Humbert of Maroilles (died ca. 680) was a Frankish

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedic ...

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. Th ...

, and

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Or ...

. He founded Maroilles Abbey.

Life

Humbert was born at Mézières-sur-Oise in the early 7th century. His parents, Evrard and Popita, were of the nobility. He trained as a

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 ...

monk in

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. ...

, and his family anticipated that he was destined for a successful career as a bishop. Upon the death of his parents, he returned to his estates in Mézières sur Oise to settle some inheritance issues. The fine food, comfortable accommodations, servants, hunting, and other distractions turned his mind away from monastic life. He spent many years there, until one day Bishop

Amandus Amandus ( 584 – 679), commonly called Saint Amand, was a bishop of Tongeren-Maastricht and one of the great Christian missionaries of Flanders. He is venerated as a saint, particularly in France and Belgium. Life The chief source of details ...

took him on a pilgrimage to Rome. Humbert became a disciple and companion of the missionary bishop.St. Humbert - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online
/ref> Humbert was also a friend of the abbess

Aldegundis Aldegund ( 639–684), also Aldegundis or Aldegonde, was a Frankish Benedictine abbess who is honored as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church in France and Orthodox Church. Aldegund was closely related to the Merovingian royal family. Her paren ...

Pope Martin I Pope Martin I ( la, Martinus I, el, Πάπας Μαρτίνος; between 590 and 600 – 16 September 655), also known as Martin the Confessor, was the bishop of Rome from 21 July 649 to his death 16 September 655. He served as Pope Theodore I's ...

ordained him a missionary bishop; he worked mainly in the

Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...

. In 652, he co-founded and became the first abbot of a monastery of Maroilles Abbey. On his second trip to Rome, he returned with relics and a statuette of the Virgin Mary, whom he named patroness of the abbey church under the title Maroilles Notre Dame des Affligés. He died at Maroilles around the year 682. Saint Curcodomus succeeded him as abbot. Buildings of this monastery are still present there, although the abbey was ruined in the course of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

. The church of Vendegies au Bois was named after him.

References

External links

Saint Humbert
{{Authority control 680 deaths Frankish Benedictines 7th-century Frankish saints Year of birth unknown