Saint Magnus of Füssen
Sep 062008



Also known as

Apostle of the Algäu
Maginaldus of Füssen
Maginold of Füssen
Magnoaldus of Füssen
Magnus of Füssen
Mang of Füssen

Memorial

6 September

Profile

Priest. Benedictine. Spiritual student of Saint Columban and Saint Gall at Arbon (part of modern Switzerland). Superior of his house following the death of Saint Gall. At the request of the bishop of Augsberg, Bavaria, he evagelized in Eptaticus in the eastern part of Allgäu, Bavaria. By the River Lech in Bavaria, in a place still known as Sant Mangstritt (footstep of Saint Magnus) he founded the monastery of Füssen.
Some extraordinary stories grew up around Magnus, often involving animals. In Kempten he dispersed a plague of snakes. At Füssen, he was forced to expel a dragon from the land he needed for the monastery; in one version of the story, he spared an infant dragon who helped local farmers by hunting rats, mice and other crop-damaging vermin. While on a walk in the woods near the monastery, he encountered a bear who showed him a vein of iron ore; he gave the bear some cake. The bear followed Magnus back to the abbey where the saint rounded up some tools and monks; the bear then led them all to several other iron ore sources in the nearby mountains, thus helping found the area’s most lucrative industry.

Died

c.666 at the monastery at Füssen, Bavaria (in modern Germany) of natural causes

Canonized

Pre-Congregation

Patronage

against caterpillars
against hail
against hailstorms
against lightning
against snakes
against vermin
protection of crops

Additional Information

Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate
Catholic Encyclopedia, by Michael Ott
Das Drachen Bestiar
For All The Saints, by Katherine Rabenstein
Kate Kodgson
Lives of the Saints, by Omer Englebert
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints, by Matthew Bunson, Margaret Bunson, and Stephen Bunson
Wikipedia

MLA Citation

“Saint Magnus of Fussen”. Saints.SQPN.com. 9 August 2010. Web. {today’s date}. http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-magnus-of-fusssen/