St. Mummolin

A shepherd who stayed with his people through hard times.

Read the essentials →
October 16 · Bishop

St. Mummolin

St. Mummolin

A shepherd who stayed with his people through hard times.

Traditional feast

October 16
1914 / pre-1969 calendar, per Baring-Gould (1897)

Current feast

October 16
Secondary source · Wikipedia

Represents

Bishop

Their story

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

Mummolin was born on the shores of Lake Constance and spent his early years at the monastery of Luxeuil under St Eustasius. When he was sent out to preach, he went with St Bertin and St Ebertram, who also came from the shores of Constance, to their countryman St Omer in the land of the Morini, who welcomed them gladly.

Mummolin built a little monastery on a hill rising out of the wide, dreary marshes and became head of a band of disciples. When it grew too small, they found a new site at Sithieu, where the city of St Omer now stands.

After the death of St Eligius he was elected Bishop of Tournai and Noyon. His biographer says he spoke Latin, the Romance tongue that later became French, and the Teutonic language of the Flemings among whom he worked, all fluently. He moved the body of his predecessor to a new resting place, and died in 683 after a life bright with virtue.

Early life

The book says little or nothing about early life. This is how the account begins.

Thin entry · the 1897 book gives only 208 words. We have not filled the gap with invented detail.

S. Mummolin was bom on the shores of the Lake of Constance, and spent his early years in the monastery of Luxeuil, under S. Eustasius. When sent forth to preach the Gospel, he went with S. Bertin and S. Ebertram, natives likewise of the shores of Constance, to their countryman, S. Omer, in the land of the Morini, and was gladly received by him. S. Mummolin built a little monastery on a hill rising out of the wide dreary marshes, and became the head of a number of disciples.

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.

Share your faith, in words and by example. Preaching and conversion are central here.

Learn from the kind of life it was. A shepherd who stayed with his people through hard times.

Read more

The full original · 208 words

Read Baring-Gould’s full account

S. Mummolin was bom on the shores of the Lake of Constance, and spent his early years in the monastery of Luxeuil, under S. Eustasius. When sent forth to preach the Gospel, he went with S. Bertin and S. Ebertram, natives likewise of the shores of Constance, to their countryman, S. Omer, in the land of the Morini, and was gladly received by him. S. Mummolin built a little monastery on a hill rising out of the wide dreary marshes, and became the head of a number of disciples. The place becoming too strait for them, another site was sought, and found where now stands the city of S. Omer, then called Sithieu. On the death of S. Eligius, he S. Bercharius \ was elected bishop of Toumai and Noyon. The writer of his life assures us that he spoke fluently both Latin — the Romance tongue afterwards moulded into French — and the Teutonic tongue of the Flemings among whom he laboured. He translated the body of his predecessor, and died in 683, after a life bright with virtues. One portion of his relics [the bodily remains of a saint, or objects they used, kept with honor] are at Toumai, another at Noyon, and some fragments of his skull at S. Mummolin, near Watten, where his first monastery was founded.

Feast days

Feast: October 16

Nine days · Free

Pray the novena
with us.

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

Also on October 16
T

St. Thecla

October 16 · Virgin, Abbess
T

St. Theresa

October 16 · Virgin
B

St. Bolonia

October 16 · Virgin, Martyr
← All 1726 saints in the library
Sources & notes

Feast-day sources

Story sources

Sources

Credits

Image: Statuette St Momelin.JPG · Bierologue59 · 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: Bierologue59, 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.