WINWALOE, ST.

Abbot, confessor; Latin: Guengualoeus, in France called Guénolé; b. c. 461; d. March 3, c. 532. Winwaloe's father, Fracan, a British chieftain, migrated with his family to Armorica (Brittany), where Winwaloe was born. When 15 years old, he entered the monastic life under (St.) Budoc, on the island of Lauré (Istevert). With 11 monks, he spent several austere years on the island of Tibidi. He settled, c. 485, at landÉvennec, near Brest. His relics were translated to Montreuil-sur-Mer and elsewhere, in 914 and 926, by monks fleeing from Normans who destroyed the abbey in 914. Rebuilt by the Benedictines, it was again destroyed during the French Revolution, then reopened in 1958 by monks from nearby Kérbénst. Winwaloe is commemorated also in Britain, especially in Cornwall.

Feast: March 3 (deposition); April 28 (translation).

Bibliography: Acta Sanctorum (Paris 1863—) 1:243–259. r. latouche, Mélanges d'histoire de Cornouaille, V ^e–XI ^e siècle (Paris 1911) 47–82, 97–112, Latin life of Winwaloe by 9th-century Abbot of Landévennec, Gourdisten. j. l. baudot and l. chaussin, Vies des saints et des bienheureux selon l'ordre de calendrier avec l'historique des fêtes (Paris 1935–56) 3:52–57. a. zimmermann, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. m. buchberger (Freiburg 1930–38) 10:940–941. a. butler, The Lives of the Saints, rev. ed. h. thurston and d. attwater (New York 1956) 1:469–470. p. de la haye, Saint Guénolé de Landévennec (Châteaulin 1973). m. simon, L'abbaye de Landévennec de saint Guénolé à nos jours (Rennes 1985).

[h. e. aikins]