Saint Nicholas of Flüe

Nicholas (Niklaus) von Flüe was born in 1417 at Flüeli, in the Swiss canton of Obwalden. He was a prosperous farmer, served as a soldier and later as a councillor and judge, and was respected for his honesty. With his wife Dorothea Wyss he had ten children. From his youth he felt drawn to prayer, and around the age of fifty, with Dorothea's consent, he left home in 1467 to live as a hermit.

He settled in the Ranft gorge, a short walk from his family, where people came to seek his advice. For about twenty years, witnesses reported, he lived without ordinary food, sustained by the Eucharist. In 1481, when the Swiss confederates were on the verge of civil war at the Diet of Stans, his counsel, brought by a priest, helped them reach an agreement. Known as Brother Klaus, he died on March 21, 1487, and was canonized in 1947.

Switzerland celebrates him as its patron, especially at Flüeli-Ranft, where pilgrims visit his birthplace and hermitage. His short prayer, "My Lord and my God, take from me everything that keeps me from you," is loved across the German-speaking world. Dorothea is honored alongside him for her generous sacrifice.