Blessed Herman: Saint of the Unborn

         Have you ever heard of Blessed Herman, known as the saint of the unborn?  He came into the world with cerebral palsy and spina bifida in the eleventh century in southern Germany.  At delivery, doctors gave him five years to live (five turned out to be forty-five). 
 
         If today’s parents knew of the ill health of such a child before birth, the poor fellow would likely be aborted, but Herman’s parents raised him for seven years, then turned him over to the Benedictine monks of Reichenaur Abbey where he was lovingly educated. 
 

         The monks did so much for him that he became one of the world’s most brilliant and accomplished men — the leading religious poet of his age, fluent in Arabic, Greek and Latin, an expert on every subject under the sun and a builder of musical and astronomical equipment.  On top of this, he is the author of the beautiful prayer, “Hail Holy Queen.” But the most striking thing about him may be the fact that, throughout his life, he seemed so very happy and was always smiling.  Though he could hardly walk or talk and went blind in his thirties, he never wanted anyone to feel sorry for him, believing that suffering is a gift from God.  What an inspiration for the pro-life cause, what a reason to keep on praying, fasting, and demonstrating for an end to abortion!
 
Frederick Marks, author of Pro-Life Champion: The Untold Story of Monsignor Philip J. Reilly and His Helpers of God’s Precious Infants.
 
May 10, 2021
Forest Hills, New York