Rasso

Saint Rasso (Ratho) of Andechs was a Bavarian count who became a monk and founder of a monastery, born around 900 and reposed in 953. He is commemorated on 17 May.

He was count of Dießen-⁠Andechs and led the Bavarians against the invading Magyars. No contemporary Life of him survives, and various legends arose around his cult in the late Middle Ages; there is, however, no reason to doubt that there was a count named Rasso who fought the Magyars. As a middle-⁠aged man he went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land and to Rome, where he collected relics, and on his return he founded a Benedictine abbey at Wörth, later named Grafrath after him, and became a monk there.

He was a very tall man: when his relics were exhumed in 1468 it was found that he was about two metres tall. In 955 the relics he had brought to Wörth were moved to Andechs Abbey to preserve them from the ravages of the Magyars. The pilgrimage church of Grafrath received many visitors in the Middle Ages and afterwards; the records of miracles attributed to him between 1444 and 1728 consist of 12,131 entries.