Fridolin of Säckingen

Fridolin of Säckingen ( * in Ireland, † 538 in Säckingen ) was a evangeliser the Upper Rhine and abbot of the monastery Sackingen, who is revered in the Catholic and Orthodox Church as a saint. According to him, several churches are named.

Life

Fridolin was an Irish monk, who worked first in Poitiers in Gaul, where he raised the bones of St. Hilary of Poitiers, and built a church. Against his Irish ancestry but speaks of the Germanic name Fridolin. According to legend, Hilary commissioned him in a dream to build on a certain island in the Rhine a monastery. On the road from Poitiers to Säckingen Fridolin founded a number of churches, which he dedicated all Hilary, among other things, on the Moselle and in Strasbourg. His first creation was probably Eller (old: Helera derived from Hilary ).

Fridolin founded with the ladies Säckingen the oldest monastery in southern Germany, which was the starting point for the evangelization of today's Baden -Württemberg. Therefore, Fridolin is also called the Apostle of the Baden Oberland. A Biography, called Fridolin Vita was written in the 10th century by a monk named Balther.

Fridolin is the patron saint of the canton of Glarus ( Switzerland ).

Worship

The bones Fridolin in the collegiate church in Säckingen called Fridolin Minster, are still a destination for many pilgrims. Every year, the magnificent baroque silver shrine is carried in a large procession festival with the participation of music bands, costume makers and knights and squires in medieval costumes through the streets of the romantic city on the Upper Rhine.

Remembrance

• Catholic: March 6, ( Not bid Memorial in the regional calendar for the German -speaking area ), only in the Diocese of the Holy Strasbourg on 7 March is celebrated.
• Orthodox: March 6,
• The procession through the town of Bad Säckingen takes place every year on the Sunday after the 6th of March (will be canceled in case of bad weather, so as not to endanger the shrine )

Fridolin is called of leg complaints, animal diseases and for good weather.

Iconography

Fridolin is often depicted together with a skeleton. Legend has awakened Fridolin farmers Urso from death (hence the skeleton ), so that he could confirm the donation of the land now stands the Fridolinsmünster of Säckingen on, which he had made during his lifetime Fridolin.