Feast of Sts. Wandregisilus of Normandy and Lambert of Lyons (April 14)

Above:  Gaul in 628 Common Era

SAINT WANDREGISILUS, A.K.A. WANDRILLE, OF NORMANDY (DIED 668)

Roman Catholic Abbot

His feast transferred from July 22

mentor of

SAINT LAMBERT OF LYONS (DIED 688)

Roman Catholic Abbot and Archbishop

His feast = April 14

Born to nobility and related to St. Pepin (I) of Landen, St. Wandregisilus/Wandrille served in the court of Dagobert I, King of Austrasia (623-628) and of all Franks (629-639).  The saint married against his will because his parents wished him to wed.  He and his wife separated in 628 to that each could become a monastic.  The saint became a monk at Montfaucon Abbey in Champagne but left there after a few months so he could become a hermit at St. Ursanne, in the Jura Mountains.  Five years later, he relocated to Bobbio, in Italy, then to Romain-Moutier Abbey, near the Isere River.  There he remained for a decade and became a priest.  St. Wandregisilus left Romain-Moutier to become the founding abbot of Fontanelle Abbey in Normandy.  It became a center of evangelism, missionary work, and education.  His immediate successor was St. Lambert of Lyons.

St. Lambert of Lyons grew up in the court of Clotaire/Lothair III (King of Neustria from 657 to 673 and of all Franks from 656 to 660).  St. Lambert became a monk at Fontanelles under St. Wandregisilus.  After St. Lambert’s tenure as Abbot of Fontanelles, he became Archbishop of Lyons in 678/679, having founded the Abbey of Donzere.

While researching this post and pondering the notes I took, I encountered a thread I chose not to pursue here.  One source referred to St. Balderic as a mentor to St. Wandregisilus.  And St. Balderic, I read, was brother of St. Bova, who might have been aunt of St. Doda.  I am skeptical, though, for information about these saints was brief, vague, and contradictory.  For example, chronological markers regarding St. Doda placed her in a century immediately prior to that of her aunt, St. Bova.  That works in time travel stories, not in hagiographies.

I am reasonably certain, however, that Sts. Lambert and Wandregisilus lived in the 600s.  Each of us can probably name at least one spiritual mentor.  How many people did these saints influence positively?  And how many did those influence for God?  I do not know, but I suppose that the number was great.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 29, 2012 COMMON ERA

THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY, YEAR B

THE FEAST OF SAINTS LYDIA, DORCAS, AND PHOEBE, COWORKERS OF THE APOSTLE PAUL

THE FEAST OF SAINT ANDREI RUBLEV, RUSSIAN ORTHODOX ICONOGRAPHER

THE FEAST OF SAINTS GENESIUS I OF CLERMONT AND PRAEJECTUS OF CLERMONT, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS, AND AMARIN, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT

THE FEAST OF SAINT GILDAS, HISTORIAN AND ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

O God, by whose grace your servants

Saints Wandregisilus of Normandy and Lambert of Lyons,

kindled with the flame of your love,

became a burning and a shining light in your Church:

Grant that we also may be aflame with the spirit of love and discipline,

and walk before you as children of light;

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Acts 2:42-47a

Psalm 133 or 34:1-8 or 119:161-168

2 Corinthians 6:1-10

Matthew 6:24-33

—Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), page 723