MEINRAD OF EINSIEDELN, ST.

Martyr; b. Sülichgau, near Württemberg, Germany, late eighth century; d. hermitage near Einsiedeln, Switzerland, Jan. 21, 861. He was educated at the Abbey reichenau, where he became a benedictine monk and priest. He was for a while headmaster of the school at Babinchowa on upper Lake Zurich, and then he spent seven years in a hermitage on the slopes of Mount Etzel. There he built a chapel that later became the site of the monastery of einsiedeln, and the same place witnessed his murder by two robbers to whom he had given hospitality. He was buried at Reichenau, and his remains were transferred to Einsiedeln in 1039. His symbol is two ravens, beloved pets of Meinrad and betrayers of his murderers.

Feast: Jan. 21.

Bibliography: Acta Sanctorum Jan. 2:381–385. o. ringholz, Geschichte des fürstlichen Benediktinerstiftes U. L. F. von Einsiedeln (New York 1904) 648–651; Meinrads-Büchlein: Das Leben und die Verehrung des Märtyrers von Einsiedeln (Einsiedeln 1905) 1–80. j. braun, Tracht und Attribute der Heiligen in der deutschen Kunst (Stuttgart 1943) 536. l. helbling, Das Blockbuch von Sankt Meinrad und seinen Mördern und vom Ursprung von Einsiedeln (Einsiedeln 1961). i. lÜthold-minder, Das Leben des heiligen Meinrad (Einsiedeln 1979). a. m. zimmermann, Kalendarium Benedictinum: Die Heiligen und Seligen des Benediktinerorderns und seiner Zweige, 4 v. (Metten 1933–38) 1:109–112.

[b. d. hill]