St Nicholas
Silent warning from the Ranft
In 1467, exactly 50 years before the “outbreak” of the Reformation (with Luther’s Theses from Wittenberg in 1517), Nicholas of Flüe, a respected farmer and citizen of Flüeli, which is located above Sachseln in the canton of Obwalden, withdrew to a life of solitude; until his death in 1487 he lived as a hermit without food and in extreme poverty in order to seek just one thing – the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. Even during his lifetime, Brother Klaus as he was known was revered like a saint; he was beatified in 1649 and canonised in 1947.
St Nicholas of Flüe is the patron saint of Switzerland and he is also recognised by many Protestants and revered as a peacemaker. Thousands of Christians from Switzerland and Germany make a pilgrimage to Brother Klaus – along with Einsiedeln, Flüeli/Ranft-Sachseln is the most important spiritual centre in Switzerland.
Nicholas of Flüe’s silent warning from the Ranft to forego all external pomp for the sake of achieving internal riches could have been a hint to the Catholic Church, which was somewhat secularised at the time, to follow the hermit’s lead: doing penance, paying little attention to appearances and always putting Christ first. If the Pope and the Church had followed the example of Brother Klaus, maybe we would have been spared the division of the Church during the Reformation.
Bruder Klausen-Stiftung
Tourism in Sachseln-Flüeli/Ranft
Information on Brother Klaus