Foillan

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St. Foillan

St. Foillan (* October 24th around 600; † October 31st 655 or 656 in the forest of Soigne in Belgium) is an Irish saint who is also known under the names Faelan, Feuillien, Faolan, Foelan or Foalan depending on the country . Foillan was the brother of Saint Ultanus and Saint Fursa .

Foillan was a son of King Fyltan of Mounster and was born in Ireland. The exact place of his birth is not known. Probably influenced by his two brothers, he became a monk and later abbot in the English monastery of Cnobheresburg founded by his brother between 634 and 650 . This was in the territory of the Ostangeln. The now defunct monastery complex is probably Burgh Castle near Great Yarmouth in Norfolk. After a war broke out between Penda von Mercien and the East Anglo-Saxon King Anna , the monastery was looted. Foillan just managed to save the relics of the monastery and the parish registers, and he fled with two companions to Péronne in northern France. There he was accepted by the neustrian caretaker Erchinoald .

Some sources say that Pope Martin I consecrated Foillan as a mission bishop during a stay in Rome .

Foillan later went to Nivelles , where Itta , the wife of Pippin the Elder , had built a monastery and lived as a nun. Foillan worked there as a teacher and lived in the neighboring men's convent. Itta's daughter Gertrud von Nivelles founded the Fosses monastery near Namur , and in 652 gave Foillan the task of building a monastery and a hospital. She also made him abbot. Foillan kept in contact with Nivelles monastery at all times. On a return trip from Nivelles, where he had sung mass the previous evening, he was attacked and killed by robbers on October 31 in the Soigne forest in a place where the town of Roeulx is now . His undressed body was found in the ditch of a pigsty.

Foillan was buried in the Fosses monastery. His admiration spread rapidly, becoming particularly well known in Wallonia and the Rhineland . Relics of the Holy Foillan are among others in the Aachen Church St. Foillan , the only church in Germany that bears his name.

St. Foillan is considered the saint of bridge builders, dentists, surgeons and child nurses.

literature

  • Lexicon for Theology and Church, Volume 4, page 191. Second edition, Freiburg 1960: Herder. The article by J. Henning there contains six references.

Web links

Commons : Saint Foillan  - collection of images, videos and audio files