Alto of Altomünster
{{Infobox saint
|name=St. Alto of Altomünster, O.S.B.
|birth_date=
|death_date= c. 760
|feast_day=9 February
|venerated_in=Roman Catholic Church (Bavaria)
|image= File:St-Alto.jpg
|imagesize= 250px
|caption= Saint Alto awakens the Alto Spring, (detail) by Josef Mages (1728-1769), c. 1769, in the Church of St. Alto and St. Birgitta, Altomünster Abbey, Altomünster, Bavaria, Germany
|birth_place=
|death_place=Altomünster Abbey, Altomünster, Duchy of Bavaria
|titles= Abbot
|beatified_date=
|beatified_place=
|beatified_by=
|canonized_date=
|canonized_place=
|canonized_by=
|attributes=
|patronage= Diocese of Freising
|major_shrine= Altomünster Abbey, Altomünster, Bavaria, Germany
|suppressed_date=
|issues=
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}}
Alto, O.S.B., (died c. 760) was a Benedictine abbot active in the Duchy of Bavaria during the mid-8th century. Tradition holds him to be the eponymous founder of Altomünster Abbey, around which a market town grew up, also called Altomünster. He is honored as a saint by the Catholic Church.
Life
Little is known about Alto; he is believed to have arrived in the region as a wandering Irish or Scottish monk, and to have previously lived as a hermit near both Munich and Augsburg.
There is a Vita of his life written by Otloh of St. Emmeram about 1062. The Diocese of Freising has a document dating perhaps to 763 with the signature Alto reclausus (Alto the hermit) which is considered to be his.{{cite web|url=http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/40260|work=Santi e beati|title= Sant' Altone Abate|language=it}}
A donation by King Pepin the Short gave Alto some wooded land on which to build his monastery. Saint Boniface is said to have come to dedicate the church about the year 750.[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01367b.htm Thurston, Herbert. "St. Alto." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 30 May 2016
A Gospel lectionary made for Altomünster Abbey has a metal cover which was added to the manuscript in 1489, depicting one of Saint Alto's miracles.{{Cite web
| title = Gospels for the Year
| work = World Digital Library
| accessdate = 2014-06-03
| url = http://www.wdl.org/en/item/13457/view/1/1/
}}
Alto's feast day is celebrated on 9 February.
Legacy
St-Alto-way is a trail in the forest Alto.{{Cite web |url=http://www.altomuenster.de/Freizeit-Touristik/Rad-undWanderwege/St-Alto-Weg.aspx |title="St-Alto-way", Markt Altomünster |access-date=2016-07-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160815113627/http://www.altomuenster.de/Freizeit-Touristik/Rad-undWanderwege/St-Alto-Weg.aspx |archive-date=2016-08-15 |url-status=dead }}
References
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Category:Medieval German saints