St. Godehard

St. Godehard, also called Gotthard, was born around 960 near Niederalteich in Bavaria and died on 5 May 1038. Educated by the canons of the local monastery, he became a Benedictine monk and later abbot of Niederalteich, where he restored fervent observance of the Rule, and he was called upon by the Emperor Henry II to reform other monasteries as well, becoming one of the great restorers of monastic discipline in the German lands.

Already advanced in years, he was made bishop of Hildesheim, and for some sixteen years he governed that see with energy and holiness, building and repairing churches, founding a hospice for the poor and travelers, promoting learning, and caring diligently for his flock. Renowned for his charity and his firmness, he was canonized in 1131, one of the first saints raised to the altars by a formal papal process; his name lives on in the great Alpine pass and tunnel of St. Gotthard, and his memory is kept on 5 May.