ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MAY Saints celebrated on the 17th of May WELCOME! LAURENCE, ABBOT OF VILLERS Laurence (Laurentius) , remembered on May 17, was a monk at Clairvaux Abbey to start with. A student of Saint Bernard , Laurence afterwards became the first abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Villers / Villiers (Villaria) in Brabant. The establishment flourished under Laurence's leadership: the initially small monastery, through the holiness of its monks and the generosity of the faithful, became one of the most distinguished in Belgium. Laurence loved holy poverty to the highest degree and bore all its hardships with admirable patience. He had the oratory and the huts for the brothers built from tree branches; his sustenance consisted of vegetables and water, and his clothing barely covered his limbs. After his term had ended, he continued to serve God in utter humility, and concluded his holy life, glorified by miracles, in 1154...