children and young people. As a former sexton, he was held up as a model for sextons, acolytes, and altar servers. Hermann Josef received calls from expectant women who asked for a good delivery. The patronage of expectant mothers ("patronus puerperarum") has been handed down since the 17th century in the use of "touch relics", such as needles, brooches and clasps left on the reliquary and retrieved to fastened to their hairstyle or clothes in the hope of a happy pregnancy through the intercession of the saint. References External links http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/48750 1150s births 1241 deaths Year of birth uncertain 12th-century Christian mystics 13th-century Christian mystics German Christian mystics German Roman Catholic saints Premonstratensians Rhineland mystics Roman Catholic mystics