Years ago, when our family was together for dinner, and we were exchanging stories, when I began a story I would be asked: "Is this going to be a long story?" I have a tendency to provide background for the story, and include what others may deem extraneous details. With this introduction: this is probably going to be a long story.

In the summer of 2000, members of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Richboro joined with members of Advent Evangelical Lutheran Church, also in Richboro, for an ecumenical pilgrimage to see the Passion Play in Oberammergau, Germany — a total of 81 pilgrims. We landed in Munich and stayed there for four days; while there, we made a day trip to Augsburg. Then we spent an overnight in Oberammergau where we saw the Passion Play. The pilgrimage completed with a three-day visit to Salzburg, Austria.

In Salzburg the two tour buses were directed to different lodgings; our group stayed at the Gasthof Doktorwirt, a family owned inn in Aigen, then a village just outside Salzburg, and now a district within the city. The Doktorwirt was — and is — owned and operated by the Schnöll family; at the time of our visit their twin daughters, Caroline and Elisabeth were the public face of the family, interacting with the guests.

We had a delightful time at the Doktorwirt, and after our return home, my brother, Father Bob McLaughlin, who was on the pilgrimage, kept in touch with the twins for some years. If my brother heard that someone was visiting Salzburg, he recommended the Doktorwirt, and wrote to the twins, alerting them of a possible visit; those who accepted his recommendation reported that they were given the "royal treatment," put up in the "tower room," and loved the experience. The Doktorwirt has greatly expended since our visit, but seems as good as we remember it. But, I diverge . . . it is getting to be a long story.

One day, during our stay at Doktorwirt, I was in conversation with one of the twins, and she asked me if I knew anything about Saint Nicholas von Flüe. I had to admit that I did not. Then she explained that she was a direct descendant of Saint Nicholas von Flüe on her mother's side, but all she knew about him was that he left his wife and ten children to become a hermit, and was subsequently canonized by the Church — and that did not make sense to her. At first blush, it didn't make much sense to me either, but I told her that I would do some research when I returned to my rectory, and let her know whatever I found out.

We had a full 12-volume edition of Butler's Lives of the Saints in the rectory. I consulted that, and was amazed to see that St. Nicholas has a multiple-page listing — in terms of number of pages, he is right up there with the really big saints. I copied the entire article and sent it to the twins in Aigen, but I believe that his life may also be of interest to others.

Nicholas was born in 1417 in Switzerland in the small village of Flüeli, near the town of Sachseln in the canton of Obwalden. His parents were prosperous farmers. At the time, Switzerland was a Confederacy of eight cantons, noted for their independence, democracy and military prowess. Nicholas' parents were pious, and from a very young age he was prayerful, practiced mortification, and conscientiously fulfilled his obligations on the farm. His mother, Emma, initiated her children into the spirituality and practices of the "Friends of God" (Gottesfreunde), a movement which sought the sanctification of its practitioners through a deep interior life. Its aim was union with God through prayer, meditation on the passion of Christ, renunciation, and the service of one's neighbor.

At the age of 21 Nicholas entered the army. Switzerland was not one country at this point. The Confederacy of eight cantons was more like a mutual defense treaty, and actions of neighboring cantons, as well as rebellions from within one of the cantons would lead to a call to arms. Thus, at this point he was sometimes fighting, and other times farming. In battle, he was not a conscientious objector, but there are several documented cases in which he called the soldiers to higher moral ground.

The relations between the cantons, as noted, were an important part of Nicholas' military service, and they will also be a major factor later in Nicholas' life. Thus, it seems appropriate to provide some background on the development of the Swiss Confederacy.

The Helvetians, a Celtic tribe, were living in Swiss territory at the time of the Roman invasions; hence, the Romans gave the area the Latin name Helvetia. Roman rule was established in the territory, and Christianity was introduced. The end of the Western Roman Empire led to the dismantling of Roman administration in the 5^th and 6^th centuries — this was caused by and led to the migration of Germanic tribes and others who settled in Switzerland and brought with them new ways of life and languages. Christianity continued to spread.

