Felix and Regula

Saints Felix, Regula & Exuperantius
Jesus and Felix, Regula, Exuperantius, 1506
Martyrs
Born	Egypt
Died	11 September 286 Grossmünster, Switzerland
Venerated in	Coptic Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox Church Oriental Orthodox Churches Roman Catholic Church
Major shrine	Sts. Felix and Regula at Zürich
Feast	11 September
Patronage	Zürich

Felix and Regula are Coptic Orthodox and Roman Catholic saints, together with their servant Exuperantius, and are the patron saints of Zürich, their feast day being 11 September at the head of the Coptic Calendar.

According to legend, Felix and Regula were siblings, and members of the Theban legion under Saint Maurice, stationed in Agaunum in the Valais. When the legion was to be executed in 286, they fled, reaching Zürich via Glarus before they were caught, tried and executed. After decapitation, they miraculously stood to their feet, picked up their own heads, walked forty paces uphill, and prayed before lying down in death. They were buried on the spot where they lay down, on the hilltop which would become the site of the Grossmünster.

The legend cannot be traced beyond an 8th-century account, according to which the story was revealed in a dream to a monk called Florentius. It largely contributed to the massive conversion of the inhabitants of these regions to Christianity and had such an impact on Zurich that these three saints still appear on the coat of arms and seal of Zurich today.

In the 9th century, there was a small monastery at the location, outside the settlement of Zürich which was situated on the left side of the Limmat. The Grossmünster was built on their graves from ca. 1100, while at the site of their execution stands the Wasserkirche. From the 13th century, images of the saints were used in official seals of the city and on coins. On the saints' feast day, their relics were carried in procession between the Grossmünster and the Fraumünster, and the two monasteries vied for possession of the relics, which attracted enough pilgrims to make Zürich the most important pilgrimage site in the bishopric of Konstanz. The Knabenschiessen of Zürich originates with the feast day of the saints on 11 September, which came to be the "national holiday" of the early modern Republic of Zürich.