St. Leonard of Noblac, November 6
Kathy Rabenstein
+ Leonard (Lithenard) of Noblac, Abbot (RM)
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c. 466 to c. 559. Leonard of Noblac was one of the most popular saints
of Western Europe in the late Middle Ages, but the account of his life is
unreliable because it was not written until the 11th century. Doubtless
his popularity was due to the very large number of miracles and aids
attributed to his intercession, and to the enthusiasm of the returning
crusaders, who looked on him as the patron saint of prisoners.
Tradition has it that, like many young nobles, when Leonard was about
six years old he went to live with St. Remigius (Remy), archbishop of
Rheims. About 495 he went to the court of his cousin Clovis, King of the
Franks, at the summons of Queen Clotilde.
After accompanying Clovis in a victorious war against the Germans,
Leonard was baptized by St. Remigius, who had previously baptized
Clovis, Leonard's godfather (some say they were baptized the same
day). Clovis offered Leonard a bishopric, but he turned it down.
Seeking no earthly rewards, Leonard renounced the life of a Frankish
nobleman and withdrew from the court about the year 501.
Instead he went to the monastery of Micy in Orleans and became a
monk. Seeking even more solitude he built himself a little hut in a forest of
Pauvin near Limoges in Aquitaine and lived on vegetables and fruit.
One day the king went hunting in this forest, accompanied by his wife,
who was pregnant. The moment of birth arrived, and it was clear that
the queen was in difficulties. Leonard fell to prayer on her behalf, and
her baby was delivered safely.
In gratitude the king said that the saint should be given as much land as
he could ride round in one day on his donkey. Leonard rode all day, was
granted many acres and there founded the abbey of Noblac around
which grew the town of Saint-Leonard. He used this abbey as a base
to preach the Gospel throughout the whole region. Leonard was also
known for the miracles wrought on his behalf (Attwater, Bentley,
Delaney, White).
A more conservative version says that after saving Clotilde, he left his
solitude to preach to the people and to try to pacify warring princes. In
540, after visiting St. Remy and living for several years in a monastery of
St. Maximim, he returned from his mission. He died in solitude in his
monastery in the forest of Pauvin in Limousin about 599, aged about 99
years.
Leonard was the first saint of the France royal family. Although he was
nearly 100 when he died, he is usually represented in art as a young
man of about 30, because he appeared to many people at different times
as a handsome young man in the flower of his youth (Encyclopedia).
Today Leonard is regarded as the patron saint of childbirth, prisoners
(because King Clovis promised that any prisoner converted by the saint
would be released), prisoners of war (Bohemond, the crusader prince
of Antioch, was released from a Islamic prison in 1103 and visited
Noblac to make an offering in gratitude), and those in danger from
brigands, robbers, and thieves (perhaps because the public was in
danger from the very prisoners whom Leonard was responsible for
releasing <g>).
He is portrayed in art vested as an abbot holding chains in his hand of a
deacon with fetters or locks. Sometimes shown freeing prisoners, with
prisoners nearby in stocks, or with a horse or ox near him (Bentley,
Roeder, White).
He is venerated at Orleans (Abbey of Micy) and Noblack. Patron of
cattle, domestic animals and prisoners (Roeder)
Other Saints Honored on November 6
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+ = celebrated liturgically
Appian of Commachio OSB (AC)
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Died c. 800. Born in Liguria, Italy, he became a Benedictine at the abbey
of St. Peter of Ciel d'Oro (_in caelo aureo_) at Pavia. Eventually he
became a recluse at Commachio on the shores of the Adriatic, and
evangelized that country (Benedictines).
Atticus of Phrygia M (RM)
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Dates unknown. The R.M. has: "In Phrygia St. Atticus, Martyr." Nothing
else is known of him (Benedictines).
+ Barlaam of Khutyn, Abbot
------------------------------
Barlaam is on the Roman calendar, but I can't find any information. He
may be the Greek monk from Mount Athos who said that the uncreated
light that surrounded Jesus during the Transfiguration was part of God's
essential unity and that no human could experience this light and live
(Bentley, p. 221).
Christina (Bl.) of Stommeln V (AC)
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1242-1312. Christina Bruzo (Bruso) was born at Stommeln, near
Cologne, Germany. Like her namesake in Belgium, she too could be
styled 'the Astonishing,' since her life is a continuous record of most
extraordinary phenomenon which indeed would tax our credulity, but
they were recorded by a contemporary Dominican, her parish priest.
In 1268 Bl. Christina received stigmatic wounds in her hands, feet, on her
forehead and in her side, which bled every Easter. She unsuccessfully
tried to keep them secret.
She was harassed by terrifying demons: She was seen to be hurled
against a wall by an unseen power and, according to one report 'be
spattered and polluted with deluges of indescribable filth.'
