Saint Hervé ( 521 – 575 AD), also known as Harvey, Herveus, or Houarniaule, was a sixth-century
Breton
Breton most often refers to:
*anything associated with Brittany, and generally
**Breton people
**Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany
** Breton (horse), a breed
**Gale ...
saint
In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...
. Along with
Saint Ives, he is one of the most popular of the Breton saints. He was born in
Guimiliau (Gwimilio).
Legend
Hervé was the son of a Welsh
bard
In Celtic cultures, a bard is an oral repository and professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's a ...
named Hyvarnion, who had studied under
Cadoc
Saint Cadoc or Cadog (; also Modern Welsh: Catawg or Catwg; born or before) was a 5th–6th-century Abbot of Llancarfan, near Cowbridge in Glamorgan, Wales, a monastery famous from the era of the Celtic church as a centre of learning, wher ...
. Hyvarnion became a minstrel at the court of
Childebert I
Childebert I ( 496 – 13 December 558) was a Frankish King of the Merovingian dynasty, as third of the four sons of Clovis I who shared the kingdom of the Franks upon their father's death in 511. He was one of the sons of Saint Clo ...
. His mother was Rivanone, a woman of surpassing beauty who knew the properties of plants and
herb
Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distingu ...
s. Hervé was the nephew of the hermit
Saint Urfold.
Hervé was born blind. His father died when Hervé was still quite young. He inherited his father's harp. His mother became an
anchoress and entrusted the seven-year-old boy to the care of his uncles who placed him with a learned hermit who lived in the forest. At about fourteen years of age, he went to study at the monasastic school at
Plouvien, where his maternal uncle, Gourvoyed was abbot. Hervé grew up to become a teacher and minstrel.
[Monks of Ramsgate. "Herveus". ''Book of Saints'']
1921. CatholicSaints.Info. 2 September 2013
With his disciple Guiharan, Hervé lived near Plouvien as a hermit and bard. He had the power to cure animals and was accompanied by a domesticated
wolf
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, includin ...
. His wolf devoured the
ox or
donkey
The donkey or ass is a domesticated equine. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a separate species, ''Equus asinus''. It was domes ...
Hervé used in
plowing. Hervé then preached a
sermon
A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present context ...
that was so eloquent that the wolf begged to be allowed to serve in the ox's stead. Hervé's wolf pulled the plow from that day on.
["Saint-Hervé Hermitage", Patrimoine D'Iroise]
/ref>
He was joined by disciples and refused any ordination
Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...
or earthly honour, accepting only to be ordained as an exorcist
In some religions, an exorcist (from the Greek „ἐξορκιστής“) is a person who is believed to be able to cast out the devil or performs the ridding of demons or other supernatural beings who are alleged to have possessed a person ...
. He died in 556 AD and was buried at Lanhouarneau.
Veneration
Saint Hervé is venerated throughout Brittany. 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 does n ...
is June the 17th. He is represented accompanied by a tame wolf.[
In Lanrivoaré, the hermitage of Saint-Hervé, built according to the model of Irish hermitages, houses the ruins of a chapel, a fountain and a stone cell said to have housed the saint."Hermitage Saint Hervé", Iroise Bretagne]
/ref>
For fear of the Normans, his relics were removed to a silver shrine in the chapel of the Château de Brest
The Château de Brest (, ) or Castle of Brest is a castle in Brest, Finistère, Brittany, France. The oldest monument in the town, it is located at the mouth of the river Penfeld at the heart of the roadstead of Brest, one of the largest road ...
. Given to the Bishop of Nantes, they were lost during the Revolution.
See also
* Plomodiern Parish close
References
External links
Patron Saints: Saint Hervé
*
Saint Hervé
{{DEFAULTSORT:Herve
556 deaths
Medieval Breton saints
French hermits
People from Finistère
6th-century Christian saints
Wolves in folklore, religion and mythology
521 births
6th-century Breton people
Animals in Christianity