Blessed Herman the Cripple
Also known as
- Herman Contractus
- Herman of Reichenau
- Herman the Lame
- Herman the Disabled
- Herman the Twisted
- Herman the Crippled
- Ermanno…
- Hermann…
Profile
Born with a cleft palate, cerebral palsy, and spina bifida to a farm family. His parents cared for him until the age of seven, but in 1020 they gave him over to the abbey of Reichenau Island in Lake Constance in southern Germany; he spent the rest of his life there. He became a Benedictine monk at age twenty. A genius, he studied and wrote on astronomy, theology, math, history, poetry, Arabic, Greek, and Latin. He built musical instruments, and astronomical equipment. In later life he became blind, and had to give up his academic writing. The most famous religious poet of his day, he is the author of Salve Regina and Alma Redemptoris Mater.
Born
- 18 February 1013 at Altshausen, Swabia (in modern Germany)
- 21 September 1054 at Reichenau abbey, Germany of natural causes
- 1863 by Pope Pius IX (cultus confirmed)
Readings
Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy. Hail my life, my sweetness and my hope! To you do we cry, poor banished children of Eve! To you do we send up our sighs; mourning and weeping in this vale of tears! Turn, most gracious Advocate, your eyes of mercy toward me, and after this, our exile, show to us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus Christ! Clement, loving, sweet Virgin Mary! Amen. – Blessed Herman
MLA Citation
- “Blessed Herman the Cripple“. CatholicSaints.Info. 26 February 2020. Web. 28 February 2021. <>