St. Maudez

Building a community where people could actually live the Gospel.

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November 18 · Abbot

St. Maudez

St. Maudez

Building a community where people could actually live the Gospel.

Traditional feast

November 18
1914 / pre-1969 calendar, per Baring-Gould (1897)

Current feast

November 18
Secondary source · Wikipedia

Represents

Abbot

Their story

Adapted in modern English from Baring-Gould (1897–98) · original text below

Maudez was born in Ulster. His father's name is given as Ardseus, which is probably the title ard-righ, 'high king', taken for a name. His mother is called both Getusa and Vernosa. He was his parents' tenth son, and they gave him to God as a tithe of their children.

He came to Brittany and stayed briefly at the monastery of Dol. He then went to Tréguier and visited St Tugduval, who gave him the abbey of Trecor as a place of retreat under the holy abbot Ruelin. After some years he looked for solitude on the seashore near Plou Bihan, but crowds pursued him there, so he fled to an island near Enez-Glaz. It is said the island swarmed with snakes and that he drove them all into the sea.

He died and was buried on the island, and his relics were moved to Bourges in 878. Breton mothers collected earth from his island, mixed it with water and gave it to their children against worms. In Cornwall he is known as St Mawes.

Early life

Selected sentences from the original account, unaltered.

He was born in Ulster, and his father’s name is said to have been Ardseus. He was the tenth son of his parents, and was given by them to God as a tithe of their offspring.

What they represent

How they teach us to live

Drawn from themes in the original account

Build up the community you belong to. This life was lived with and for a community.

Learn from the kind of life it was. Building a community where people could actually live the Gospel.

Read more

The full original · 274 words

Read Baring-Gould’s full account

Baring-Gould’s sources: Gallican Martyrologies. Authorities: — A MS. Life written before 878, used by Lobineau and Le Grand. The Lections in the Breviaries of Leon; and the MS. Legendaries of Treguer, used by Albert Le Grand.] S. Maudez, Modez, or Mondez, was an Irishman. In Ireland he bears the name of Moditeus, but little or nothing is related of him. The reason is^ that he left his native 1 See Hon. E. Twisleton: “The Tongue not essential to Speech.” Nov. iS.l 61 Maudez.

Fland at an early age. He was born in Ulster, and his father’s name is said to have been Ardseus. This is probably the title Ard-righ, or chief king, taken as a name. The mother is called variously Getusa and Vernosa. He was the tenth son of his parents, and was given by them to God as a tithe of their offspring.

He came to Brittany, and placed himself in the monastery of Dol for a short time. He then went to Treguier, and visited S. Tugduval in the town of Cozgueaudet, or Lexobie, who gave him the abbey of Trecor, as a place of retreat under the holy abbot Ruelin. After some years he sought a solitary place on the shore of the sea near Plou Bihan, now called Ues-Modez, or the church ofS. Maudez, but was pursued by such crowds that he fled to an island near EnezGlaz, in the diocese of Treguier. It is said that the island abounded with serpents, and that S. Maudez drove them all into the sea. He died, and was buried in the island, but his relics [the bodily remains of a saint, or objects they used, kept with honor] were removed to Bourges in 878. A portion of the right arm is preserved in the church of Lesneven, a portion of the left arm in the church of Saint Jean-du-Doigt; some bones in the cathedral of Treguier. The earth of the island of S. Maudez is diligently collected and mixed with water, and given by Breton mothers to their children, hoping that as S. Maudez expelled snakes from the island, so the earth blessed by him will act as a vermifuge. S. Maudez is S. Mawes in Cornwall.

Feast days

Feast: November 18

Nine days · Free

Pray the novena
with us.

One short email a day for nine days. The day's prayer, a line from St. Maudez's story, and a nudge to keep going.

Also on November 18
St. Romanus

St. Romanus

November 18 · Martyr
St. Odo of Cluny

St. Odo of Cluny

November 18 · Abbot
← All 1726 saints in the library
Sources & notes

Feast-day sources

Story sources

Sources

Credits

Image: Église Sainte-Croix (La Croix-Helléan) 5037.JPG · XIIIfromTOKYO · CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new edition in 16 vols. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897–98); text from the Internet Archive scan (OCR, lightly cleaned; errors possible). Public domain.

Image: XIIIfromTOKYO, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new edition in 16 vols. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897–98); text from the Internet Archive scan (OCR, lightly cleaned; errors possible). Public domain in the United States. Reproduced unedited, except for short bracketed notes in grey that we added to explain names and terms (“S.” is the old abbreviation for Saint). Some history and judgments reflect 19th-century scholarship.