Bl. Herman was a great devotee of the Blessed Mother and an eminent contemplative mystic.(+1226 AD)
Herman’s parents were very poor yet noble people who lived in Germany. His father was the Count of Meer and his mother was St. Hildegund. So often saints come from families with more saints! He was born around 1150 AD in Cologne. Because he was so poor, little Herman did not receive much of an education. Yet his great love for our Blessed Mother kept him out of trouble. He spent every free moment at a chapel dedicated to the Blessed Mother on a small hill near his home. Often was he found the kneeling and rapt in prayer. He grew up under Our Lady’s loving care and he went to her every time he needed something. He liked nothing better than to spend time praying to Mary. He was singularly devoted to the Blessed Virgin and spoke with her frequently in his contemplation.
As a young boy he once sacrificed his lunch – of a simple apple – to give it to a statue of Jesus. The statue came alive and accepted the apple from him. On another occasion, when bitter cold blanketed the country, Herman was busily employed at his family duties which required him to work outside. On account of their poverty, he had no shoes and was suffering terribly from laboring in bare feet. Our Blessed Mother appeared to him and pointed to a stone. When he lifted it he found silver pieces with which he was able to buy shoes. (Some note here a striking parallel to how Our Lord of Good Help came to the aid of Gabriel Cayencala.) Herman never forgot to thank her and she encouraged him to faithfully request from her all that he needed at that very spot.
At age twelve, Herman entered the monastery of Steinfeldt of the Premonstratensian Order. He was not too happy at first. This was because he had to work in the kitchen and serve his brothers at table. So much of his time was spent with the pots and pans that poor Herman could not pray to his Blessed Mother for hours any more. One day he complained about it to her and Our Lady came to tell him not to worry. “For every day of work,” she said, “you earn a greater reward in Heaven than if you had prayed all day long!” Then Herman was happy. He learned that we please Our Lord and His Mother most when we joyfully do our duty in obedience.
Herman received his other name of Joseph in an unusual way. It was given him by the other monks when they saw how much he was like the great St. Joseph, Our Lady’s Spouse. Herman was so humble that he did not think he deserved that name. So our Blessed Mother herself came to tell him to keep this name-Herman Joseph.
After he became a priest, the holy monk celebrated Mass with such love of God that people cried to see him. Even though he was so spiritual, Herman worked, too. In fact, he was a good mechanic, and went from one monastery of his Order to another in order to repair clocks.
He disciplined himself with incredible fasts and other austerities. On account of his extraordinary humility joined with assiduous prayer and meditation, God gave him the eminent grace of contemplative prayer with ease. This strengthened him in all virtues, refreshed his soul, and gave him many supernatural favors. It is said that at the very mention of the mystery of the Incarnation (et verbum factum est) his soul appeared to melt in tender love. When he recited the Benedictus at Lauds he would fall into an ecstatic rapture.
Yet such unique graces were also accompanied by tremendous suffering and severe interior trials. Herman suffered much from sickness and temptations, but he offered it all to Our Lord and never lost his courage. He suffered even more poignantly on great feast days. Our Lady appeared to him in a vision and accepted him as a mystical spouse (this is when she insisted he accept the name Joseph). Later, our Lady informed him that she had conferred the cruelest sufferings of mind and body upon him as her dowry. However, she would also grant him the graces necessary to bear this most meritorious cross well.
On one occasion as he encountered a peasant in the fields he asked him to strike him in the face. The peasant was surprised by this request and asked for a reason. The saint responded, “On account of my being a most filthy and abominable creature, and because I cannot meet with so much contempt as I deserve.” On another occasion, Our Lady appeared to him as an old woman. She upbraided him for some slight want of devotion. Thereafter he most willingly endured even more severe penances and humiliations. In yet another vision, Herman beheld the Heavenly Queen high up in the celestial court of God and longed to be there with her; yet he saw no way of doing so. As he fervently prayed, he suddenly found himself placed at her side and in the presence of the Holy Child and St. John, the Beloved Disciple. He was then permitted to converse with all three!
The fruit of his numerous mystical contemplations gave rise to a profound commentary on the Book of Canticles (Song of Solomon). This boy who began his life in such an uneducated manner wrote several other works, all of which are ranked among the greatest contemplative spiritual works. He is considered an eminent spiritual authority and mystic of the Holy Catholic Church, akin to St. Teresa of Avila.
Later in life, he was assigned the spiritual care of a monastery of Cistercian Nuns. There he died on April 7, 1226 and was buried in their cloister (at Hoven). His renowned sanctity and prodigious posthumous miracles led his order to move his relics back to their monastery. His relics are kept in the main altar at the abbey church in Steinfeldt. Priests still go there to this day to offer a votive Mass in his honor above his remains. There is a large marble tomb and picture in his honor. Several of his relics remain on display for veneration at other monasteries, especially in the lands surrounding the Low Countries. In his depiction, Blessed Herman is usually presented kneeling before the Blessed Virgin Mary and Child and offering Him an apple.
Brief Reflection: From Blessed Herman we can learn much regarding our relationship to the Queen of All Saints. Let us not approach our most gracious and amiable Blessed Mother with set prayers only. Rather, we ought to be intimate with her. We can confide to her ever project, every desire, and every aspiration (small and great). We should also have frequent and constant recourse to her in the practice of mental prayer. Be intimate with her; confide in her; commend to her every want and every project, small as well as great. It is a childlike reliance and a trustful appeal which she delights to reward. Let us recall as well her words at Tepeyac to all her children: "I will give Him [my Son] to the people in all my personal love, in my compassion, in my help, in my protection: because I am truly your merciful Mother, ... [all] who love me, those who seek me, those who trust in me. Here I will hear their weeping, their complaints and heal all their sorrows, hardships and sufferings... Am I not here, I, who am your Mother? ... Let nothing else worry you, disturb you."
Note: It was upon the request of Emperor Ferdinand II that his beatification process was initiated in 1626. In the 20th century, the Salvatorian Fathers (who came to occupy the abbey in Steinfeld) preferred to pursue a canonical process known as confirmatio cultis which was less costly and less involved that a full canonization process. This process was brought to fruition when Pope Pius XII confirmed his status as saintly and worthy of veneration in 1958, yet he was never formally canonized. In hindsight, perhaps this is fitting for a saint who so perfectly personified the virtue of humility.