Father of a family, a brave soldier and influential judge, this singular saint had his eyes continually turned towards Heaven, without ever neglecting the fulfilment of his concrete duties.
Newsdesk (01/05/2023 12:10, Gaudium Press) Nicholas was born in March 1417. He was a native of Unterwalden, which shortly afterwards would form, with other cantons, the present Swiss Confederation.
Although his parents were simple farmers, they tried to give him an education far superior to that usually given to a future farmer.
From a very early age, the boy showed lucid and unusual intelligence, as well as admirable piety. He charmed family and friends with his meditative temperament, and from an early age he was graced by mystical visions that invited him to do so. On the other hand, he mortified himself with great seriousness, imposing fasts and penances that even worried his mother, who was afraid that such rigours would harm his health.
Although strongly inclined to the religious and contemplative life, Nicholas wanted above all to do God’s will. So he married Dorothée Wyzling, a girl of exemplary character and piety, with whom he had ten children. The thorough religious and moral formation that the numerous offspring received from their father was crowned with his own example, for, although married, Nicholas continued to be a lover of recollection and prayer. This is illustrated by a custom witnessed by his eldest son, who recounted that his father used to get up at night to pray while everyone else was asleep. [1]
A valiant soldier and promoter of peace
Today’s Switzerland, which has long been divided into small provinces, was at that time in a delicate and decisive historical period. The regions that composed it, called “cantons”, were almost independent from each other and suffered the disputed influence of neighbouring countries, such as France, Germany and Italy, which fought – sometimes through diplomatic means, sometimes through war – to gain the sympathy of the Swiss people, in order to annex land, obtain soldiers and increase their power.
As a result, the young Nicholas was called to arms three times: in 1436 and 1443, to fight in the conflict that history would call the Old Zurich War, and finally in 1460, in the War of Thurgau.
In addition to being an excellent soldier, Nicholas revealed a unique diplomatic style on these occasions, collaborating to establish peace between the cantons and the consequent formation of the Swiss nation.
One detail, however, should be stressed: he always fought with a sword in one hand and a rosary in the other, thus demonstrating the true value of a Catholic in the face of difficulties and enemies.
It is worth noting that it was at this time that the Swiss began to be recognised as notable warriors, to the point of supplying mercenary troops to a considerable part of Europe.
A noteworthy example is what happened in January 1506, when 150 Swiss guards arrived in Rome, passed through the Porta del Popolo and went to St. Peter’s Square, where they were blessed by Pope Julius II. Such a solemn entry into the Eternal City constituted the official foundation of the Pontificia Cohors Helvetica, the famous Swiss Guard, which would choose Saint Nicholas of Flüe as one of its official patrons.
Crowned with merit, he remained humble
At the end of each of these wars, Nicholas returned home. Far from giving himself up to a quiet and mediocre life, enjoying his pleasant family life in a selfish way, he put himself at the service of his fellow citizens, guiding and helping them in everything within his reach.
Such was his wisdom and equilibrium in solving the questions that were presented to him that, on one occasion, they wanted to make him mayor, but he did not accept, alleging the simplicity of his origin. Besides despising the glories of the world, he thus showed his respect for the higher-ranking people of the canton, whom he sincerely believed to be better educated and more capable of governing.
What an example of unpretentiousness! Indeed, the acts of the saints’ lives are founded on humility, the mother of all virtues. What pride denies and destroys, humility reaffirms and consolidates.
However, at the insistent requests of the people, he eventually accepted the offices of cantonal judge and town councillor, through which he continued to exercise pious and exemplary influence in the region, with invariable good treatment, charity and conscientious discernment.
According to his oldest biographers, Nicholas resigned from these public functions after an unjust trial in which his energetic interventions had no effect on the other judges, who were rigidly biased and issued a fraudulent sentence.
A message from Heaven
In the exercise of his various activities, as father of a family, soldier and judge, Nicholas’ great concern was to perfect himself in virtue and to meditate on the supernatural mysteries, to which he was drawn by the mystical visions that never left him throughout his life.
