| Saint Plechelm, O.S.B. | |
| Death Date: | 730 |
| Feast Day: | July 15[1] |
| Birth Place: | Kingdom of Leinster, Ireland |
| Titles: | Monk, priest and missionary |
| Canonized Date: | Pre-Congregation |
| Patronage: | The Netherlands |
| Major Shrine: | Basilica of St. Plechelm, Oldenzaal, Overijssel, Netherlands |
Plechelm, O.S.B. (Plechelm of Guelderland, Plechelm, also Pleghelm or Plechelmus; died 730), is honoured in both the Catholic Church and the Old Catholic Church as a patron saint of the Netherlands.
Plechelm was an Irish Benedictine monk who traveled to Rome with two fellow monks, Saints Wiro and Otger.[2] Having been consecrated a bishop, perhaps by Pope Sergius I, he returned home, and then started with Wiro on a mission to Gaul. They were well received by Pepin of Herstal, who gave the missionaries St. Peter's Mount (also known as Sint Odiliënberg).[3] They built a monastery there which was important in the Christianisation of the Netherlands.[4] Many missions were sent from there to the provinces between the Rhine and the Meuse.
According to John O'Hanlon, it is said that Plechelm and Wiro were present at Synod of Utrecht in 697. Plechelm died in Sint Odiliënberg at the age of 100 years.[5]
Plechelm was greatly honored at Sint Odiliënberg, and Ruramonde. With the invasion of the Normans in the middle of the ninth century, the relics of Wiro, Plechelm, and Otger were moved to Utrecht. Plechelm was canonized by Pope Agapetus II about 950. In 954 Bishop Balderic of Utrecht had the relics of Plechelm transferred to the Basilica of St. Plechelm in Oldenzaal he had built to enshrine the remains.[5]