Saint of the Day – 10 April – St Paternus (Died 1058) Hermit, Monk. Born in either Ireland or Scotland (the term “the Scot” was used to refer to both places at that time) and died by being burned to death when the Abdinghof Abbey, Westphalia, Germany caught fire in 1058. Also known as – Paternus the Scot, Padarn, Paternus Scotus, Paternus of Abdinghof, Paternus of Paderborn.
Patermus travelled to Westphalia in Germany and became one of the first Monks at the Monastery of Abdinghof in Paderborn which had been founded by Saint Meinwerk (Died 1036). Wishing for solitude, he moved to a cell adjoining the Abbey.
He predicted that the City would be razed by fire within 30 days, if the inhabitants did not turn from their sins but he was mocked as a prophet of doom.
On the Friday before Palm Sunday, in 1058, fires broke out simultaneously in seven parts of the City. The City and the Monastery were destroyed. The Monks escaped, with the exception of Paternus, who, refusing to break the vows of enclosure, remained in his cell and was consequently burned to death.
His death made a great impression on his contemporaries. The mat on which he died became an important Relic because it miraculously escaped the flames
AnaStpaul 