Saint Totnan
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox saint
|name=Saint Totnan
|birth_date=7th century
|death_date=689
|feast_day=
|venerated_in=Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, True Orthodoxy
|image=Kilian_kolonat_totnan.jpg
|imagesize=300px
|caption=Kilian, Colman and Totnan, sculpture by Riemenschneider in Neumünster-Kirche, Würzburg
|birth_place=Ireland
|death_place=Würzburg
|titles=Apostle to the Franconians
|beatified_date=
|beatified_place=
|beatified_by=
|canonized_date=
|canonized_place=
|canonized_by=
|attributes=
|patronage=Bishopric of Würzburg
|major_shrine=
|suppressed_date=
|issues=
|prayer=
|prayer_attrib=
}}
Saint Totnan (7th Century – July 8, 689 AD) was an Irish Franconian apostle. He was born in Ireland and was martyred along with Saint Colman and Saint Kilian in Würzburg in 689.
In 686, he travelled to Rome with Kilian, Colman and nine other Christians. They met Pope Conon and travelled on to Wurzburg. At this point the three stayed in Wurzburg while the others travelled throughout the area. Duke Gozbert of Wurzburg became a Christian, but his wife remained a pagan.
Kilian told Gozbert that he was breaking Christian scripture by marrying his brother's widow, Geilana. Geilana retaliated by sending her soldiers to the main square of Würzburg, where the three were preaching, and having them beheaded.[https://celticsaints.org/2011/0708a.html Celtic Saints website]
Legacy
After their deaths, their relics were revered as cures for illnesses.
In 752 Burchard of Wessex became the first bishop of Würzburg. He transferred the relics of the three men into the new cathedral which was dedicated to St Kilian.[https://www.catholicireland.net/saintoftheday/st-kilian-640-689-martyr/ Catholic Ireland website]
Totnan was posthumously named patron saint of the Bishopric of Würzburg.{{cite book|last=Melton|first=J. Gordon|title=Faiths Across Time: 5,000 Years of Religious History|url=https://archive.org/details/faithsacrosstime0001melt|url-access=registration|date=15 January 2014|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-61069-026-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/faithsacrosstime0001melt/page/n514 552]}} His statue was located in Alte Mainbruecke.
His feast day is 8 July.
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate
- Lives of the Saints, by Father Alban Butler
- Our Sunday Visitor's Encyclopedia of Saints
External links
- {{webarchive |url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20011127053351/http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintt53.htm |title=Catholic Forum |date=2001-11-27}}
- [http://www.pbase.com/tomleroy/image/154188753 Image]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Totnan}}
Category:People of medieval Bavaria
Category:7th-century Christian saints
Category:Medieval Irish saints on the Continent
Category:Irish expatriates in Germany