Meinrad of Einsiedeln

Who was Meinrad of Einsiedeln?

Saint Meinrad was a hermit and a Roman Catholic saint.

Meinrad was born into the family of the Counts of Hohenzollern and was educated at the abbey school of Reichenau, an island in Lake Constance, under his kinsmen Abbots Hatto and Erlebald. There he became a monk and was ordained. After some years at Reichenau, the dependent priory of Benken, St. Gallen near Lake Zurich, he embraced an eremitical life and established his hermitage on the slopes of Etzel Pass, taking with him a wonder-working statue of the Virgin Mary which he had been given by the Abbess Hildegarde of Zurich. He was killed in 861 by the thieves Richard and Peter who wanted the treasures which pilgrims left at the shrine. Meinrad is known as the Martyr of Hospitality. Other, more detailed information, along with a complete life story on St. Meinrad, can be found at http://www.tanbooks.com/doct/saints_mary.htm

The location was occupied by a series of others for the next eighty years. One of them, named Eberhard, previously Provost of Strasburg, erected a monastery and church there, of which he became first abbot. This monastery is Einsiedeln Abbey.

The Feast Day of St. Meinrad is on 21 January.