Apr. 24 Friday of the Third Week of Easter; Opt. Mem. of St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Priest and Martyr, Opt. Mem.
Today is the Optional Memorial of St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Priest and Martyr (1577-1622). Fidelis was born at Sigmaringen in Swabia in 1577. He practiced at first as a lawyer and so took to heart the cause of the needy that he was known as the poor man's lawyer. Then he joined the Capuchin Friars Minor and was sent by the Holy See to the Grisons in order to bring back the inhabitants of this canton from Protestantism to the Catholic faith. His great influence earned him enemies; he was murdered at Seewis on April 24, 1622.