Each settlement tended to be homogeneous, independent, self-governing and democratic; they came to be called cantons. There were forest cantons or rural cantons, and town cantons or urban cantons, and not all cantons spoke the same language. The Swiss trace their roots to 1291 with the Rütli Oath that the cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden took, forming an alliance to ensure free trade, maintain peace on the trade routes through the mountains and deter the threat of foreign rule by the Habsburgs — they were all forest cantons and spoke German. By Nicholas von Flüe's time, an additional five cantons had joined the Confederacy: Zurich, Bern, Lucerne, Glarus and Zug. Often, they joined in the interest of mutual defense, principally to defeat the Habsburg army. But, then the presence in the Confederacy of both forest and urban cantons with different priorities and interests led to internal dissension — and even civil war. That was the world in which Nicholas von Flüe lived.

At the age of 30, Nicholas married Dorothée Wyss from the neighboring village of Sachseln, by all accounts, she was somewhat younger than he was. Their marriage proved to be a happy one. Not far from the house in which he was born, Nicholas built the house in which, over the course of twenty years, he and Dorothée were to have ten children, five boys and five girls. He brought the spirituality of the Gottesfreunde into his marriage — he fasted as he had always done, and every night, after a short sleep, he rose to pray. Nicholas was illiterate and earned his living as a farmer, and, as a farmer, was able to provide a comfortable and secure home for his family. Periodically, until the age of 37, he was called to active military duty; he rose to the rank of captain.

Nicholas also responded to calls to service in the canton of Unterwalden. He was elected to the town council, then a judgeship which lasted for 9 years. He became known as a counselor for individuals, married couples, and civic and religious entities. Among his accomplishments was the resolution of a dispute between the local parish and the neighboring Engelberg monastery. He was offered the governorship of his canton several times, which he declined, humbly.

His prayer life included periods of contemplation and symbolic visions. At the age of 50, he received a mystical vision of a lily being eaten by a horse, which he interpreted as a sign that the cares of his worldly life (the draft horse pulling a plow) were swallowing up his spiritual life (the lily, a symbol of purity). He felt that he was being called to devote himself entirely to the contemplative life, and began to discuss this call with his wife and his spiritual director. Ultimately, they all came to a consensus that the call was real, and that he should respond to it.

In preparations for Nicholas' leaving the family, papers were signed to designate Dorothée as head of the household, and it was determined that the older sons would be able to care of the farm so that the family would have sufficient income. Then, Nicholas, at age 50, set out, intending to go to Alsace, where he felt that he could live isolated from his former life. Early on a severe storm delayed him, which he saw as a sign, and he received friendly advice not to settle in Alsace where the Swiss were detested, so he turned back, ultimately settling by the Ranft gorge, which was about a one-hour's walk from his home.

He built a crude hut, and wore only a simple gown, refusing winter clothing. One night he felt a horrible pain in his bowels and seemed to be near death; however, after some time he recovered, and from that moment on he did not feel any more need for food and drink. For the rest of his life, he existed only on the Eucharist. He now called himself Bruder Klaus. He went to Sunday Mass at a local church, but otherwise spent his time in prayer in his hermitage. Both Church and civil authorities were somewhat suspicious of his actions, and apparently had people observe whether or not he ever took any food or drink — he did not. A consensus began to develop that he was truly a holy man, and his fame began to spread.

Civil authorities built a cell and chapel for him — it was dedicated by the vicar-general and bishop of Constance — and his hermitage was designated one of the pilgrim shrines on the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, Der Jakobsweg in German. Arrangements were made for a priest to celebrate Mass daily in his chapel. In his hermitage, Bruder Klaus prayed most of the night, meditating particularly on the Passion of Christ, he would walk in the forest in the morning, and receive visitors each afternoon. Visitors came from throughout Europe, from peasants to princes, seeking counsel, both personal and political. Regular visitors were his wife and family, who often joined him in the chapel for Sunday Mass.

