Saint Ermin of Lobbes (died 737, in

Lobbes Lobbes (; wa, Lôbe) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On 1 January 2006 Lobbes had a total population of 5,499. The total area is 32.08 km² which gives a population density of 171 inhabitants per k ...

, Hainaut,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

) was the second abbot of

Lobbes Abbey Lobbes Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in Wallonia in the municipality of Lobbes, Hainaut, Belgium. The abbey played an important role in the religious, political and religious life of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, especially around the year 1 ...

Life and legend

Originally from the region of Laon, he studied at the

Cathedral School Cathedral schools began in the Early Middle Ages as centers of advanced education, some of them ultimately evolving into medieval universities. Throughout the Middle Ages and beyond, they were complemented by the monastic schools. Some of these e ...

Laon Laon () is a city in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. History Early history The holy district of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance. In ...

(France) and was ordained as a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

by the

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, Madalgaire. After entering the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

of Lobbes, he became a disciple of Saint Ursmar. After nomination by Ursmar, he was elected as his successor as the head of the abbey, founded by

Saint Landelin Saint Landelin (Dutch and la, Landelinus; french: La(u)ndelin; 625 – 686 AD in what is now Belgium) is a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church. Life Landelin was born to a noble family at Vaux near Bapaume in 623, a ...

. He had a reputation for wisdom and sanctity. His biographer, abbot Anson of Lobbes (+800), stated that he also had a gift for

prophecy In religion, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain divine will or law, or prete ...

. He died in Lobbes in 737, and is interred in a

sarcophagus A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...

in the

crypt A crypt (from Latin ''crypta'' "vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics. Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a chur ...

of Saint Ursmar's Church in Lobbes. He was succeeded as abbot by Theodwin.

Feast day

Saint Ermin (Latin: ''Erminus'') is celebrated locally as a Christian saint. His

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

is on 25 April.

Bibliography

* A ''Vita Ermini'' was written by Abbot Anson of Lobbes between 750 and 768. This biography was published in the ''

Acta Sanctorum ''Acta Sanctorum'' (''Acts of the Saints'') is an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints, in essence a critical hagiography, which is organised according to each saint's feast day. The project w ...

'' by the

Bollandist The Bollandist Society ( la, Societas Bollandistarum french: Société des Bollandistes) are an association of scholars, philologists, and historians (originally all Jesuits, but now including non-Jesuits) who since the early seventeenth century h ...

s (April, vol. III).

External links

* A. Dimier
''L'Abbaye de Vauclair et le Prieuré Saint-Erme''
on the site of the Federation of Historical and Archeological Societies of Aisne.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ermin of Lobbes 737 deaths Belgian Roman Catholic saints Year of birth unknown Abbots of Lobbes