Litany of Saints
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Fridolin of Säckingen

Irish missionary

SaintResearchedIrelandBenedictinesPre-congregation

Feast: 6 March (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)

Born
401
Died
538
Beatified
not needed: before formal processes
Canonised
By tradition
recognised before formal processes began

Who they were

Fridolin is venerated as the first Irish missionary among the Alamanni on the Upper Rhine in Merovingian times. His life, written in the eleventh century, says he was of a noble Irish family, found and enshrined the relics of St Hilary at Poitiers, and was then sent in a dream to an island in the Rhine.

He founded churches in honour of St Hilary along the way and the monastery of Säckingen on its island. He died on 6 March and was buried at Säckingen.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.

Why that counted as sanctity

An Irish missionary who brought the Faith to the Upper Rhine.

Sources

Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.

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