Catholic Saints

St. Conrad was a member of the powerful Welf Family, and the son of Count Heinrich of Altdorf.  He was educated at the Cathedral School in Constance, and became the provost of Constance Cathedral and in 934 was made the Bishop of Constance.  

One of his noted achievements was that he avoided becoming wrapped up in the politics of his day, and spent his energies on his Episcopal duties.  He was however, very close to Emperor Otto I, whom he accompanied to Italy in 962.  St. Conrad is said to have made three pilgrimages to Jerusalem as well as a number of them to Rome.  He founded a number of churches on the Episcopal estates and the hospital at Kreuzlingen.   It was named after a portion of the True Cross, which St. Conrad brought back from Jerusalem.  

His following was entirely due to the efforts of Bishop Ulrich I, of Dillingen, Bishop of Constance 1111 – 1127.  He wrote extensively about St. Conrad.  St. Conrad was canonized at the First Lateran Council in 1123.  St. Conrad is sometimes represented as a Bishop holding a chalice with a spider in it or over it.  This refers to a story that once when he was celebrating Mass, a spider fell into the chalice.  Spiders were believed at the time to be deadly poisonous, but St. Conrad drank the Precious Blood with the spider in it, as a token of faith. 

Practical Take Away

St. Conrad of Constance was a member of the powerful Welf Family.  He was educated at the Cathedral School in Constance, and became the Bishop of Constance.  He was noted for not getting wrapped up in the politics of his time, but rathered focused on his Episcopal duties.  He did a lot to convert and meet the sacramental needs of his See.