| Saint Amandus | |
|---|---|
Saint Amandus and the serpent, from a 14th century manuscript |
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| Born | 584 Lower Poitou |
| Died | 675 Saint-Amand |
| Honored in | Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church |
| Feast | February 6 (formerly February 1) |
| Attributes | chair, church, flag |
| Patronage | Wine makers, Beer brewers, merchants, innkeepers, bartenders, Boy Scouts |
Saint Amand or Amandus (Amantius) (birth-name Jacob) (c. 584 – 675) was a French Christian saint, one of the great Christian Saints of Flanders.
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The Vita Sancti Amandi is an eighth-century text, attributed to a Beaudemond; it was expanded by Philippe, abbot of Aumône. According to it, Amand was born in Lower Poitou, of noble birth. He became a monk at the Island of Yeu (Île d'Yeu), near Tours, at about the age twenty, against the wishes and efforts of his family. From there he went to Bourges, where under the direction of the bishop, Saint Austregisilus, he lived in solitude on bread and water in a cell for fifteen years.
After a pilgrimage to Rome, he was consecrated in France as a missionary bishop without a settle diocese in 628. At the request of Clotaire II, he began first to evangelize the pagan inhabitants of Ghent, later extending his field of operations across Flanders. Initially he had little success, suffering persecution and undergoing great hardships; however, the miracle of bringing back to life a hanged criminal changed the feelings of the people, after which he had many converts.
Under his supervision monasteries were established at Ghent and Mont Blandin, the first in Belgium. The monastery at Ghent was funded, and then joined, by the future Saint Bavo, who was inspired by Amand's preaching. Returning to France, in 630, he angered Dagobert I by his efforts to turn the king from his sinful life, and he was expelled from the kingdom despite the intervention of Saint Acarius. Dagobert however later asked his pardon and requested him to be the tutor to the heir to the throne; Amand, however, declined the honour. He requested from Acharius, then bishop of Noyon, to obtain letters from King Dagobert stating that anyone who did not freely choose to be reborn by the waters of baptism should be forced by the king to receive this sacrament. This story was related by Baudemundus, the biographer of Amandus and shows his readiness to resort to forcible conversion and Dagobert's willingness to provide the necessary coercion. His next apostolate was among the Slavs of the Danube (the modern Slovakia), but it was unsuccessful, and he is next found in Rome, reporting the results to the Papal office. While returning to France he is said to have calmed a storm at sea.
In about 649 Amand, according to some authorities, served briefly as Bishop of Maastricht (others say the see was Tongeren or Liège), the disordered conditions in which were such that he had to appeal to the Pope, Martin I, for instructions. The pope's reply set out a plan of action with regard to disobedient clerics, and also contained information about the Monothelite heresy, then extremely prevalent in the East. Amand was also commissioned to call councils in Neustria and Austrasia in order to pass on to the bishops of Gaul decrees enacted at Rome; the bishops in turn required Amand to pass back to Rome the acts of the councils. He took the opportunity to relinquish his bishopric, and to resume his work as a missionary.
At about this time he established contact with the family of Pepin of Landen, and helped Saint Gertrude and her mother Itta to establish the famous monastery at Nivelles. Thirty years before he had gone into the Basque country to preach, with little success; the inhabitants now asked him to return, and although he was by this time seventy years old, he undertook the work of evangelizing them, in which he seems to have been successful. Returning home, he founded several more monasteries, particularly in Belgium. Dagobert made great concessions to him for his various establishments.
He died in his own monastic foundation, Elnone Abbey (later Saint-Amand Abbey, in Saint-Amand-les-Eaux, near Tournai) at the age of ninety. Two voyages with his relics kept at the monastery were reported in texts, one organised to collect money after the monastery was very badly damaged by fire in 1066, the other to regain usurped abbey lands, in 1107.[1]
His feast is kept on 6 February. Although mostly revered in Flanders and Picardy, he was also honoured in England, where at least one private chapel (at East Hendred in Oxfordshire) is dedicated to him.
Saint Amand is the patron saint of all who produce beer: brewers, innkeepers and bartenders (and presumably also hopgrowers). He is also the patron of vine growers, vintners and merchants, and of Boy Scouts.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.