Fidel of Sigmaringen (1578–1622)

Biography

His father was, then, mayor of the city. Educated by Benedictine monks, the saint received a high culture that was complemented by academic studies at the Universities of four different countries. In 1603 he received a doctorate in civil and ecclesiastical law. The prospects for a career in law were very promising. However, he soon realized how corruption had gone so far as to transform the most sacred of human justice into a clear injustice. Disillusioned by that environment, he sought his ideals of honesty and authenticity in religious life, through evangelical counsels, and asked to be admitted among the Capuchin friars. He was accepted and, for his high studies, he was granted priestly ordination, exempting him from the normal courses. His preaching, his example and his great evangelical dedication in favor of typhus patients, whom he assisted day and night to administer the sacraments, pleasantly impressed the entire population of Constanza. He was murdered on April 24, the victim of a massive conspiracy that had been formed against him. He is the first martyr of the Capuchin friars in Europe and is the patron saint of jurists.