Saint of the Week: The Good King

Saint Henry II
Duke of Bavaria 
German King
Holy Roman Emperor

Feast Day: July 13

St. Henry giving to the poor. 

Patron Saint Of: The childless, Dukes, Kings, Against sterility, Bamberg Germany, Basel Switzerland, the handicapped and those rejected by Religious Orders

• St. Henry was the son of Henry, Duke of Bavaria and Gisella, daughter of the King of Burgundy.
• He received a good education under St. Wolfgang.
• St. Henry became duke of Bavaria in 995 after his fathers death which ended his thoughts of becoming a priest. 
• When his cousin Otto III died, he was elected Emperor in 1002.
• He was then crowned King of Pavia, Italy in 1004.
• St. Henry married Cunegunda who later became a Saint. 
• They were both prayerful people and very generous to the poor.
• He was then crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Benedict VIII in 1014
• Henry founded schools, quelled rebellion, protected the frontiers and worked to established peace in Europe.
• Henry ruled with zeal for religion. 
• He started the construction of the Cathedral at Basel, Switzerland which took 400 years to complete. 
• Saint Benedict of Nursia healed him with a touch of an unnamed illness. 
• After St. Cunegunda's death Henry considered becoming a monk but was refused because he was told to do a greater good advancing God's Kingdom 

Read more about St. Henry at:

Saints.SQPN.com
Catholic Online
Catholic Encyclopedia