"I came to extirpate heresy"

Friday was the feast of St Fidelis of Sigmaringen. There is a biography of him at the Catholic Encyclopaedia. St Fidelis was a lawyer who entered the Capuchin Franciscans at the age of 35. He spent his apostolic career in untiring efforts to convert those who had fallen into the errors of Calvin and Zwingli. On his mission to the country of the Grisons, he was met everywhere with the cry "Death to the Capuchins!" After one sermon, he was surrounded by Calvinists who offered him his life if he would apostatise. He said
"I came to extirpate heresy, not to embrace it"
and was struck down.

My attention was drawn to St Fidelis by the blog Canterbury Tales which is written by Taylor Marshall, a convert to the Catholic Church and a former Episcopal priest.

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