Fidelis had a profound devotion to the Virgin Mary and frequently sought her intercession, along with that of other saints, asking for the grace to lay down his life in defense of the Catholic faith. His opportunity to do so arose when he was tasked with leading a mission for the conversion of Grisons in Switzerland. He met his martyrdom with courage and sanctified the Capuchin Order with his blood, becoming a symbol of the ultimate sacrifice for his beliefs in 1622.
It is said that a Catholic woman lay concealed near the place of Fidelis' martyrdom as the saint was slain. After the soldiers had left, she came out to assess the incident and found the martyr's eyes open, fixed on the heavens. He was buried by Catholics the next day.
The rebels were soon after defeated by the imperial troops, an event which the martyr had foretold. The Protestant minister who had participated in Fidelis' martyrdom was converted by this circumstance, made a public abjuration of Calvinism and was received into the Catholic Church.
After six months, the martyr's body was found to be incorrupt, but his head and left arm were separated from his body. The body parts were then placed into two reliquaries, one sent to the Cathedral of Coire, at the behest of the bishop, and laid under the High Altar; the other was placed in the Capuchin church at Weltkirchen, Feldkirch, Austria.
Symbols and Representation: With a club set with spikes; with a whirlbat or hurl bat; heretics; with Saint Joseph of Leonissa; trampling on the word heresy; with an angel carrying a palm of martyrdom; the Morning Star.
O God, who was pleased to award the palm of martyrdom to Saint Fidelis as, burning with love for you, he propagated the faith, grant, we pray, through his intercession, that, grounded in charity, we may merit to know with him the power of the Resurrection of Christ. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.
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