Saint Magnus of Füssen

Also known as

• Apostle of the Algäu
• Maginaldus, Maginold, Magnoaldus, Mang

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 Augsburg, Bavaria, he evangelized 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

Patronage

• against caterpillars
• against hail or hailstorms
• against lightning
• against snakes
• against vermin
• for protection of crops