Ivo of Kermartin

Ivo of Kermartin, TOSF (17 October 1253 – 19 May 1303), also known as Yvo, Yves, or Ives (and in Breton as Erwan, Iwan, Youenn or Eozenn, depending on the region, and known as Yves Hélory (also Helori or Heloury) in French), was a parish priest among the poor of Louannec, the only one of his station to be canonized in the Middle Ages. He is the patron of Brittany, lawyers, and abandoned children. His feast day is 19 May. Poetically, he is referred to as "advocate of the poor".

Life Born at Kermartin, a manor near Tréguier in Brittany, on 17 October 1253, Ivo was the son of Helori, lord of Kermartin, and Azo du Kenquis. In 1267 Ivo was sent to the Faculty of Law of Paris (University of Paris), where he graduated in civil law. While other students caroused, Ivo studied, prayed and visited the sick. He also refused to eat meat or drink wine. Among his fellow-students were the scholars Duns Scotus and Roger Bacon. He went to Orléans in 1277 to study canon law under Peter de la Chapelle, a famous journalist who later became bishop of Toulouse and a cardinal. Ivo was ordained to the priesthood in 1284. He continued to practice law and once, when a mother and son could not resolve many of their differences, he offered a Mass for them. They immediately reached a settlement. Ivo died in 1303 of natural causes after a life of hard work and repeated fasting.

Saint Yves is the patron of lawyers. As a result, many law schools and associations of Catholic lawyers have taken his name. For instance, the Society of St. Yves in Jerusalem (a Catholic Center for Human Rights and Legal Aid, Resources and Development), the in Luxembourg (the Luxembourg Catholic Lawyers Association), or the Association de la Saint Yves Lyonnais.

Veneration Relic skull and reliquary of St. Ivo in Tréguier, Brittany, France

He was buried in Minihy-Tréguier in the church he founded.

Bretons sang a song about Ivo:

Ivo was canonized in June 1347 by Clement VI The churches of Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza and Sant'Ivo dei Bretoni in Rome are dedicated to him.