One day, Bishop Solomon, the builder of St Magnus Church, travelled from his episcopal seat at Constance to visit the monastery of Saint Gall. He brought with him a young virgin named Wiborada, who was renowned for her virtues.
A small dwelling was then built for her near a certain cell on the mountain, beside the church of Saint George — in what is now St. Georgen. There she remained for almost four years, imposing upon herself such severe abstinence from food and drink that the narrator can scarcely expect to be believed.
Night and day she remained constantly in the church, persevering in prayer and vigils with tireless devotion to the love of God. She hardly ever entered her little dwelling, except on rare occasions when necessity compelled her: either to take some sleep, or, after sometimes fasting for three days, to give a little refreshment to her exhausted body.
Serving God through these practices, and chastening her delicate body from day to day with ever stricter fasting, she lived only in the spirit, while her limbs wasted away.
Yet even these mortifications were not enough for Wiborada. She longed to be enclosed in a small dwelling that had been built for her close against St Magnus Church, in its north-eastern corner.
When the venerable bishop returned to the monastery, the little cell for which she had thirsted throughout her life had already been prepared. He sent several monks to bring her to him. Then, after honouring her with a few words and giving her his blessing, the bishop sealed the cell.
This took place in the year 916. The cell had no door; the enclosed woman communicated with the outside world only through a small window. Her body was wrapped in a very rough garment woven from animal hair, and she wore an iron chain instead of a belt.
In the spring of 926, the Hungarians advanced as far as our region. Under their abbot Engilbert, the brothers of Saint Gall had found a secure refuge on a peninsula beside the River Sitter.
Wiborada too was urged to flee, but she would hear nothing of it. Her own brother Hitto, by then an elderly monk and guardian of St Magnus Church, escaped into the nearby forest at her request. She alone remained behind and met her death.
T. Pestalozzi. Die St. Magnuskirche, St. Gallen, Fehr.
