Saint Kilian: When is Kiliani? Date and meaning

Kiliani is the name of St. Kilian’s name day. You can find out everything about the exact meaning and the date of the memorial day here with us.

Every year in July there is the name day of St. Kilian – or simply called Kiliani. The Irish traveling bishop, who died a martyr’s death around 689 along with two other missionaries – Kolonat and Totnan – has long been venerated by the Church.

Here with us you can find out the date of the memorial day and everything about its exact origin and historical significance.

Kiliani: When is the name day?

The name day of St. Kilian is celebrated annually on July 8th – a Thursday in 2021. The relics of the martyrs Kilian, Kolonat and Totnan, which are actually in the Neumünster Church Wurzburgs are kept, are brought to Kiliansdom on this day by the Würzburg bishop to commemorate them.

In Würzburg, St. Kilian is honored with the Kiliani octave. Church services, pilgrimages and certain activities are held here for eight days. At the same time there is usually a Kiliani folk festival that lasts for two weeks. In the Würzburg area, folk festivals are often only called “Kiliani” in the vernacular. How Kiliani can be celebrated this year is still unclear. There will probably not be any public festivals in the summer.

Kiliani: What is the exact meaning of the Memorial Day?

Saint Kilian, also known as St. Kilian, was born around 640 AD in a small town in Ireland. He was an Irish-Scottish bishop who became a missionary through his sermons. Together with his two companions at the time Kolonat and Totnan – the three are also often referred to as “Franconian Apostles” – it was his task to carry out the Irish Scottish mission during the turn of the 7th to the 8th century AD in Franken to start. The three Franconian apostles paid with their lives for this, because they died a martyr’s death around 689 AD.

In 686 AD, St. Kilian is said to have gone to Würzburg, where he spent his last years preaching and proselytizing before he and his companions were murdered. According to the “Martyrologium” by Hrabanus Maurus, it was the duke, according to the “Passiones” Gailana, the duke’s wife, who caused the death of the Franconian apostles. Because St. Kilian is said to have urged the duke to dissolve the marriage, since their marriage was actually forbidden according to canon law. In fact, she was the widow of his brother’s. The matter was never completely cleared up.

Today, St. Kilian is the patron saint of several cities: Würzburg, Heilbronn, Mainz-Kostheim, Bad Heilbrunn, the Diocese of Würzburg and the Franconian region. The professions of white binder and tüncher are also under his protection. In his native Ireland, too, the martyr is the patron saint of some places.