The oldest biographical texts refering to Killian are an 8th century necrology at Würzburg, as well as a reference by Hrabanus Maurus in his martyrology. We have diverse spellings such as Chillian, Killian, Cilian, and Kilian. St. Cillian is the name used in the Irish liturgical calendar.
Cillian was in born in Ireland in the mid 7th century, in Mullagh, County Cavan. He is of Irish nobility and dedicated his life to the service of God, which culminated in a life as a missionary. In the early days, Cillian became a monk at the Monastery of Hy.
Tradition holds that Cillian received his religious formation at St. Fachtna’s monastery in Rosscarbery, Co. Cork. Cillian then founded a monastery of his own near Kilmakilloge harbour in Kenmare. There he formed his monks in preparation for a Peregrinatio Pro Christo to continental Europe. From Kilmakilloge harbour, Cillian and his twelve companions, set sail for Europe and with time they found the Rhine River estuary. They followed up the Rhine until they reached Wurzburg in Bavaria. Cillian then travelled to Rome with Colman and Totnan, seeking approval for an apostolic mission at Wurzburg. In Rome, Pope Conan conferred on Cillian an apostolic mission to the old province of Franconia, in Germany. Cillian officially established his apostolic mission at Wurzburg in the year 686. He began preaching the gospel and succeeded in converting the local duke, Gosbert.
But things quickly went sour for Cillian over a moral & political stance he took with the count over a sensitive marriage he deemed the duke was involved in. The duke married the wife of his dead brother… in the Franconian province, it was the norm for a widow to be remarried to the brother of the deceased husband.
Now if we look at the biblical verses surrounding this matter, we shall see that it says:
”If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is severe defilement and he has disgraced his brother; they shall be childless.” (Lev. 20:21)
Elsewhere the bible says:
”When brothers live together and one of them dies without a son, the widow of the deceased shall not marry anyone outside the family; but her husband’s brother shall come to her, marrying her and performing the duty of a brother-in-law.” (Deut. 25:5)
So, to give a simple explanation, marrying your brother’s wife is forbidden except if the brother dies childless. But in canonical terms within the catholic church, there seems to be no obvious grounds for advising seperation from such a marriage in the case of Duke Gosbert and his wife Gailana… Cillian however advised separation from Gosbert’s former sister-in-law. At present we can only offer an opinion as to why this advice was given… Perhaps it was to stabilise the province from future family feuds amongst step brothers to be. Leaving such opinion aside, we can say for certain that an irate Countess Gailana began seeking for revenge on Cillian for giving advice to Gosbert. When the duke went off on a military campaign, Gailana ordered the assassination of Cillian. He was stabbed along with Colman and Totnan who were praying beforehand. Their bodies were secretly buried in the count’s stables.
As a result of the whole debacle, the Countess suffered mental ill health and soon died in the state of insanity; the hired assassin committed suicide; and count Gosbert was later killed. They all became a by-word for the local inhabitants.
Over 50 years later the remains of the three martyrs were rediscovered. Tradition has it that horses would paw in their stables where the three monks were secretly buried. An excavation was requested, and three skeletons remains were discovered. Later again, a miraculous cure from blindness, of a local philosopher at the find location, spurred on calls for recognition for the holy remains of the three martyred monks. These rediscovered remains became a point of pilgrimage and St Cillian became the patron saint of Würzburg where a Cathedral is dedicated to him.
Although Cillian’s apostolic mission lasted but a short duration, his influence remained. Later when Saint Boniface arrived in Thuringia, he discovered evidence of Cillian’s earlier influence in the region.
In the present days, the Kiliani-Volksfest is a popular festival in the Franconian region, and the celebration lasts over a fortnight around St Kilian’s Day! The Feast Day of St Kilian is held on the 8th of July and his relics are paraded publicly along the streets of Wurzburg. According to the local Franconian farmers’, with St Kilian’s Day begins the harvest time. Additionally, each year a German whiskey distillery named after St. Kilian produces a special edition whiskey.
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