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The Irish saved Europe. At least that’s what we are told happened in the Early Middle Ages when Irish missionaries travelled throughout the continent spreading faith and learning. Europe was reeling from the fall of the Roman Empire and subsequent Barbarian invasion. They were bleak times.
One of the Irish holy men who helped to kindle a light in the darkness was St Fridolin. He travelled extensively around western Europe, so much so that he became known as Viator, the wanderer. Traces of the saint can be seen in the form of churches and monasteries that he founded in what are today France, Germany and Switzerland.
As with many missionary saints of the time, precise details about his background are a bit vague, but he is said to have come from a noble Irish family.
Fridolin trained to be a priest and was known for his wisdom and piety. Leaving behind all his inheritance and worldly goods, he set about travelling through Europe.
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His first port of call was Poitiers in western France. Here, Fridolin rebuilt the monastery of St Hilary, which had been destroyed by Vandals. He then safely gathered the relics of St Hilary, which had been dispersed through raids by Vandals. Fridolin is said to have seen a vision of St Hilary who commanded him to travel to an island on the river Rhine and establish a monastery there.
Fridolin accepted this order and duly founded an abbey in what is today the town of Bad Säckingen in south-west Germany. He evangelised the Germanic tribes and became known as Fridolin of Säckingen. There are many spaces and places still associated with him in the town. One is the Baroque-style 18th-century St. Fridolin’s Minster, which houses an ornate silver shrine that contains the relics of St. Fridolin. There is also a road bridge in the town named after him called Fridolinsbrücke.
The bridge spans the Rhine and links Germany with Switzerland, which is where the story continues. Fridolin is the patron saint of the Swiss canton of Glarus.
Every year on his feast day, March 6th, bonfires are lit which are known as Fridlisfüür (literally Fridolin's fire). The practice is thought to date from pre-Christian times when fires were lit to chase away the winter and herald the coming of spring.
Schools and village associations organise young people to gather brushwood and dry branches. Fires are set on hillsides with each town trying to outdo their neighbour. They are much stricter on what can be burned than in the past when furniture was sometimes added. Now, they are as environmentally friendly as possible, with only natural wood being burned. There is a prize awarded for the best one with the jury made up of members from the three municipalities in Glarus. Last year, there were fires in 17 different towns in the canton.
Apart from being remembered in buildings, bridges and place names, Fridolin is also celebrated in other ways. The cantonal flag of Glarus, which has been in use since the 14th century, features Fridolin holding a staff, or crozier, and bible. Switzerland is made up of 26 cantons and Glarus is the only one to depict a saint on their flag. The others contain either heraldic symbols or just colours, such as the blue and white of the German-speaking canton of Zurich, or the blue and red of the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino.
There is another popular illustration that depicts Fridolin, but this one is a little macabre. He is often shown with a skeleton at his side.
This relates to an apocryphal tale about how Fridolin became so influential in the region. The story goes that he encouraged a wealthy landowner, named Urso, to convert to Catholicism before he died. In his will, Urso left all his land to Fridolin, but Urso’s brother contested the will and bequest.
At the tribunal, Fridolin is said to have summoned Urso from the dead and he confirmed that he wished to leave the land to the cleric. The brother then gave up his claim to the land in question.
The celebrated German Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer drew a sketch of Fridolin in 1514 and it clearly shows him in his clerical vestments with a skeleton by his side.
Some historians have claimed that Fridolin came from Poitiers and not from the island of saints and scholars at all.
Questions have even been raised about whether Fridolin existed at all.
However, as we can see, there is a rich tradition linking him to Ireland. It would be a real pity to break this connection that goes back many centuries and unites us with our European friends.
Fridolin is believed to have died in Säckingen around the year 540AD and was buried in the abbey that he founded.