Saturday, October 6, 2007

St. Wendelin of Trier

St. Wendelin, or Wendel, lived from about 554 to 617. According to legend, he was the son of a Scottish king, who decided to go on pilgrimage to Rome. On his way back, he got sidetracked and settled down contentedly as a hermit, near Trier, in Germany. When a local landowner complained about his "idle" life, St. Wendelin agreed to work as a herdsman, but both he and the landowner were eventually shown that working isn't the only way to live. He went back to his hermitage, where he was joined by others with sense, until it developed into the Abbey of Tholey, with the saint as abbot. HERE'S more of the story.
The town of Sankt Wendel grew up around the site of the saint's hermitage, and, since 1506, his relics have been enshrined in the sarcophagus shown in the picture. St. Wendelin is a patron of country people and herdsmen, so if we had more sense, there's be a lot more people under his patronage.
(Photo Credit)

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