Saint Landelin

He ended up listening to their perfidious advice; he showed himself rebellious to the bishop's exhortations, and even left him, and soon threw himself into all the wanderings of a guilty life, even putting himself at the head of a band of thieves. The good Father was already mourning his disciple as dead.

After a fairly long interval of time, the horrible and unexpected death of one of his companions struck Landelin with such great terror that, abandoning everything else, he came to throw himself at the feet of the bishop to implore the remedy of penance.

His master received him with a great outpouring of joy and tenderness; for some time he had him follow the exercises of the clergy while allowing him to keep his secular habit. Landelin renounced the world for good this time: his virtues progressed from day to day; he entered into holy orders, made the journ ey t Rome Birthplace of Maximian. o Rome three times to venerate the tomb of the holy Apostles, and everywhere he edified strangers by his piety and charity, just as he had edified his brothers by his obedience, his humility, and his gentleness.

When he was a priest, he asked for and obtained from Saint Aubert the permission to retire into solitude to weep there for the disorders of his past life. He chose for the place of his retreat the desert of Laubac, where he practiced works of penance. A great number of disciples having come to place themselves under his direction, he founded the mon monastère de Lobbes Monastery where Ermin was a monk and later abbot. astery of Lobbes, on the Sambre. He soon built two others, that of A Aune Monastery founded by Landelin. une or Aine, and that of Wallers. He endowed these monasteries with the goods he held from the liberality of the kings of France.

Once these monasteries were founded, judging himself unworthy to govern them, he entrusted them to the direction of Ursmar and Bodon, whom he had raised to the episcopal dignity. Then, wishing to give himself more completely to God in prayer and bodily maceration, he withdrew, accompanied by Saint Adelin and Saint Domitian, into a thick forest between Mons and Valenciennes. The three solitaries lived there in cells made of tree branches.

Their fame attracted disciples to them; they built a chapel which was the mustard seed from which the Abbey of Cresp in rose, on the H abbaye de Crespin The final foundation of Landelin, where he was buried. on River, not far from the Scheldt and the town of Cendé. Believing then that, in order to accomplish great good, it would be beneficial to separate Adelin and Domitian, he sent them to different places to work for the glory of God and the sanctification of souls. The former settled near the Hon River, the latter on the Haine. As for him, he remained at the monastery of Crespin, of which he took the government, and prepared himself for death through the meditation of divine things.

Saint Landelin Saint Landelin Founder of the monastery of Walers. , indeed, was not far from the end of his long penance. Suddenly attacked by a violent fever, he summoned his religious and, bidding them farewell, he declared to them that it was for the last time that they saw him on earth.

At these words, all burst into tears, but Landelin reassured them: "Do not be saddened by my death, my children," he told them, "Jesus Christ, your first father, will always be with you, and the enemy of your souls will not be able to harm you."

He then had himself laid upon ashes and peacefully surrendered his soul to God. It was June 15, 686.

His body was buried in the very monastery of Crespin.

Proper of Arras; — Cf. Destombes: Lives of the Saints of the dioceses of Cambrai and Arras; Van Drival: Hagiology of the diocese of Arras.