Leipzig, Gotha and Strasbourg, then in 1621 began studying with Jesuits in Würzburg, Germany where he converted to Catholicism. Ordained on 29 March 1625, Liborius served as chaplain in Hardheim, Germany, then as parish priest at Altenmünster, Germany a predominently Protestant city. He ministered to everyone in his city, and his example brought many Protestants to re-union with the Catholic Church. In 1631, the Protestant Swedes, fighting in the Thirty Years’ War, reached Altenmünster, and Father Liborius was forced to flee the city; he hid in Reichmannhausen, which was only couple of miles away, so he could return to minister to his parishioners. On 4 December 1631 he was betrayed, captured by the Swedes, tied behind a horse, and dragged several miles to the castle of Mainberg where he was subjected to several days of torture to force him to renounce the Catholic Church; he refused. Martyr.

Born

5 December 1593 at Mühlhausen, Unstrut-Hainich, Thuringia, Germany

Died

beaten to death with swords and firearms on 9 December 1631 on the River Main, Schonungen, Schweinfurt, Germany
stripped of his priestly garb to make identification harder, and his body thrown into the River Main
body recovered from the river by area Catholics, and buried nearby
following the end of Swedish rule in the area, his body was re-interred in the chapel of the castle of Mainberg
re-interred in the parish church of San Lorenzo, Heidenfeld, Germany on 15 December 1637