When is St. Mauritius Day?
St Mauritius' Day or Mauritiustag in Appenzell, Innerrhoden and Solothurn is held on September 22nd.
History of St Mauritius' Day
According to legend, Mauritius (Maurice) came from Syria. He was the Roman commander of the Theban legion.
The legion, entirely composed of Christians, had been called from Thebes in Egypt to Gaul to assist Emperor Maximian in defeating a revolt.
The legion was dispatched with orders to clear the Great St Bernard Pass across the Alps. However, when Maximian ordered them to harass some local Christians, they refused. Ordering the unit to be punished, Maximian had every tenth soldier killed, a military punishment known as decimation.
Maurice encouraged his troops to ignore further orders, and a second decimation was ordered. In response to the refusals to attack fellow Christians, Maximian ordered all the remaining members of his legion to be executed. The place in Switzerland where this occurred, known as Agaunum, is now Saint-Maurice, Switzerland, site of the Abbey of St. Maurice.
