Kilian, Colman and Totnan

Kilian, Colman and Totnan were Irish missionaries, Bishop Kilian, the priest Colman and the deacon Totnan, who were slain at Würzburg in Franconia around 689. They are venerated as martyrs in the Western Church.

According to tradition, Kilian was born around 640 in County Cavan in Ireland. In 686 he went to Rome, where he is believed to have been consecrated a missionary bishop, and his companions Colman and Totnan were ordained priest and deacon. The pope sent them to preach to the Franks of Franconia, who were still pagan.

At Würzburg they converted many people, among them Duke Gosbert. Before baptism the duke had to give up his union with Geilana, who had been his brother's wife. Geilana conceived such hatred for the missionaries that, in the duke's absence, she ordered all three to be killed.

In the eighth century Bishop Burchard of Würzburg moved the relics of the three martyrs to his cathedral, where the three skulls are venerated to this day. Their feast is kept on 8 July in the Roman calendar, and on that day a procession carries the glass shrine through the city of Würzburg. The cathedral of the city bears the name of Kilian.