Frediano of Lucca

Saint Frediano of Lucca (Fridianus, Frigidianus) was bishop of Lucca in Italy in the sixth century and died in 588. He was Irish by birth; tradition says he was a son of a king of Ulster and was formed in Irish monasticism, a disciple of Saints Enda and Colman.

Going on pilgrimage to Rome, he stayed in Italy and became a hermit on Monte Pisano, between Lucca and Pisa. At the urging of Pope John II he accepted the see of Lucca in 556. When the Lombards burned the cathedral, he rebuilt it. A legend says that to protect the city from the floods of the river Serchio he drew a rake along the bank, and the river followed it and changed its course. He built a church in honour of Saint Vincent of Saragossa; he was buried there, and the church now bears the names of Saints Frediano and Vincent. He is a saint of the undivided Church, commemorated on 18 March (new style; 31 March in the old style).