Saint Wendelin

Statue of St. Wendelin in Waldnacht - Kappelle

Have you heard about Saint Wendelin? The answer by a large majority, I hope, would be ‘no’. To be honest, I too heard about this saint only recently. I shall share with you how I came to know about this saint. During summer holidays I used to go for pastoral service in Attinghausen, a Catholic parish in Switzerland. Waldnacht is a station church of this parish dedicated to this saint. One day, during my homily, I asked the parishioners about the patron of their church. Majority of them did not know any details about this saint and others had only vague answers. So, I collected some information about Saint Wendelin and on the next Sunday my homily was about this saint, who has been forgotten by many. Here is the summary of my homily. 

Church at Waldnacht dedicated to St. Wendelin

Saint Wendelin was born in the Year 554 in a city in Scotland. His father, Forchado, was the King of Scotland and his mother, Irelina, the Queen. He was a pious and humble boy and wished for nothing more than to lead a humble and simple life and dedicated this life to God. So, one night, when all were asleep in the castle, Wendelin bid good-bye for ever to his rightful inheritance, the Kingdom of Scotland, and slipped away, never to return. 

Wendelin began a search for the ideal place where he could lead a simple life. In 574 he entered the city of Rome and stayed there for some time. Before leaving Rome, Wendelin had the opportunity to meet Pope Benedict I and was granted the Apostolic Blessings. Upon leaving Rome, he ventured to Germany, always disguised as a pilgrim and beggar. The city of Einsidel was his stopping point for awhile. It was here that he decided to dedicate the rest of his life to the Mother of God. 

After an unknown period of time, Wendelin started getting the urge to go to the ancient city of Trier in order to pray at the shrines there. One day while Wendelin was roaming from shrine to shrine, he met a wealthy man who offered him a job. Wendelin accepted the job and was put to work taking care of a herd of swine, cows and sheep. During this period, it is said that he performed many miracles. The miraculous spring, to feed the sheep is one among them. This spring was later encased in stone and can still be seen not far from the city of Saint Wendel in Germany. It is also said that had the power of being at two palaces at the same time. 

In 590 Wendelin went to the Benedictine Monastery at Trier and received the habit of a hermit and then returned to his beloved wilderness. He had strong temptations during this time to give up this holy life and return to Scotland. The Abbot of the monastery at Tholey died about this time and by a divine inspiration he humbly accepted this office. In the year 617, Wendelin became very sick and knew that death was near. At this time, Wendelin revealed to arch bishop Severinus his secret that he was the Crown Prince of Scotland and that he had left his country for the love of God and to serve his God in humility and poverty by means of penance and prayer. Wendelin was buried in his cell, and a chapel was built over the grave. The small town of St. Wendel grew up nearby. The saint's intercession was powerful in times of pestilence and contagious diseases among cattle. In 1320 Archbishop Baldwin of Trier had rebuilt the chapel. Baldwin's successor, Boemund II, built the present beautiful Gothic church, dedicated in 1360 and to which the saint's relics were transferred; since 1506 they have rested in a stone sarcophagus. 

Wendelin is the patron saint of country people and herdsmen and is still venerated in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. He is represented in art as a young man or as a bearded man, with a shepherd's bag and a book in one hand and a shepherd's staff in the other and lambs or cattle or swine placed at his feet. St. Wendelin’s feast is observed in the Diocese of Trier on 22 October.