Plechelm

Who was Plechelm?

Plechelm, O.S.B., is honored as a saint in both the Roman Catholic Church and the Old Catholic Church as a patron saint of the Netherlands.

Plechelm was a Irish Benedictine monk who traveled to Rome with two fellow monks, Saints Wiro and Otger. He became a missionary first in Northumbria, England, and then in the Kingdom of Frisia, now the Netherlands. He died in St. Odiliënberg.

Plechem was canonized by Pope Agapetus II about 950. As a result, the Basilica of St. Plechelm in Oldenzaal was built to enshrine his remains in 954.