Nicholas of Flue

Saint Nicholas of Fl?e (Niklaus von Fl?e) (1417 - March 21, 1487) was a Swiss hermit and ascetic who is the patron saint of Switzerland. He is sometimes invoked as "Brother Klaus."

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He was born in the canon of Unterwalden, the son of wealthy peasants, and made himself distinguished as a soldier in action against the canton of Zurich, which had rebelled against the confederation. At around the age of 30, he married Dorothy Wiss, a farmer's daughter. He continued in the military to the age of 37, rising to the position of captain, reportedly fighting with a sword in one hand and a rosary in the other. After serving in the military, he became a councillor and judge for his canton in 1459 and served as a judge for nine years.

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After receiving a mystical vision, he decided to devote himself entirely to the contemplative life, and in 1467 he left his wife and his ten children with her consent and set himself up as a hermit in the Ranft valley in Switzerland. According to legend, he survived for nineteen years with no food except for the eucharist. His reputation for wisdom and piety was such that figures from across Europe came to seek advice from him, and he was known to all as "Brother Klaus." His counsel prevented a civil war between the cantons meeting at Stans in 1481 when their antagonism grew. When he died, he was surrounded by his wife and children.

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He was beatified in 1669 and canonized in 1947. His feast day in the Roman Catholic Church is March 21, except in Switzerland, where it is September 25.

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March 21: March 21 is the 80th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (81st in leap years). There are 285 days remaining....

Hermit: A hermit (from the Greek erēmos, signifying "desert", "uninhabited", hence "desert-dweller") is a person who lives to some greater or lesser degree in seclusion and/or isolation from society....

Patron saint: In several forms of Christianity, but especially in Roman Catholicism, a patron saint has special affinity for a trade or group. St. Florian is the patron saint of firefighters, and St. Christopher is the patron saint of travellers, for example. Eastern Orthodoxy generally doesn't associate saint...

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