A monk from the Ardennes who became Bishop of Thérouanne in the 9th century, Humfroi faced the Norman invasions. Despite his desire to retire to the monastery, he remained faithful to his diocese on the advice of Pope Nicholas I, rebuilding destroyed churches and establishing the feast of the Assumption.
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SAINT HUMPROI, BISHOP AND CONFESSOR (871).
Vocation and troubled episcopate
Humfroi began his religious life at the monastery of Prames before succeeding Saint Folquin as bishop of the Morini. Faced with the Norman invasions, he considered retiring, but Pope Nicholas I encouraged him to remain at his post.
Humfroi Humfroi Bishop of Thérouanne in the 9th century, former monk of Prames. , French by nation, first embraced the religious life at the monastery of Prames, in the Ardennes. Soon the excellence of his virtues calling him to the episcopal dignity, he succeeded Saint Folquin, bishop of the land of the Morini. He was equal to this sublime function; but, constrained by the invasions of the Normans, who were then devastating almost all of France, to abandon Thérouanne Théromanne Episcopal see of Saint Folquin. , the seat of his bishopric, he formed the resolution to renounce the episcopate forever. He consulted the sovereign pon tiff Nichol Nicolas Ier Pope who confirmed the titles of Raoul. as I, to know if he could spend what remained of his life in a monastery; but he obtained this answer, that if it is perilous to abandon the ship when it is sailing on a tranquil sea, how much more so is it when it is beaten by the winds and the waves.
Reconstruction and governance
Returning to his diocese, he gathered the faithful and rebuilt the destroyed churches. He briefly accepted the leadership of the Abbey of Saint-Bertin before being removed by King Charles the Bald.
The man of God yielded to this counsel; his courage reviving, he returned without hesitation to the midst of his flock, firmly resolved not to abandon them again in these critical circumstances. He gathered those whom the fear of the barbarians had dispersed, used the evils they had suffered as motives to lead them to piety, and rebuilt the churches that the fury of the Normans had overturned. In the ninth year of his episcopate, yielding to the wishes of the clergy and the people, and mainly to the prayers of the monks, he accepted the government of the Abbey of Saint-Bertin; but, two years later, he resigned from it without regret by th e order of the ki Charles le Chauve Emperor who confirmed the rights of the priory in the 9th century. ng. — Charles the Bald sent there, with men-at-arms, an abbot of his choosing.
Conciliar activity and end of life
He participated in the councils of Aachen and Soissons in 862 and established the feast of the Assumption in his diocese. He died at 87 and was buried in Thérouanne.
Hombroi Hombroi Bishop of Thérouanne in the 9th century, former monk of Prames. attended the Council of Aachen and the Synod of Soissons in the year 862; and he subscribed to the letter that this synod addressed to Pope Nicholas I. He had the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary celebrated in his diocese with appropriate solemnity, a feast which the Morini did not yet observe. Death visited him on the 8th of March, at the age of eighty-seven. His body was buried in the cathedral church of Thé rouanne, w Thérouanne Episcopal see of Saint Folquin. hich he had raised from its ruins; two hundred and thirty-six years after his death, his relics were solemnly transferred by the blessed John, Bishop of Thérouanne, and deposited near the altar of the Mother of God. The city of Thérouanne having been ruined from top to bottom, the same relics were carried, along with those of Saint Maximus, to Yp Ypres Final resting place of the saint's relics. res, where they are religiously preserved.
Cult and relics
His relics were transferred several times due to the destruction of Thérouanne, eventually being kept in Ypres alongside those of Saint Maximus.
Proper of Arras.
Annexes & related entities
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