Feeling called by God to a level more angelic than human, he dedicated himself to shepherding, using the quiet hours in the fields to raise his mind to heavenly realities, allowing himself to be absorbed by them in his inner tabernacle.
One day, while he was tending the flock, he mystically saw a marvellous lily coming out of his own mouth and rising up to the clouds, but then falling to the earth and being devoured by a horse.
Nicholas understood that this was a message from Providence: his life was still taken up with excessive material cares. God wanted to bring him closer to himself and to that end to grant him graces, but human concerns soon forced him to return to earth and abandon contemplation.
It is encouraging to know that a saint had such difficulties, which are common to anyone attracted to spiritual things. It is because he relied on divine help, and no doubt had recourse to the intercession of Our Lady, that “Nicholas of Flüe personifies in a wonderful way the harmony of natural and earthly freedom with heavenly and supernatural freedom.” [2]
The decisive call
But God was asking of Saint Nicholas a very special commitment, which only became clear to him after much meditation: he was to embrace complete solitude! So he obtained his wife’s consent to live as a hermit, and left the company of her and their ten children. Heaven was to be his only homeland!
Nicholas went to live in a hut whose ceiling was no higher than he was. For many years – twenty, according to some authors – he was nourished only by the Holy Eucharist, which he received once a month.
Despite his remote location, his fellow citizens and family soon discovered him and knew how to be respectful of his new lifestyle without, however, ceasing to benefit from his virtues. Nicholas became more and more loved and venerated by those who came to him for advice, prayers and guidance.
It is worth noting the success of Saint Nicholas in preventing bloodshed among Christians and promoting the union of those who should be together under the same standard. Free of any trace of hypocrisy or falsehood, he answered questions in a very simple and punctual manner, in an extraordinary serenity of soul.
Although there is a certain sentimental conception according to which a just man never fears death, there were many saints who saw death coming with dread, but they sought their comfort in God, and to Him they surrendered their souls in the midst of great peacefulness.
Such was the case of St. Nicholas when he saw his end approaching. Groaning amid atrocious pain, he came to exclaim, “How terrible is death!” Yet, as a true hero of the Faith, he knew himself to be strengthened because he was united to God and, after piously receiving the Viaticum, he quietly exhaled his last breath.
An example in the fight against evil
Visitors to the church in Sachseln, a commune in the canton of Obwalden, Switzerland, today may contemplate under the altar a silver image in whose interior are preserved the remains of Brother Klaus, so called by his countrymen then and now. In times gone by, it was the custom for Swiss soldiers to deposit there the commendations they had won in battle. A gesture of special nobility and elevation because, as Dr. Plinio Corrêa de Oliviera points out, “the hero who removes the decoration from his chest to honour the Saint, his predecessor, gives the impression that it is more beautiful to be descended from Saint Nicholas than to be covered with all the honours of the earth.” [3]
Raised to the altars on May 15th, 1947, Saint Nicholas of Flüe became the principal patron saint of Switzerland.
A spectacle of love for the Angels and of admiration for men, this singular man had his eyes continually turned towards Heaven, without ever neglecting to fulfil the concrete duties that fell to him.
May his life be a stimulus to our weakness in facing the state of instability to which every man is subject in this world, and may his untiring struggle against himself and against the internal dissensions of his country serve as a model in the battles against the infernal enemy, for only holiness, of which the Rosary is an inseparable weapon, can stand up to him and transform history!
Text adapted from the magazine Heralds of the Gospel n. 243, March 2022. By Fábio Henrique Resende Costa.
[1] Cf. BAUD, Philippe. Nicolas de Flue. Un silence que fonde la Suisse. Paris: Du Cerf, 1993, p.32.
[2] PIUS XII. Address to the Swiss pilgrims in Rome for the canonization of St. Nicholas of Flüe, 16/5/1947.
[3] CORRÊA DE OLIVEIRA, Plinio. Um guerreiro perfeito [A Perfect Warrior]. In: Dr. Plinio. São Paulo. Year XXI. No.240 (March, 2018); p.30.
Compiled by Roberta MacEwan
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