She experienced religious raptures and divine ecstasies on Whitsunday
1268, after communion. Bl. Christina is said to have viewed the
Eucharist as a perpetual commemoration of her marriage to Christ. Her
preserved skull shows markings and indentations supposedly
corresponding to a crown of thorns. Cultus confirmed in 1908
(Benedictines, Harrison).
+ Demetrian of Cyprus B (AC)
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Died c. 912. A native of Cyprus who became a monk and
_hegoumenos_ of St. Antony's and finally bishop of Khytri, both in his
native island. He is one of the most venerated of the Cypriote saints
(Benedictines).
Edwen of Anglesey V (AC)
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7th century. The alleged patron saint of Llanedwen, Anglesey. She is
described as having been a daughter of King St. Edwin (Oct. 12) of
Northumbria (Benedictines).
Efflam of Brittany (AC)
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Died c. 700. Son of a British prince who, crossing to France, became
abbot of a monastery he had founded in Brittany (Benedictines).
Erlafrid of Hirsu OSB, Abbot (AC)
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Died after 830. Count of Calw in Swabia. Founder of Hirschau Abbey,
where he became a monk (Benedictines).
Felix of Thyniss M (RM)
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Date unknown. An African martyr who suffered at Thyniss, near
Hippona (Bona). He was found dead in prison the day before he was to
be executed. St. Augustine preached a sermon on the martyr's feast
day (Benedictines).
Felix of Fondi OSB (RM)
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6th century. A monk of a Benedictine house at Fondi in southern Italy--a
contemporary of St. Gregory the Great (Sept.3), by whom he was
greatly revered (Benedictines).
Galla
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5th century. Wife of St. Eucherius (November 16) and mother of two
saintly sons. She later took the veil. She may also be a young girl of
Valence (Encyclopedia).
+ Illtud (Illtyd, Iltut, Illtut), Abbot (AC) (AC)
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Died c. 505 (another source says 450-535); feast day formerly on July 7.
St. Illtud was clearly an outstanding figure among the most celebrated
Welsh saints, the chief area of his labors being the south-eastern part of
the country.
There was a Life written about him about 1140 and has no historical
value; but the Life of St. Samson (July 28), written perhaps over 500
years earlier, has some important references. It calls Illtud 'the most
learned of the Britons in both Testaments and in all kinds of knowledge,'
and speaks of his great monastic school.
This establishment was Llanilltyd Fawr (Llantwit Major in Glamorgan),
and other prominent saints besides Samson are said to have been Illtyd's
pupils there.
The author of Samson's Life also describes Illtud's death, in illustration of
the saint's power of prophecy. The passage is an impressive one, but it
does not state where or when the death took place. The monastery of
Llantwit survived in one form or another until the Norman conquest
(1066) (Attwater, Doble).
Nevertheless, most of his life is derived mainly from legend and unreliable
sources. According to them, he was the son of a Briton living in Letavia,
Brittany (some scholars believe Letavia is an area in central Brednock,
England, rather than in Brittany), who came to visit his cousin King Arthur
of England about 470.
Illtud married Trynihid and then served in the army of a Glamorgan
chieftain. When one of his friends was killed in a hunting accident, he
and Trynihid lived as recluses in a hut by the Nadafan River.
He left his wife to become a monk under St. Dubricius (Nov. 14), but after
a time resumed his eremitical life. He attracted many disciples and
organized them into the Llanwit Major monastery, perhaps originally on
Calder Island, which soon developed into a great monastic foundation
and a center of missionary activity in Wales.
Another legend has his a disciple of St. Germanus of Auxerre (July 31),
who ordained him. He was famed for his learning and wisdom, which
caused him to be named head of the monastic school of Llanwit.
Many extravagant miracles were attributed to him (he was fed by
heaven when forced to flee the ire of a local chieftain and take refuge in
a cave; he miraculously restored a collapsed seawall), and he is reputed
to have sent grain to relieve a famine in Brittany.
His death is reported at Dol, Brittany, where he had retired in his old age,
Llanwit, and Defynock. One Welsh tradition has him as one of the three
knights put in charge of the Holy Grail by Arthur, and another one even
identifies him as Galahad (Benedictines, Delaney).
Israel
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Died 1014. Priest, then vicar general of Limoges, then canon regular at
Dorat (Encyclopedia).
Leonard of Reresby (PC)
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13th century. A native of Thryberg, Yorkshire. According to local
tradition, he was a crusader, who, taken prisoner by the Saracens, was
miraculously set free and returned safely home (Benedictines).
