ST. SOLA, HERMIT

THIS saint was an Englishman, who, following St. Boniface into Germany, became his disciple, and the faithful imitator of his virtues, and was or dained priest by him. Called by the sacred impulse of the Holy Ghost in to the desert, the more securely to find the narrow way that leads to life, by the advice of his experienced master, he retired into the wilderness of Solenhoven upon the banks of the river Altmona, near Ayschstat, where, in a little cell, remote from man, he passed his days with God, making penance and holy prayer his only business. After the martyrdom of St. Boniface, the holy brothers, Willibald the bishop, and Wunebald the priest, were his patrons, and often visited him to kindle in their souls the flame of his heavenly desires by his spiritual conversation. King Charles bestowed on him a considerable piece of land; but the saint transferred it on the abbey of Fulde. That prince took every occasion of testifying the highest esteem for his sanctity; but the man of God was dead to all human honors and applause, and showed by his conduct that the whole world is nothing to one who seeks God alone. He departed to our Lord on the 3d of December, in 790. A chapel was built where his oratory had stood, and his body was taken up and enshrined by the authority of pope Gregory IV., about the year 830. See his life written by Ermenoldus, in 840, in Canisius, Lectiones Antiqu. t. 3, and Mabill. Sc. 3, Ben.