Saint/s of the Day – 11 July – St Sigisbert (7th Century) Abbot, French Pilgrim Monk and St Placidus (7th Century) Martyr, Swiss Layman, local landowner and Councillor, both of Disentis. Their cult was confirmed by Pope Pius X in 1905.
St Placidus donated the land to St Sigisbert, on which Disentis Abbey was founded in Switzerland. He then joined it as a Monk and later was Martyred defending the Ecclesiastical rights of the Abbey. It seems from the image below of the Martyrdom of St Placidus, that he was beheaded and was a Cephalophore – a Saint who is generally depicted carrying his own severed head.
We have nothing of the lives available to us except what we find on the Benedictine Abbey site. How Sigisbert arrived at the location of this magnificent Monastery which he founded with St Placidus and how they became firstly friends and then fellow Monks, we cannot say.
The Benedictine Monastery Disentis is located high up in the Vorderrheintal valley of Grisons, at the intersection of the Lukmanier and Oberalp pass., in the beautiful Mountains of Switzerland. The Abbey was founded around the 7th century by the Franconian wandering Monk St Sigisbert with the help of the local Councillor St Placidus.
The Monastery Disentis preserves a rich cultural heritage. The baroque complex bears witness to the generous confidence of the post-reformation period and is a striking landmark in the landscape.
In addition to the excellently documented history of the Monastery, it has a comprehensive Roman library and covers the cultural and natural history of the region with a well-designed Monastery Museum. There is also a new school, including a new addition for boarders.
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