FRIDOLINO, saint. - Abbot of Säckingen, apostle of Germany in the Merovingian period (6th–7th cent.). His Irish origin is now disputed. At Poitiers he rebuilt the monastery and church of S. Ilario, restoring the Saint’s relics to honor, and became abbot of the rebuilt monastery. S. Ilario, appearing to him in a dream, is said to have urged him to bring the faith to Germany.
His wanderings, marked by the numerous monasteries founded in his wake, led him to Eller, in the Vosges, in Alsace, to Basel, Constance, etc. With the support of the king of France (perhaps Clodoveo II), he founded the convent of Säckingen, on an island in the Rhine, and there erected a church in honor of S. Ilario. His cult is popular in Alsace, Switzerland, and Baden. The martyrology of Francis commemorates him on 6 March.