Hermann Joseph

The life of Hermann Joseph unfolded almost entirely within the setting of Steinfeld Abbey and the service of his brothers. Hagiographic tradition emphasizes his zeal in the humblest tasks: according to a famous account, as he complained to the Virgin that his occupations prevented him from praying, she replied that the service rendered to his brothers was particularly pleasing to her. Renowned for being skilled with his hands, he was reportedly frequently sought out for the making and repairing of clocks, which explains his patronage of clockmakers. Hermann Joseph is also known as a spiritual author: he is credited with hymns and sequences in honor of Mary and Christ, among which are the Duodecim gratiarum actiones and a Jubilus in honor of the eleven thousand virgins (Saint Ursula and her companions, whose cult was flourishing in Cologne). Tradition also attributes to him the hymn Summi Regis cor aveto, sometimes presented as one of the oldest chants dedicated to the Heart of Christ, an attribution that specialists, however, view with caution. A commentary on the Song of Songs, now lost, is also linked to him.

The most characteristic trait of Hermann Joseph's holiness is his Marian devotion, carried to the point of mystical intimacy. Tradition reports that during a vision, the Virgin recognized him as her spiritual spouse: it is from this mystical union that he received, given by his brothers in religion, the second name of Joseph, in reference to the spouse of Mary. He is described as remaining for hours in prayer before Marian altars, graced with visions and ecstasies. His piety was accompanied by great humility in the daily service of the community, presented by his biographers as the very expression of his love for God and neighbor. His reputation for holiness, attested as early as the 13th century by the account of his biographer Razon, spread primarily within the Premonstratensian Order and in the Rhineland. Several authors see in him a precursor to the devotion to the Sacred Heart and to the nuptial spirituality that would flourish in the Rhenish-Flemish mysticism of the following centuries.

The cult of Hermann Joseph was established very early after his death: his body, initially buried in Hoven, was transferred the same year to Steinfeld Abbey, where his tomb became a place of pilgrimage. A process for his canonization was undertaken in 1626, at the request of the Archbishop of Cologne and Emperor Ferdinand II, but it did not immediately succeed. In 1728, Pope Benedict XIII recognized his cult and had an altar consecrated in his honor at the Premonstratensian Saint-Norbert College in Rome, an act generally considered equivalent to a beatification. His holiness was not formally confirmed by the Holy See until much later: in 1958, Pope Pius XII confirmed his cult, a gesture assimilated to an equipollent canonization rather than a solemn canonization in the strict sense. His feast is primarily celebrated on April 7, the day of his death, in the Premonstratensian Order; it is fixed for May 21 in the Diocese of Cologne, while the translation of his relics is commemorated on May 24.

Hermann Joseph remains a figure deeply rooted in Rhenish piety. His tomb, at the Abbey of Steinfeld, remains a place of pilgrimage, and a feast is traditionally dedicated to him in the region around Pentecost. Popular tradition nicknames him "Appel-Jupp" (Apple Joseph) in the Rhenish dialect, in memory of the legend of the apple offered to the Child Jesus: pilgrims long had the custom of placing apples on his tomb. He is invoked as the patron saint of watchmakers, as well as of mothers and children, and more broadly of youth and students in the Rhineland. His influence extends above all within the Premonstratensian Order (Norbertines), which counts him among its most venerated saints, and in the history of Marian spirituality and devotion to the Heart of Christ, where his name is regularly cited among the medieval precursors.