St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen (1577–1622) was a German lawyer, known as “the poor man’s lawyer” because he defended the poor without charge, who left the law, became a Capuchin friar and a fervent preacher, and was killed by an armed mob in Switzerland in 1622 while preaching the Catholic faith. He was the first martyr of the Church’s missionary congregation, Propaganda Fide. His religious name came from the words of Christ, “Be thou faithful until death.” His feast day is April 24. Below are his story, the prayer of his feast and a prayer to St. Fidelis.
A short prayer to St. Fidelis, written for this page:
St. Fidelis, you defended the poor in court and the faith with your life.
Pray for lawyers and judges, for preachers and missionaries,
and help me to be faithful to Christ until death. Amen.
Who was St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen?
Mark Roy (Markus Rey) was born in 1577 at Sigmaringen, in southern Germany. He studied philosophy and law at the University of Freiburg, earning a doctorate, and traveled through Europe as tutor to young noblemen, attending Mass daily and visiting the sick. As a lawyer at Ensisheim, in Alsace, he took the cases of the poor without payment, but disgusted by the corruption and trickery of his profession, he gave his goods to the poor and in 1612 entered the Capuchin Franciscans, taking the name Fidelis, “faithful.”
He became a renowned preacher and guardian of several friaries, and cared for soldiers dying in an epidemic. In 1622 the newly founded Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith sent him to preach in the Grisons (Graubünden), in eastern Switzerland, where Calvinism had spread amid political conflict. Many returned to the Catholic Church, but he received death threats. On April 24, 1622, after preaching at Seewis, he was attacked on the road by armed men who demanded that he renounce his faith; he refused and was killed. He was canonized in 1746.
The words from which he took his name (Apocalypse 2:10, Douay-Rheims):
Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil will cast some of you into prison that you may be tried: and you shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful until death: and I will give thee the crown of life.
The prayer of his feast from the 1916 daily missal:
O God, who didst vouchsafe to honor by the palm of martyrdom for spreading the true faith, and by glorious miracles, blessed Fidelis, his soul glowing with the ardor of a seraph, we beseech thee by his merits and intercession so to confirm us in faith and charity by thy grace, that we may deserve to be found faithful in thy service even unto death. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God world without end. Amen.
What is St. Fidelis the patron saint of?
- Lawyers, especially those who serve the poor
- The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (Propaganda Fide), whose first martyr he was
Feast day
The optional memorial of St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, priest and martyr, is April 24, the day of his martyrdom.
Frequently asked questions
Why was St. Fidelis called the poor man’s lawyer?
Because as a lawyer he defended the poor without charging them.
How did St. Fidelis die?
He was killed by an armed mob at Seewis, Switzerland, on April 24, 1622, after refusing to renounce his faith.
When is his feast day?
April 24.
More saints
- Patron saint of lawyers
- St. Thomas More prayer
- St. Lawrence of Brindisi
- St. Peter Canisius
- Feast of St. Francis
- Saint of the day
Texts and sources
- Apocalypse 2:10 (Douay-Rheims).
- The Mass Every Day of the Year (1916), St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen (April 24), Collect, public domain (archive.org).