ST WULFILAICUS, HERMIT AND CONFESSOR

ST WULFILAICUS, HERMIT AND CONFESSOR - 21 OCTOBER

SAINT WULFILAICUS, HERMIT AND CONFESSOR

Saint Wulfilaicus, Hermit and Confessor (

October 21; also July 7 and July 17). This saint is commonly listed as a hermit in the Diocese of Trier. His name appears in various spellings: Wulfilaicus, Ulfilaicus, Walfredus, Vulsus, Wolf, and Vulfilaicus. The French call him Walfroy, and sometimes Ouflay.

By his own account, he was a Lombard by birth. His parents raised him as a Christian and shared many stories from the lives of the saints with him. The virtues and miracles of Saint Martin of Tours made a particularly deep impression on his young mind; he held the saint in special reverence and resolved to make a pilgrimage to his tomb once he was older. True to his word, the ardent youth left his homeland and journeyed toward France.

Through God’s providence, the monastery of St. Yrieix (Aredius) near Limoges became the place where he stayed for a time and strengthened himself in the spiritual life. Later, Abbot Aredius himself took him to Tours, and together they offered their devotions there. We do not know how long our saint remained under this abbot’s guidance, nor when he took up his pilgrim’s staff to seek out a hermitage further north in the Diocese of Trier.

His next place of sojourn, however, was the Ardennes region, whose inhabitants were at that time still partly pagan. With the approval of Bishop Magnericus - who ordained him a deacon - he undertook the task of proclaiming the Gospel to them.

On a mountain whose summit was disfigured by a colossal statue of Diana (immensum simulacrum), he built a monastery and a church in honour of Saint Martin - seeking thereby to combat the superstition prevalent at that site. (The location now falls under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Reims.)

Alongside his preaching duties, he devoted himself unceasingly to prayer and rigourous acts of penance to implore heaven’s blessing upon this new spiritual planting. Following the custom of Eastern hermits of his era, he took up residence atop a pillar, remaining there day and night - even through the winter - to the point where the biting cold caused his toenails to fall off and icicles to hang like candles from his beard; he subsisted on nothing but bread, water, and vegetables, while preaching the doctrine of salvation to the throngs that gathered around him - with such success that they joined him in destroying the idol of Diana and other lesser idols in the surrounding area.

Soon after, he fell gravely ill, and his entire body became covered with painful sores. To alleviate his suffering, he used oil he had brought back from the tomb of Saint Martin; following a restorative sleep, he recovered so quickly that he was able to return to his pillar. However, the local bishops subsequently ordered him to abandon it - a command he obeyed with a heavy heart. He spent the remainder of his life living alongside his brethren in the monastery, until the Lord called him home to his eternal reward at an advanced age on October 21, sometime between the years 590 and 600.

On July 7, 980, his relics were transferred to the small town of Ivoy (Ivodium, Carignan) under Archbishop Egbert of Trier to safeguard them against hostile raids by the Normans; they were subsequently lost during the French Revolution. However, the veneration and invocation of the saint continue in Catholic France.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 5, Augsburg, 1882)

Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Wulfilaicus may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Sources of these articles (in the original German): books.google.co.uk, de-academic.com, zeno.org, openlibrary.org

BL. RICHARD NEWPORT, PRIEST AND MARTYR - 30 MAY

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MAY Saints celebrated on the 30th of May WELCOME! BLESSED RICHARD NEWPORT, PRIEST AND MARTYR Richard Newport, alias Smith , was born in Northamptonshire and performed his studies abroad, partly in the college of Rheims (if he be the Richard Smith whom I find in the Douay diary sent to Rome in 1586) and partly in that of Rome, where he was made priest. From thence he was sent upon the English mission, and behaved himself in such a manner as justly to acquire the character of a laborious missionary; being withal remarkably successful in bringing home many strayed sheep to the fold of Christ, to which his apostolical way of living did not a little contribute. He was several times apprehended and cast into prison, and twice banished. His name occurs amongst those who were transported in 1606; at which time, we are told, he took that opportunity of making a pilgrimage to Rome, there to pour forth his prayers at the tombs of the apostles, in behalf of thi...

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