Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen

Mark Roy was born in 1578 in Sigmaringen, in southern Germany. He studied philosophy and law at Freiburg, then traveled through Europe as tutor to young noblemen, attending Mass daily and caring for the sick and poor. As a lawyer in Ensisheim he defended poor clients without charge and earned the nickname advocate of the poor, but he grew disgusted with the corruption he saw in the courts.

In 1612 he was ordained a priest and entered the Capuchin friars, taking the name Fidelis, meaning faithful. He became a guardian of several friaries, a zealous preacher and confessor, and cared heroically for soldiers sick with an epidemic. In 1622 he was sent to preach in the Grisons region of Switzerland, where the Reformed faith had taken hold, and many returned to the Catholic Church. On April 24, 1622, after preaching at Seewis, he was attacked by armed men and killed when he refused to renounce his faith. He was canonized in 1746.

Fidelis is honored by the Capuchin Franciscans as the first martyr of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, founded that same year. Sigmaringen and Feldkirch in Austria, where his relics are kept, keep his feast with special devotion.