Feastday: September 9
Birth: 595
Death: 670
Benedictine bishop and miracle worker. Also called Audomarus, he was born in the region surrounding Constance, France, and, upon the death of his parents, he entered the monastery of Luxeuil under St. Eustace. In 637, after twenty years in the community, he was named bishop of Therouanne, and implemented numerous reforms for the diocese including caring for the sick and poor. He was assisted in his work by monks from Luxeuil and founded the monastery of Sithiu, which gained prominence as one of the religious centers of France. It was around Sithiu's monastery that the town of Saint Omer developed.
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Saint Audomar (died c. 670), better known as Saint Omer, was a bishop of Thérouanne, after whom nearby Saint-Omer in northern France was named.
Biography
He was born of a distinguished family of Coutances, then under the Frankish realm of Neustria, towards the close of the 6th or the beginning of the 7th century.
After the death of his mother, he entered with his father the abbey of Luxeuil in the Diocese of Besançon, probably about 615. Under the direction of Eustachius, Omer studied the Scriptures, in which he acquired remarkable proficiency.
When King Dagobert requested the appointment of a bishop for the important city of Terouenne, the capital of the ancient territory of the Morini in Neustria, he was appointed and consecrated in 637.
Though the Morini had received Christianity from Saint Fuscian and Saint Victoricus, and later Antmund and Adelbert, nearly every vestige of Christianity had disappeared. When Saint Audomare entered upon his episcopal duties, the Abbot of Luxeuil sent to his assistance several monks, among whom are mentioned Saint Bertin, Saint Mommolin and Saint Ebertran. Saint Omer had the satisfaction of seeing the Catholic religion firmly established in a short time.
He founded the Abbey of Saint Peter (now the Abbey of Saint Bertin) in Sithiu, soon to rival the old monastery of Luxeuil for the number of learned and zealous men educated there. In 649 he erected the Church of Our Lady of Sithiu, with a small monastery adjoining, which he turned over to the monks of Saint Bertin, on condition that he would be buried at the site and that the church would serve as a burial place for the monks.
The exact date of his death is unknown, but he is believed to have died about the year 670.
Veneration
The place of his burial is uncertain; most probably he was laid to rest in the church of Our Lady, later Saint-Omer Cathedral, where there is a 13th-century cenotaph dedicated to him.
His feast is celebrated on 9 September.
