A patron saint and the legend

The hunters from the district of kronach honored their patron saint, saint hubertus, in an impressive service in the hunter’s church of herz jesu in pressig, which was decorated in the manner of a hunting lodge. Afterwards, they celebrated st. Hubert’s day in the parish hall. Both events received a great deal of support from the public.

Father helmut haagen OMI was the celebrant of the hubertus mass, the brass corps of the hunter circle group kronach led musically through the hubertus mass with fanfares and hunting pieces of french tradition from "la grande messe de saint hubert".

With the introduction "forget everything you know about saint hubertus", festival preacher father helmut haagen aroused curiosity and first went into the life of saint hubertus, who was anything but a jager. Hubertus had nothing to do with the hunt, the meeting with the stag, which carries a luminous cross in the antlers, did not take place. Except for the fact that he was bishop of maastricht and later moved his seat of office to luttich and died in 727 near brussel, there are few known facts about his life. Several attempts at explanation sounded more adventurous and resembled a detective story than substantive, the father said. The preacher sees it rather in such a way that this legend, which was originally munted on eustachius, one of the 14 emergency helpers, was transferred sometime in the middle ages to hubertus. Hubertus is not only the patron saint of hunters, but also of protectors, opticians and curriers.

But since then, hubertus has been regarded by christian hunters as an example of moderation and as an incentive for hunting in accordance with the hunter’s motto: "this is the hunter’s shield of honor, that he protects and cherishes his game, hunts in a hunter’s way, honors the hunter in his head"!" In addition the clergyman remarked critical words.

Today more than ever, the hunter is in a field of tension, just like the non-hunter. On the one hand, people love animals like their fellow human beings and really live with them; on the other hand, more animal flesh is eaten than ever before. For hunting, even night vision devices were allowed to protect fields and crops from wild boars. This is probably also due to the fact that today we do not speak of a natural landscape, but of a cultural landscape. The many patronages of st. Hubert as a patron saint could challenge us to be responsible in our dealings with the environment, with our fellow human beings and in our reverence for god, haagen concluded.

While the hubertus mass was very well attended with more than 400 people, the parish hall was bursting at the seams for the hubertus celebration. An overjoyed game warden reinhold heinlein, was pleased about the great interest. "Game, forestry and agriculture must be brought together so that farmers, foresters, hunters and nature conservation can form the responsible community that our nature needs", said heinlein. The self-image of forestry and agriculture, in the spirit of st. Hubert, also includes respect for wildlife. The increasingly heavily used cultural landscape also requires the protection of wild animals. The consumption of the landscape shows how small the habitat for the wild has become. In a time of climate change, we should take every opportunity to leave a livable and biodiverse environment for future generations.