Saint Gunthiern,vitrail, chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Plasmanec, Groix
Saint Gunthiern
moine (6ème
s.)
Il était originaire
du Pays de Galles. Pour vivre en ermite, il se retira dans l'île de Groix sur
la côte du Morbihan, puis près de Quimper en Bretagne. Son corps fut caché
durant les invasions normandes. Son culte reste vivace en Bretagne et
particulièrement à Quimperlé.
Voir aussi "l'ère des saints": de 600 à 800 environ site du diocèse de Vannes.
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saints/7441/Saint-Gunthiern.html
Fils d'un roi breton
de Cambrie, en Bretagne insulaire, Gunthiern débarque en Gaule au VIe siècle et s'établit sur l'île de Groix (Morbihan). À la
nouvelle de ses prodiges, le roi Gradlon le fait venir sur le continent.
Gunthiern fonde alors l'abbaye Sainte-Croix à Quimperlé. Les reliques du saint,
après avoir été cachées sur l'île de Groix lors des invasions vikings, sont
conservées à Quimperlé.
Gunthiern of Brittany
(AC)
Died c. 500. Gunthiern, a Welsh prince, left his homeland in his youth to
become a hermit in Brittany (Armorica). On the Isle of Groie near the mouth of
the Blavet, he was given land for a monastery by the local lord, Grallon, who
was impressed by Gunthiern's holiness. The abbey is known as Kemperle, which
indicates its location between the Isol and Wile Rivers. Once a swarm of
insects threatened to devour the crops. Count Guerech I of Vannes, dreading a
famine, sent three dignitaries to request the saint's intercession to turn away
the scourge. Gunthiern blessed some water and told them to sprinkle it over the
fields. When they followed Gunthiern's instructions the insects were destroyed.
During the Norman
invasions, Gunthiern's body was concealed in the isle of Groie. When it was
discovered in the eleventh century, it was translated to the monastery of
Kemperle, which now belongs to the Benedictine Order. Saint Gunthiern is patron
of this abbey as well as of many other churches and chapels in Brittany
(Benedictines, Husenbeth).
St. Gunthiern, Abbot in Brittany
THIS saint flourished in the sixth century. He was a
prince in Wales, which he left in his youth, and retired into Armorica to live
a recluse. He stopt at the isle of Groie, which is about a league from the
mouth of the Blavet. Grallon was then lord of the isle, and was so edified at
his conversation, that he bestowed on him, for founding a monastery, the land
between the confluence of the rivers Isol and Ellé. For which reason even to
this day, the abbey is called Kemperle, which in the old British language signifies
the Conflux of Ellé. One year that a prodigious swarm of insects devoured the
corn, Guerech I., count of Vannes, dreading a famine, deputed three persons of
quality to engage the saint’s prayers to God for turning away the scourge.
Gunthiern sent him water which he had blessed, which he desired to be sprinkled
over the fields, and the insects were destroyed. The count, in gratitude for
this extraordinary blessing, gave him the land near the river Blavet, which was
then called Vernac; but is now known by the name of Hervegnac or Chervegnac.
The saint, it is thought, died at Kemperle. During the incursions of the
Normans, his body was concealed in the isle of Groic. It was discovered in the
eleventh century, and brought to the monastery of Kemperle, 1 which now belongs to the Benedictin Order. St.
Gunthiern is patron of this abbey as well as of many other churches and chapels
in Brittany. He is mentioned in ancient calendars on the 29th of June, but the
moderns place his feast on the 3rd of July. See Lobineau, Vies des SS. de
Bretagne, p. 49.
Rev. Alban
Butler (1711–73). Volume VII: July. The Lives of the Saints. 1866
Saint Gunthiern
Profile
Prince
who became a hermit
in Brittany. The local lord, Grallon, gave Gunthiern land on the Isle
of Groie, near River Blavet to found a monastery.
It survives today as the Benedictine
house of Kemperle.
Legend says that insects once threatened to destroy the region’s crops. Count Guerech
I of Vannes, France,
requested the saint‘s help. Gunthiern blessed
some water and had it sprinkled over the fields. The insects fled, and the crops were saved.
Born
- c.500
in Brittany (in modern France) of natural causes
- his body was hidden during the Norman invasions,
and was lost for a while
- remains re-discovered in the 11th
century
- relics
were translated to the Kemperle monastery
