Died c. 650. Saint Fridolin, the Irish Wanderer, gained his nickname in
the 7th century by his endless journeyings--through Gaul, Germany, and
Switzerland. He began his missionary work in Poitiers, France. An
assiduous founder of monasteries, Fridolin also found the body of Saint
Hilary of Poitiers, which had been lost when the Vandals destroyed the
monastery in that city, and restored the church itself. He became
devoted to St. Hilary and established other monasteries under his
patronage, including the abbey of Sackingen. Started as a school for
young boys on an island in the Rhein, Sackingen was no sombre place.
Here Fridolin happily encouraged the boys to play many different sports.
He also established an Irish-influenced abbey at Chur, Switzerland,
where stones sculpted in the Irish fashion can still be seen. His vita
was recorded by a monk of Sackingen five centuries after his death;
however, he claimed to have based it on a much earlier biography. He is
venerated as the apostle of the Upper Rhein and on his feast, the houses
of Sackingen are decorated with the flags of Germany, Switzerland, and
Ireland
(
Benedictines,
Bentley,
Montague).
Saint Fridolin is depicted in art as an abbot leading a skeleton by the
hand, a pilgrim with a staff and book
(
Roeder).
He is patron of Alsace,
Glarus, Sachingen, and Strasbourg and is invoked for fine weather
(
Roeder).