Leonianus of Autun (AC)
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Died c. 570. A Pannonian (Hungarian) by birth, he was taken as a
captive to Gaul, and, on regaining his freedom, lived as a recluse near
Autun. Later he embraced the monastic life at the abbey of St.
Symphorianus, also at Autun (Benedictines).
Margaret (Bl. Marguerite) of Lorraine OFM, Widow (AC)
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1463-1521. A daughter of Duke Frederic of Lorraine, she married in
1488 Rene, duke of Alencon, who died in 1492, leaving her a widow
with three children. She devoted herself exclusively to their upbringing
and to works of charity. When they were of age, she followed her
sister-in-law Philippa (Feb. 26) into the Poor Clares and founded a
convent at Argentan in 1519. Cultus confirmed in 1921 (Benedictines,
Encyclopedia).
+ Melanie B--Another for whom I can find nothing, not even a feast day.
Nonius (Bl. Nunes) Alvarez de Pereira (AC)
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1360-1431. Bl. Nunes was born at Bomjardin near Lisbon, Portugal, to a
traditional military family. He married at 17, and was named commander
of Portugal's armies in 1383, when he was only 23, by the grand master
of the knights of Aviz, who became King John I.
They revolted against Spanish domination and established Portugal as an
independent state when they defeated the Castillan army at the battle of
Aljubarrota in 1385, and John became king.
After the death of his wife in 1422, Nunes became a Carmelite lay
brother in a friary he had founded in Lisbon and died there on November
1.
Called the Great Constable, he is one of the great national heroes of
Portugal, celebrated in the 16th century epic _Chronica Condestavel_.
His cult was approved for Portugal and the Carmelites in 1918
(Benedictines, Delaney).
Pinnock
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A church in Cornwall is called St. Pinnocks, but it is probably that Pinnock
is a corruption of Winnoc (see below).
Severus of Barcelona (of Rome) BM (RM)
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Died 633. Bishop of Barcelona, martyred under the Arian Visigoths, who
put him to death by driving nails into his temples (talk about a headache
<ouch>). He is a minor patron of Barcelona (Benedictines). St. Severus
is portrayed as a bishop with a large nail in his head or hand (Roeder).
Simon (Bl.) of Aulne OSB Cist. (AC)
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Died 1215. A Cistercian lay-brother at Aulne renowned for his gift of
mystical prayer, his visions, and his ecstasies. On this account he was
invited to Rome by Innocent III (Benedictines).
Stephen of Apt B (PC)
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975-1046. Born at Agde, he was elected bishop of Apt in southern
France, in 1010. He rebuilt the cathedral (Benedictines).
Ten Martyrs of Antioch (RM)
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Died 637. The R.M. says, "Ten holy martyrs, who are said to have
suffered at the hands of the Saracens," i.e., after their seizure of
Antioch. Some records put their number at forty or more (Benedictines).
+ Winnoc (Winoc) of Wormhoult OSB, Abbot (RM)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Died 717. He was of royal blood and probably of British origin, though
brought up in Brittany. He became a monk at Sithiu under St. Bertin
(Sept. 5), by whom he was eventually sent with three companions to
establish a new foundation among the Morini at Wormhoudt near Dunkirk.
He became its first abbot and from that center evangelized the whole
neighborhood (Benedictines).
These monks were either Bretons or Britons from Wales. Winnoc's
name figures in many medieval English calendars; he is apparently titular
saint of St. Winnow near Lostwithiel (Attwater).
St. Winnoc is depicted as an abbot with a crown and scepter at his feet,
turning a hand-mill. There is generally a church and a bridge near him.
Sometimes he is shown (1) in ecstasy while grinding corn, or (2) with St.
Bertinus. Abbot of Wormhoult. Venerated at Sithiu (Roeder). He is the
patron of millers (Encyclopedia).
Sources:
========
Attwater, D. (1983). The penguin dictionary of saints, NY:
Penguin Books.
Benedictine Monks of St. Augustine Abbey, Ramsgate. (1947). The
book of saints: A dictionary of servants of God canonized by
the Catholic Church extracted from the Roman and other
martyrologies. NY: Macmillan.
Bentley, J. (1986). A calendar of saints: The lives of the
principal saints of the Christian year, NY: Facts on File.
Doble, G. H. (1944). St. Iltut.
Delaney, J. J. (1983). Pocket dictionary of saints, NY:
Doubleday Image.
Encyclopedia of Catholic saints, November. (1966).
Philadelphia: Chilton Books.
Harrison, T. (1994). Stigmata: A Medieval mystery in a modern
age. New York: Penguin Books, 1994.
Roeder, H. (1956). Saints and their attributes, Chicago: Henry
Regnery.
White, K. E. (1992). Guide to the saints, NY: Ivy Books.
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Kathy R.
krab...@ana.org