Thursday, March 21, 2024

It is the 21st of March 2024. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

We have got another goocher today (that is, something like an uncanny coincidence) because not only is today’s character Nicholas von Flüe, aka Brother Klaus, a colorful character, but we see in some accounts that he was born AND died on this, the 21st of March in the years 1417 and 1487 marking a perfectly round 70 years in the Swiss Cantons.

Except, he probably wasn’t born on the 21st of March, but this was later added. Why would someone do this? Sometimes we make clerical errors- I have noted a number of them in my five years of doing this daily show- I’ve seen them in respected works and on Wikipedia (where I make edits when I see them), and heaven knows I’ve made my share of flubs with dates. But there are sometimes theological reasons for doing such things- especially with revered characters. Being born and dying on the same date suggests completion- a life well lived in accordance with God’s will. Add to that the significant number of exactly 70 years, and you might see why some of his followers might change his dates; after all, Nicholas of Flüe was not just any Swiss saint but the patron saint of Switzerland.

Such has been his fame, at least in that part of the world, that in 1939, a Swiss playwright wrote a play as a political treatise amidst the outbreak of World War II suggesting that the way of Nicholas, or Bruder Klaus as he is sometimes called, was the only way to peace. So, who is this Bruder Klaus, Nicholas of Flüe.

He was born in the canton of Unterwalden in central Switzerland around 1417. His parents were peasants, and while he was not taught to read or write, he was taught the Christian faith, and we are told he was both pious and patriotic. He fought in the various wars between the cantons- later pious histories tell us he fought with a sword in one hand and a rosary in the other. His wartime exploits led to his being called to be a judge, a position he turned down as he believed it was above his station. Nonetheless, he took a lesser job as a counselor and helped solve inter-canton disputes; for this, he has been elevated as an architect of Switzerland's famous neutrality and diplomacy.

He married Dorothy Wyslling in 1447 and had ten children with her. Around two decades later, he was growing dissatisfied with his work in politics and reported having had the first of his many visions. In this first vision, he sees a lily protrude from his mouth and ascend to the heavens, only to come back down to earth and be trampled by a horse. He interpreted this as his earthly concerns subduing his spiritual obligations. He took this as a sign to become a monk… which was, well… curious in that he had a wife and ten kids, but we are told his wife (like Kevin Costner’s wife in Field of Dreams) says, go ahead and follow your visions and disregard your other obligations. Do with that what you will.

He paid for a private chapel to be built and for the salary of a priest who would hold a daily mass. News of this hermit spread throughout Europe, making him a destination for other spiritual seekers. He claimed to have fasted for 20 years, only nourished by receiving the host of the sacrament of the altar daily. During his lifetime, an abbot came to stay with him to write his story, which seemed to be parallel to the earlier desert fathers. A second historian was called upon by the government to fact-check the stories, and while this historian verified that these stories “were in fact told,” he could not verify them and was skeptical of the claims of his fasting. A third, and for a time, a final historian was sponsored to collect the stories of Nicholas. After his death, he was entombed, and his body became a site of pilgrimage. This last “official” biography in 1501 proclaimed his saintliness, and he was held as a saint by acclimation until his official canonization in 1946. The patron saint of Switzerland, the political pacifier and peculiar hermit, died on this, the 21st of March in 1487, and if he was born on the same date 70 years earlier, that would only be, like, the 5th most curious thing about him. Happy birthday, anniversary, or both to Bruder Klaus, St. Nicholas of Flüe.

The last word for today is from the daily lectionary from Psalm 118, a good word as we head towards Palm Sunday.

Open for me the gates of the righteous;
    I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.

This is the gate of the Lord

    through which the righteous may enter.

I will give you thanks, for you answered me;

    you have become my salvation.

The stone the builders rejected

    has become the cornerstone;

The Lord has done this,

    and it is marvelous in our eyes.

The Lord has done it this very day;

    let us rejoice today and be glad.

Lord, save us!

    Lord, grant us success!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
    From the house of the Lord we bless you

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 21st of March 2024, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who also has ten children and wonders how his wife would react if he got a call to be a hermit- he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who has no such divine call to be a hermit, but prefers to hang out at home- I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.