ST FIDELIS OF SIGMARINGEN; PRIEST, CAPUCHIN, MARTYR – FEAST DAY: APRIL 24th
The life of St Fidelis demonstrates society’s deep rift before the outbreak of the Thirty Years War which devastated central Europe during much of the 17th century. Catholic and Protestant fractions, backed by foreign and local political interests, fought each other bitterly. Injustice and violence occurred on a daily basis among ordinary people; in the midst of this heated atmosphere the Capuchin priest St Fidelis was brutally murdered.
St Fidelis was born in 1578; his birth name was Markus Roy. His father, the innkeeper Johannes Roy, held the office of mayor of Sigmaringen. St Fidelis was educated in the college of the Jesuits as a boy and continued to study Philosophy and Law there.
From 1604 St Fidelis accompanied a group of young aristocrats around Count Wilhelm von Stolzingen on lengthy journeys through Germany, France, upper Italy and some provinces of Spain. In this way he became fluent in the French and Italian languages.
Following his return, St Fidelis stayed on with the family von Stotzingen as he could not continue his studies in Freiburg, because this city happened by now to be infested with the plague.
Eventually, St Fidelis resumed his studies in Villingen, and after qualifying he worked as a lawyer, especially defending the rights of the poor.
Since he found quite a few lawyer colleagues to be corrupt, St Fidelis left this work and became a priest instead, joining the Swiss Capuchin Friary in Freiburg on 3rd October 1612, where he was given the religious name Fidelis – “the Faithful”. He carried on studying in Konstanz and Frauenfeld and then became a missionary in Austria.
St Fidelis lead a very ascetic life. In his new position, he yet again defended and fought for the rights of the poor, while also at the same time looking after the needs of the people infected with typhoid and the plague in the local hospitals. His charitable work necessitated long hikes through snow, rain and extreme cold. 1618 St Fidelis was put in charge of the Capuchin Friary in Rheinfelden, later of the monastery in Freiburg, and from 1621 on he headed the Capuchin Friary in Feldkirch.
His brilliant eloquence and talent to win people over to the Faith by his words and pious actions made St Fidelis known around the area; subsequently his reputation to convince people spread even as far as Rome. From Rome he was then nominated to do missionary work among the Protestants in Raethien.
St Fidelis at once set about preaching to the Protestant farmers in the entire region of Praettigau.
Meanwhile, the civil war continued. The local disagreements reached a climax on Palm Sunday 1622. Today it cannot be said with certainty what exactly happened on this day – this particular period of unrest in the Thirty Years War went down in the history books as “Buendner Wirren”, i.e. “Buendner Confusions”.
On this fateful day Fidelis had been preaching his homily in Seewis, a mountain village below the Montafon – Peaks of the Alps. The saint had talked vehemently to the farmers and appealed to them to return to the Catholic faith. Whilst preaching, St Fidelis had to be protected by “bodyguards” of the Austrian army so as not to be assaulted and killed instantly by a mob of militant Protestants. At the same time, in the neighbouring town of Schiers, extreme violence erupted between Protestant citizens and Catholic Austrians, and amid the clashes the local church was set alight. The flames spread, panic ensued, leading to confusion also in Seewis, where St Fidelis had been preaching. Tumult and chaos broke out in the whole region. The protestant farmers armed themselves with pitchforks, spades, axes, clubs and other improvised weapons to attack the Austrians in order to drive them away. People were scattered in all directions, and St Fidelis was killed with some heavy implement by the pursuing Protestants. Having killed a priest, they hurriedly buried St Fidelis in a shallow grave by the roadside.
When some of his fellow Capuchins wanted to collect St Fidelis’ body to bury him properly in Feldkirch, police tried to confiscate his mortal remains. In the hubbub and tugging that followed the saint’s head got severed from his body. St Fidelis’ head is therefore buried in Feldkirch, the body, however, rests in the Cathedral of Chur, Switzerland. St Fidelis was canonised by Pope Benedict XIV on 29th June 1746. He is patron of lawyers/solicitors and faith matters. St Fidelis is often pictured with a heavy spiked club.
“But the souls of the virtuous are in the hands of God, no torment shall ever touch them.”
Prayers4reparation's Blog 