As intimated earlier, Nicholas von Flüe's entering his hermitage did not isolate him from the tensions that at various times arose between the cantons. A major issue arose in 1481, that many felt could lead to the dissolution of the Swiss Confederation. The five rural cantons of the confederacy — Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Zug, and Glarus — had entered into a treaty of common citizenship between themselves and the bishopric of Constance in 1477; in response, the three urban cantons — Luzern, Bern, and Zürich — entered into a a similar treaty with two other cities, Fribourg and Solothurn. The rural cantons objected to this, chiefly because it seemed to portend the admission of two new cities in the confederacy, which would upset the existing five-to-three majority of the rural districts over the urban.

A meeting called at Stans, in Unterwalden canton in December 1481 to address the situation reached an impasse, and it was at that point that the delegates attending the conference threatened one another with the dissolution of the confederacy. The Pastor at Stans left the meeting to enlist the help of Bruder Klaus. The hermit would not leave his hermitage, but he made a statement with a few modest proposals, and urged a peaceful settlement of the issues. The Pastor returned to Stans and prevailed upon the delegates to reconvene. Bruder Klaus' statement was read, and the "insurmountable" issues were resolved in a couple of hours.

In the solution, both the five rural cantons and the three urban cantons renounced their controversial treaties; and all eight made a new alliance with Fribourg and Solothurn, which entered the confederacy on the understanding that they were to make no separate alliances of their own without the approval of a majority among the eight. The result was a positive strengthening of the confederacy; and the admission of French-speaking Fribourg, the first non-German-speaking canton, was highly significant for the future development of Switzerland.

[At present, the Swiss Confederation has four official languages: German, French, Italian, and Romansh (a descendant language of the spoken Latin language of the Roman Empire, which has also been influenced by German and Celtic languages). Thus, to identify the country in a "neutral" language, the Swiss use the name of the country in Latin: Confœderatio Helvetica, the "Helvetic Confederation." This is the origin of the "CH" bumper sticker to identify cars registered in Switzerland, as well as ".ch" internet domain to identify the country; it is also why the country is identified as Helvetia on its postage stamps.]

The text of Bruder Klaus' recommendations was never released, however, letters of thanks from the cities of Berne and Soleure still exist testifying to the effect of his contribution. Bruder Klaus came to be called the "political savior of Switzerland."

Bruder Klaus lived the life of a hermit for 20 years. He had a revelation that he would die on his 70^th birthday, and a week before that date, he fell ill and endured a very painful illness with the greatest patience. He received the Rites of the Church and his wife and children gathered around him. He passed away, as foretold, on March 21, 1487. His body was transported to Sachseln, and he was buried in the parish church; his funeral was a signal recognition of the love and the veneration of his people. Soon after his death people began to visit his grave. Miracles were recorded and the belief in his powerful intercession grew more and more.

Nicholas' son John became the parish priest of Stans, while one of his grandsons became a hermit in the hermitage of Ranft, once occupied by his grandfather.

Nicholas was beatified by Pope Innocent X in 1649, and on that occasion the people of Sachseln built a larger church and his remains were moved to the new church. He was canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1947. His feast day on the universal Church calendar is March 21^st; however, in Switzerland and Germany it is celebrated on September 25^th. He is the patron saint of Switzerland. He is also a patron saint of the Swiss Guard, together with St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Martin of Tours, and Saint Sebastian.

So, I guess that you could sum up his life by saying that "he left his wife and ten children to become a hermit, and was subsequently canonized by the Church," as the Schnöll twins told me — but there is a bit more to it than that. One of the concepts I have been reflecting on in these articles is the "saints behind the saints." I have not been able to find too much information on Dorothée Wyss, Nicholas's wife, but I strongly suspect that she is one of the "saints behind the saints."