Saint Ortaire of Landelle
Abbot of Landelle
Saint Ortaire was a 6th-century Norman abbot who entered religious life in childhood and was elected head of the monastery of Landelle at the age of fifty. Known for his extreme asceticism and charity, he fought against the remnants of paganism and died nearly a centenarian. He is particularly honored in the Diocese of Bayeux.
Guided reading
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SAINT ORTAIRE, ABBOT OF LANDELLE (6th century).
Youth and abbatial election
Born of noble birth, Ortaire entered the monastery at twelve years old and became abbot of Landelle at the age of fifty, after initially attempting to flee this responsibility.
Born of noble parents, Saint Ortair saint Ortaire 6th-century abbot known for his asceticism and evangelization of Normandy. e entered a monastery at the age of twelve. His assiduity in prayer, his abstinence, and his other virtues led his brothers to choose him as abbot of the monastery of La ndelle. Landelle Site of the monastery of which Ortaire was abbot. He was raised to this dignity against his will; he had even fled to escape it; but a warning from heaven compelled him to yield to the desire of his brothers. He took over the government of his abbey around the fiftieth year of his age.
A rigorous asceticism
The saint leads a life of extreme deprivation, feeding exclusively on barley bread and water, while practicing manual labor and wearing a hair shirt.
His life was more admirable in holiness than ever before. He avoided the company of women with great care, judging it to be a seed of sin. He kneaded and baked the barley bread himself, which was his only food, eating only an ounce at each meal; he drank nothing but water, and his fasts sometimes extended until the third day. A rough hair shirt always tightened his body under his tunic.
Miracles and the struggle against paganism
Ortaire manifests his charity through miraculous healings and works to extirpate the last remnants of paganism in the countryside of the 6th century.
Along with this, he was filled with charity and compassion for the poor and the sick. He restored health to a young girl whose hand was withered, and to a woman afflicted with leprosy.
There were still, in his time, in the 6th century, remnants of paganism in the countryside; he worked successfully to make them disappear. He died at the age of ninety-eight, and was buried in a chapel dedicated by him to the Mother of God. He is invoked throughout Normandy not only at his tomb, but Normandie French region where the cult of Saint Ortaire is particularly vibrant. also at the altars and chapels raised in his honor.
Death and devotion in Normandy
Having died at ninety-eight years of age, he was buried in a chapel dedicated to the Virgin and became a patron saint invoked throughout Normandy.
Proper of Bayeux Bayeux Birthplace of the saint. . — See, in a Supplement to this volume, a more complete life of the Saint, based on documents that have reached us since the printing of this Notice.
Annexes & related entities
Structured data for exploration: events, miracles, quotes, places, attributes, patronages, and important entities cited in the text.
Key Events
- Entered the monastery at the age of twelve
- Fled to avoid election as abbot
- Elected abbot of Landelle around the age of fifty
- Evangelization of the Norman countryside to eradicate paganism
- Died at the age of ninety-eight
Miracles
- Healing of a young girl with a withered hand
- Healing of a woman suffering from leprosy