Eustace of Luxeuil (c. 560 – c. 626), also known as Eustasius, was the second

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. The ...

Luxeuil Luxeuil-les-Bains () is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. History Luxeuil (sometimes rendered Luxeu in older texts) was the Roman Luxovium and contained many fine buildings ...

from 611. He succeeded his teacher Columbanus, to whom he had been a favorite disciple and

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 dedica ...

. He had been the head of the monastic school.

Life

Eustace was born in Burgundy and became a monk at Luxeuil. When Columbanus, the founder of Luxeuil, was banished from the Kingdom of Burgundy, on account of his reproving the morals of King

Theuderic II Theuderic II (also spelled Theuderich, Theoderic or Theodoric; in French, ''Thierry'') (587–613), king of Burgundy (595–613) and Austrasia (612–613), was the second son of Childebert II. At his father's death in 595, he received Guntram's ki ...

, he recommended his community choose Eustace as his successor. Subsequently, Columbanus settled at Bobbio in Italy.Cullen, John. "St. Eustace." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 6 Dec. 2014
/ref> After the death of Theuderic,

Clothaire II Chlothar II, sometime called "the Young" (French: le Jeune), (May/June 584 – 18 October 629), was king of Neustria and king of the Franks, and the son of Chilperic I and his third wife, Fredegund. He started his reign as an infant under the re ...

sent Eustace to Bobbio to ask Columbanus to return, but the exiled abbot declined.Englebert, Omer. ''The Lives of the Saints'', Barnes & Noble Publishing, 1951
Under the administration of Eustace, the monastery acquired renown as a seat of learning and sanctity. Through the royal patronage, its benefices and lands were increased, King Clotaire II devoting a yearly sum, from his own revenues, towards its support. Eustace and his monks devoted themselves to preaching in remote districts, not yet evangelized, chiefly in the north-eastern extremities of Gaul. Their missionary work extended even to Bavaria. Between the monasteries of Luxeuil in France and that of Bobbio in Italy (both founded by Columbanus), connection and intercourse seem to have long been kept up. During his abbacy, the monastery contained about 600 monks and produced both bishops and saints, including

Acarius Saint Acarius (died 14 March 642) was a monk of Luxeuil Abbey, who became bishop of Doornik and Noyon, which today are located on either side of the Franco-Belgian border. Life Acarius was born to a noble family of Burgundy. He entered the Abbey ...

, Amatus,

Audomar Saint Audomar (died 670), better known as Saint Omer, was a bishop of Thérouanne, after whom nearby Saint-Omer in northern France was named. Biography He was born of a distinguished family of Coutances, then under the Frankish realm of Neust ...

, and

Romaric Saint Romaric (died 653) was a Frankish nobleman who lived in Austrasia from the late 6th century until the middle of the 7th century. He and Amatus of Grenoble founded Remiremont Abbey. Biography He was a former Count Palatine in the court of ...

. Eustace was noted for his humility, continual

prayer Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified a ...

, and

fasting Fasting is the abstention from eating and sometimes drinking. From a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (see " Breakfast"), or to the metabolic state achieved after ...

. Eustasius undertook missionary journeys to the Variscans on the river Doubs and as far as Bavaria. Around 625 he founded a monastery on the island of

Herrenchiemsee Herrenchiemsee is a complex of royal buildings on Herreninsel, the largest island in the Chiemsee lake, in southern Bavaria, Germany. Together with the neighbouring isle of Frauenchiemsee and the uninhabited Krautinsel, it forms the municipality ...

. He was succeeded as abbott by

Waldebert Waldebert (also known as Gaubert, Valbert and Walbert), (died 668), was a Frankish count of Guines, Ponthieu and Saint-Pol who became abbot of Luxeuil in the Order of St. Columban, and eventually a canonized saint in the Roman Catholic Church ...

. A tradition states that he cured Sadalberga of blindness. Upon returning from Bavaria, her father, Gundoin, Duke of Alsace provided hospitality to the abbot on his travels. Duke Gundoin and his wife brought two of their sons for the abbot's blessing but were hesitant to present the blind child. Through the prayers of Eustace the child was cured of her blindness. He is said to have also procured a cure for St. Burgundofara. His feast day is March 29.

References

External links

Biografie der Diözesanbibliothek Münster
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eustace Of Luxeuil 560s births 620s deaths French abbots 7th-century Frankish people 7th-century Frankish saints Colombanian saints Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain Year of birth unknown Baiuvarii