From Wikipedia:
Saint Nicholas of Flüe
(German: Niklaus von Flüe) (21 March 1417 – 21 March 1487)
was a Swiss hermit and ascetic who is the patron saint of
Switzerland. He is sometimes invoked as "Brother Klaus." He
was born in the canton of Unterwalden, the son of wealthy
peasants, and made himself distinguished as a soldier in
action against the canton of Zurich, which had rebelled
against the confederation.
After receiving a
mystical vision of a lily eaten by a horse, which he
recognized as indicating that the cares of his worldly life
(the draft horse pulling a plough) was swallowing up his
spiritual life (the lily, a symbol of purity) he decided to
devote himself entirely to the contemplative life. In 1467,
he left his wife and his ten children with her consent and
set himself up as a hermit in the Ranft chine in
Switzerland, establishing a chantry for a priest from his
own funds so that he could assist at mass daily. According
to legend, he survived for nineteen years with no food
except for the eucharist. His reputation for wisdom and
piety was such that figures from across Europe came to seek
advice from him, and he was known to all as "Brother Klaus."
He was beatified in 1669. After his beatification, the
municipality of Sachseln built a church in his honour where
his body was interred. He was canonized in 1947 by Pope Pius
XII. His feast day in the Roman Catholic Church is 21 March,
except in Switzerland & Germany where it is 25 September.
