Beatus

Saint Beatus (of Lungern, of Beatenberg or of Thun) was a hermit venerated as an enlightener of Switzerland. Legend places him in the second century, but historians think his story has been mingled with those of other saints of the same name. He is commemorated on 9 May.

According to legend he was the son of a Scottish king, or by other legends born in Ireland, was baptized in England by Saint Barnabas and ordained a priest at Rome by the Apostle Peter. He was sent with a companion, Achates, to the Helvetii, and the two set up a camp in Argovia near the Jura Mountains, where they converted many of the locals. Beatus then went south into the mountains above Lake Thun and settled in a cave near the village of Beatenberg, where he remained until his death. In the Middle Ages his veneration spread widely and survived even the Reformation, when pilgrims were driven back from his cave by Zwinglians; his relics were afterwards moved to the chapel at Lungern in Obwalden. The mountain remains a place of pilgrimage and bears his name.

The earliest accounts of his life date from the tenth and eleventh centuries and have not been historically authenticated, so the title Apostle of Switzerland is disputed.