Saint Gunthiern

It was in this dreadful solitude that Gunthiern came to hide his rank and his virtues, after having slipped away from his courtiers and servants. He remained there for several years, known only to the fishermen of that coast. But at last, heaven manifested him through so many wonders that the two lords who owned the place, named Chemen and Heboen, paid him every kind of respect and made him known to Count G rallon, upon comte Grallon Prince of Cornouaille and protector of Saint Corentin. whom the island depended. The latter sent to ask Saint Gunthiern to come and see him. The Saint obeyed, and Grallon remained so edified by his conversation and his humility that he wished to remove him from his rock, and gave him a portion of land in a place named Anaurot, situated at the confluence of the two rivers Isol and Ellé, at the eastern extremity of the land of his dominion, which is the very place wh ere the t Quimperlé Place of foundation and center of the saint's cult. own of Kimperlé or Quimperlé was built.

The Count of the land of Van nes, Guérec Guérech Ier Count of Vannes who sought the saint's aid against famine. h I, seeing his vassals threatened with famine because the worms, which were eating the wheat in the blade, were entirely ruining the hope of the harvest, judged that there was no better way to stop this calamity than to have recourse to the prayers of Gunthiern. Persuaded of their efficacy, he sent to him three of the principal inhabitants of Vannes, Guedgual, Catuoth, and Cadur, to beseech him to have pity on the whole country. The Saint, sensitive to the miseries of the people, sent holy water and ordered that a few drops be sprinkled over the countryside; which had no sooner been done than all the worms that were ravaging it died, as if this water had become a poison to them. The Count, in gratitude, gave to Saint Gunthiern a land situated on the Blavet river, named Vegnac, and si nce Ke Vegnac Land donated by Guérech I and initial burial site. rvegnac or Chervegnac, which subsequently passed into secular hands.

Saint Gunthiern died at the beginning of the 6th century, and was buried at Chervegnac, where he had retired. During the incursions of the N incursions des Normands Historical event that caused the partial relocation of relics. ormans, his body was transported and hidden on the island of Groix; it was discovered there in the 12th century.

## CULT AND RELICS. His memory has always been preserved in the Ab bey of Sainte-Croix de Quimperlé (S abbaye de Sainte-Croix de Quimperlé Monastery preserving the memory of the saint. ancta Crux Trecorensis, of the O rder of Saint Augustine Ordre de Saint-Augustin Religious order occupying the priory during the Middle Ages. , in the former diocese of Tréguier, current diocese of Saint-Brieuc, Côtes-du-Nord), of which he was believed to be the founder, on the island of Groix, and in other places. In 1080, a chapel in honor of Saint Gunthiern was built within the monastery enclosure of Quimperlé, which was blessed in 1099 and rebuilt on its ruins in 1407 by F. Pierre de Kaer, chamberlain. Only marbles remained of it in 1678, and it was completely destroyed to lay out the plan for the abbatial palace. The head of the Saint was carried to the underground chapel of Saint-Gurinès and placed on the epistle side. The church of the priory of Doüelan, located on an inlet two leagues from Quimperlé, was dedicated to Saint Gunthiern. There was also a chapel under the same name at one of the points of the island of Groix, where the oratory of Saint Gunthiern once stood, and this place still bears the name of Loc-Guthiern. An assembly was held there every year on the day of the Saint's feast, which was of double solemnity, and which, falling on June 29, the day consecrated to the memory of the apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul, was transferred to July 3. A 14th-century act from the Abbey of Quimperlé mentions the cemetery of Saint-Guthiern, and another act from the year 1253 speaks of the port of Saint-Guthiern.

To complete this biography, we have made use of the Lives of the Saints of Brittany, by Dom Lubineau Dom Lubineau Hagiographer and historian of Brittany, author of the source. .