St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen

St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen was born Mark Rey on 1 October 1577 at Sigmaringen in Germany and, after brilliant studies, became a lawyer, practicing with such devotion to the poor and to justice that he was known as "the poor man's advocate." Disillusioned by the corruption and greed he saw in the legal world, he gave up his profession, distributed his goods to the poor, and about 1612 entered the Capuchin Franciscans, taking the name Fidelis, "the faithful one."

A fervent preacher and man of penance, he labored to bring back to the Catholic faith those who had embraced the Reformation, and was sent by the Church's missionary office to preach in the Protestant region of the Grisons in Switzerland. There his zeal and success stirred fierce hostility, and after preaching in the town of Seewis in 1622 he was set upon by a hostile band who demanded he renounce his faith; refusing, and forgiving his attackers, he was struck down and killed on 24 April 1622. Recognized as the first martyr of the Church's missionary congregation, he was canonized in 1746, and his memory is kept on 24 April.