St. Meinrad of Einsideln
Patron saint of hospitality, St. Meinrad Of Einsideln was a founder of the Einsiedein Benedictine abbey in Switzerland. The abbey was well-known for operating continuously since the Carolingian empire of the 9th Century. He was born around 797 and attended Reichenau abbey’s school where he was ordained and became a Benedictine monk.
A famous hermit, Meinrad took his eremitical life to a new hermitage along with a miraculous statue of the Virgin Mary. Rumored to possess great wealth due to donations from those visiting the shrine, he was murdered in 861 by thieves, Peter and Richard, seeking pilgrims’ loot. They hid his body and fled to Zurich. According to lore, ravens followed the assassins and directed authorities to them.
Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims in the last thousand years have flocked to Einsideln where Meinrad is patron saint of the Benedictine abbey he founded. His feast day is Jan. 21
