Feast Day: May 4

St. Florian of Lorch was born in the third century – his name means “flower.” During the Diocletian persecutions, Florian was serving as  an officer in the Roman army and was stationed in Austria.

According to legend, Florian prayed and threw a single bucket of water on the flames of a burning town, which extinguished the fire and saved the town.

Florian was ordered to execute Christians, but refused. He offered himself as a sacrifice instead, and maintained his own Christian faith. He was scourged, stripped of his skin, and drowned with a rock attached to his neck.  A group of Christians collected his body, and buried him at an Augustinian monetary near Lorch.  St. Florian’s relics lie in Rome and Poland.

St. Florian is the patron saint of the following: against battle; against drowning; against fire; against flood; Austria; barrel-makers; brewers; chimney sweeps; Diocese of Chur, Switzerland; coopers; drowning victims; fire prevention; firefighters; harvests; Linz, Austria; Poland; soap-boilers.