My Lord and my God, take from me everything that distances me from you. My Lord and my God, give me everything that brings me closer to you. My Lord and my God, detach me from myself to give my all to you.
Saint Nicholas of Flüe
(21 March 1417 – 21 March 1487[1])
A Swiss hermit and ascetic who is the patron saint of Switzerland. He is sometimes invoked as "Brother Klaus."
He was born in the canton of Unterwalden and made himself distinguished as a soldier. After serving in the military, he became a councillor and judge. He declined the opportunity to serve as Landamman (governor) of his canton.
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| EVERYTHING FOR GOD |
He left his wife and his ten children and set himself up as a hermit, establishing a chantry for a priest from his own funds so that he could assist at mass daily. 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."
In 1470, Pope Paul II granted the first indulgence to the sanctuary at Ranft and it became a place of pilgrimage, since it lay on the Jakobsweg (English: Way of St. James), the road pilgrims travelled on to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. His counsel prevented a civil war between the cantons meeting at the Diet of Stans in 1481 when their antagonism grew. The advice he gave them remains a secret to this day. Despite being illiterate and having limited experience with the world, his is honored among both Protestants and Catholics with the permanent national unity of Switzerland. Letters of thanks to him from Berne and Soleure still survive. When he died, he was surrounded by his wife and children.
He was beatified in 1669. After his beatification, the municipality of Sachseln built a church in his honour where his body was interred. He was canonized in 1947 by Pope Pius XII. His feast day in the Roman Catholic Church is 21 March, except in Switzerland and Germany where it is 25 September.
Prayer citation
The new Catechism of the Catholic Church cites a brief personal prayer of St. Nicholas of Flue in paragraph #226[4] of Chapter 1 of Part 1, Section 2 "The Profession of the Christian Faith" under subheading IV "The implications of faith in one God" an aspect of which is making good use of created things.
My Lord and my God, take from me everything that distances me from you.
My Lord and my God, give me everything that brings me closer to you.
My Lord and my God, detach me from myself to give my all to you.
As a layman with family responsibilities who took his civic duties as an ancestral landowner seriously, Brother Klaus is a model of heroic manhood for many concerned with the flourishing of local communities and sustainable use of open land. He is the patron saint of the German-language association KLB (Katholischen Landvolkbewegung), the Catholic Rural Communities Movement.
Published: Feb. 16, 2013-7:24AM; March 16, 2013-6:13AM; April 16, 2013-7:20AM
