Saint Amandus

Amandus ( 584 – 679), commonly called Saint Amand, was a bishop of Tongeren-Maastricht and one of the catholic missionaries of Flanders. He is venerated as a saint, particularly in France and Belgium.

Life The chief source of details of his life is the Vita Sancti Amandi, an eighth-century text attributed to Beaudemond . The vita was expanded by Philippe, abbot of Aumône. According to this biography, Amand was born in Lower Poitou. He was of noble birth but at the age of twenty, he became a monk on the Île d'Yeu, against the wishes of his family. His father threatened to disinherit him if he did not return home. From there Amandus went to Bourges and became a pupil of bishop Austregisilus. There he lived in solitude in a cell for fifteen years, living on no more than bread and water.

Humbert of Maroilles was of a noble family and trained as a monk in Laon. However, upon the death of his parents, he returned to his estates in Mézières sur Oise to settle some inheritance issues and found fine food, servants, and various conveniences sufficiently distracting that he gave up any thought of the monastic life, until one day Amandus took him on a pilgrimage to Rome. Humbert became his disciple and companion.

He returned to the Merovingian kingdom in 630. Amandus was a close friend of Adalbard of Ostrevent, whom he advised on the founding Marchiennes Abbey. His disciple, Jonatus, was made abbot of the new house. Amandus, however, angered Dagobert I by attempting to have the king amend his life. In spite of the intervention of Acarius, Amand was expelled from the kingdom and went to Gascony. His next missionary task was among the Slavic people of the Danube valley in present-day Slovakia but this was unsuccessful. Amand went to Rome and reported to the Pope. He is also the patron of vine growers, vintners and merchants, and of Boy Scouts.

His feast day is 6 February. Although mostly revered in Flanders and Picardy, he is also venerated in England, where at least one private chapel (at East Hendred in Oxfordshire) is dedicated to him.