Saint Winnoc
Saint Winnoc of Flanders
Born	c. 640
Died	c. 716/717
Honored in	Roman Catholic Church
Feast	6 November; translation of relics (18 September); Exaltation of Saint Winnoc (formerly kept on 20 February)
Attributes	abbot with a crown and scepter at his feet, turning a hand-mill, often with a church and bridge nearby; in ecstasy while grinding corn; with Saint Bertin
Patronage	millers; against fever; against whooping cough; against drought

Saint Winnoc^[1] (c. 640-c. 716/717) was an abbot or prior of Wormhout who came from Wales. Three lives of this saint are extant. The best of these, the first life, was written by a monk of St. Bertin in the middle of the ninth century, or perhaps a century earlier.

St. Winnoc is generally called a Breton, but the Bollandist Charles de Smedt shows that he was more probably of Welsh origin. He is said to have been of noble birth, of the same house as the kings of Domnonia. Some sources state that Winnoc's father was Saint Judicael. He may have been raised and educated in Brittany, since his family had fled there to escape the Saxons. He is said to have founded the church and parish of St Winnow in Cornwall, though this toponym may be connected with Saint Winwaloe.

Winnoc came to Flanders, to the Monastery of Saint-Omer, then ruled by St. Bertin, with three companions, and was soon afterwards sent to found at Wormhout, a dependent cell or priory (not an abbey, as it is generally called). It is not known what rule, Columbanian or Benedictine, was followed at this time in the two monasteries.

When enfeebled by old age, St. Winnoc is said to have received supernatural assistance in the task of grinding grain for his brethren and the poor. The mill ground the grain automatically due to the intercession of the saint's prayers. A monk who, out of curiosity, came to see how the old man did so much work, was struck blind, but healed by the saint's intercession. Many other miracles followed his death, which occurred 6 November 716 or 717 (we only know the year from fourteenth century tradition).

Veneration[link]

The popularity of St. Winnoc's cultus is attested by the frequent insertion of his name in liturgical documents and the numerous translations of his relics. He was originally buried at Wormhout, but his relics were translated to Bergues-Saint-Winnoc in 899. It is said that people who stood along the route taken by the monks were reported to have been healed of many illnesses, especially coughs and fevers. His relics were invoked against drought. The monastery was burned by Protestants in 1558. Some of Winnoc's relics were destroyed.

His feast is kept on 6 November, that of his translation on 18 September; a third, the Exaltation of St. Winnoc, was formerly kept on 20 February.

Notes[link]

1. ^ Vinocus, Winnoc of Flanders, Winnoc of Wormhoudt, Winnoc of Wormhoult, Winnow, Winwalo, Winoc, Winocus, Wunnoc, Pinnock, Winnock, Gwynnog.

External links[link]

• Patron Saints: Winnoc
• Winnoc at the Catholic Encyclopedia
• (German) Winocus von Flandern der Schutzpatron der Müller

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company. 

Willibrord
Statue of St. Willibrord at Echternach.
Bishop
Born	c. 658 Northumbria
Died	7 November 739(739-11-07)
Honored in	Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion
Major shrine	Echternach
Feast	7 November
Attributes	Dipping staff into cask
Patronage	convulsions; epilepsy; epileptics; Luxembourg; Netherlands; archdiocese of Utrecht, Netherlands

Willibrord (c. 658 – 7 November 739) was a Northumbrian missionary saint, known as the "Apostle to the Frisians" in the modern Netherlands. He became the first Bishop of Utrecht and died at Echternach, Luxembourg.

His father, Wilgils or St Hilgis, an Angle or, as Alcuin styles him, a Saxon, of Northumbria, withdrew from the world and constructed for himself a little oratory dedicated to St Andrew. The king and nobles of the district endowed him with estates until he was at last able to build a church, over which Alcuin afterwards ruled.

A disciple of St Wilfrid, he was sent to the Abbey of Ripon almost as soon as he was weaned. Later he joined the Benedictines. He spent the years between the ages of 20 and 32 in the Abbey of Rathmelsigi^[1] which was a center of European learning in the 7th century. During this time he studied under Saint Egbert, who sent him and twelve companions to Christianize the pagan North Germanic tribes of Frisia, at the request of Pepin, Christian king of the Franks and nominal suzerain over that region. At the request of Pepin he traveled twice, finally being consecrated Bishop of the Frisians in the Church of St. Cecilia. It was 21 November 695 and he was given the name of Clement. He was also given the pallium by the pope. He returned to Frisia to preach and to build numerous churches, among them a monastery at Utrecht, where he established his cathedral and is counted the first Bishop of Utrecht. In 698 he established an abbey at a Roman villa of Echternach, in Luxemburg near Trier, which was presented to him by Irmina, daughter of Dagobert II, king of the Franks.

Willibrord returned to Fontenelle.

Willibrord tried this while on a Carolingian-sponsored mission into Frisia with the express purpose of trying to convert the pagan Frisians living there in the hope that, once they had converted to Christianity, the Franks could gain control of the important trade port Dorestad, which they had up to that point been unable to do.

In 716 the pagan Radbod, king of the Frisians, retook possession of Frisia, burning churches and killing many missionaries^{[citation needed]}.

After the death of Radbod in 719, Willibrord returned to resume his work, aided by Boniface, and under the protection of Charles Martel. His frequent visits to the Abbey of Echternach resulted in his being interred there after his death, and he was quickly judged to be a saint. In the Roman Catholic Church his feast is celebrated on 7 November outside England, but on 29 November in England, by order of Pope Leo XIII. In the Church of England, he is celebrated on 7 November.

Numerous miracles and relics have been attributed to him, and in one particularly memorable moment, the transport of his relics was celebrated thus "the Five bishops in full pontificals assisted; engaged in the dance were 2 Swiss guards, 16 standard-bearers, 3045 singers, 136 priests, 426 musicians, 15,085 dancers, and 2032 players" (Studien u. Mittheilungen, 1906, p. 551).

A Life was written by Alcuin and dedicated to the Abbot of Echternach. Alcuin probably made use of an older one written by a British monk, which is now lost. Bede also makes mention of Willibrord. Nothing written by Willibrord can be found save a marginal note in the Calendar of Echternach giving some chronological data.^[2] A copy of the Gospels (Bibliothèque National, Paris, 9389) under the name of Willibrord is an Irish codex no doubt brought by Willibrord from Ireland.

In 752/753 Boniface wrote a letter to Pope Stephen II, in which is said Willibrord destroyed the Frisian pagan santuaries and temples.^[3] In the Life written by Alcuin are two texts about Willibrord and pagan places of worship. In one he arrived with his companions in Walcheren in the Netherlands where he smashed an idol of the ancient superstition.^[4] In the second text passage Willibord arrived on an island called Fositesland (possibly Heligoland) where a pagan god named Fosite was worshipped. Here he despoiled this god of its sanctity by using the god's sacred well for baptisms and the sacred cattle for food.^[5][6]

See also[link]

Willbrord Memorial at Trier.

• Dancing procession of Echternach
• Anglo-Saxon mission

External links[link]

• A reconstructed portrait of Willibrord, based on historical sources, in a contemporary style.
• Beda Venerabilis (731), "Book V: 10, 11; About Willibrord", Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation, http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/bede-book5.html 
• Biography of St. Willibrord
• The Dancing Procession of Echternach

Notes[link]

Еditions[link]

• Paul Dräger (ed.), Alkuin, Vita sancti Willibrordi; Das Leben des heiligen Willibrord (Trier: Kliomedia, 2008).

References[link]

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company. 

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