St. Tutilo was an Irishman who received his education at the Benedictine monastery of Saint-Gall in Switzerland. He was an excellent student and then became a famous teacher. He and two of his friends who were also declared “blessed” finally became monks in the monastery where they had gone to school.

St. Tutilo was very talented. He was a poet, a portrait painter, a sculptor, an orator, a metal worker, an architect and also a mechanic. His greatest talent was music and he could play all the instruments the monks used for their liturgies including the harp.

He and his friend, Blessed Notker, composed tunes for the liturgy responses. Only three poems and one hymn remain of all Tutilo’s works.

But his paintings and sculptures can even now be seen in many cities of Europe. St. Tutilo always marked his paintings and sculptures with a motto.

But Tutilo was not declared a saint because of his many talents because he spent his life praising and loving God. He was a humble person who wanted to live for God and spent time every day alone in prayer. He praised God the way he knew how: by painting, sculpting and composing music. St. Tutilo died in 915.

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