Wagner, Johann (Hans), Blessed

WAGNER, JOHANN (HANS), blessed. – Hermit, born at Riedlingen on the Danube (between Ulm and Sigmaringen), died on 19 May 1516.

In 1476 he entered as a lay brother the Carthusian monastery of S. Lorenzo near Ittingen (Thurgau). In 1489 he left the Charterhouse with papal dispensation and became a hermit in the Herrgottswald, two hours from Lucerne, where he led an exceedingly mortified life. Some families from Lucerne built

a chapel for him near the hermitage, which was consecrated in 1504, and in which W. was buried. The hermitage was subsequently inhabited by pious hermits. In 1621 a church was consecrated in place of the chapel, and the Blessed’s bones were placed there in a new tomb. Having become a chaplaincy with regular worship in 1647, the church was later enlarged and is still today a destination for pilgrimages.

BIBL.: H. Murer, Helvetia sancta, Lucerna 1648, p. 409; L. Burgener, Helvetia sancta, I, Einsiedeln 1860, pp. 346–48; id., Die Wallfahrtsorte der kath. Schweiz., I, Ingenbohl 1864, pp. 164–69. Ermanno Ries
Cite this article

“WAGNER, JOHANN (HANS), BEATO.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. XII (1954), p. 1023. Azione Romana digital edition, https://azioneromana.com/article/wagner-johann-hans-beato.