Aubert of Avranches, St.
AUBERT OF AVRANCHES, ST.
Bishop; d. Avranches, 725. According to the accounts of the foundation of Mont-Saint-Michel, Aubert (or Autbert), Bishop of Avranches (704?–725), had retreated to Mont Tombe to pray. Having fallen asleep, he was told three times in a dream to build a church on the site and dedicate it to St. Michael the Archangel. The records report that the church was so dedicated on October 16, 709. Aubert is supposed also to be the founder of the pilgrimage to the famous spot, henceforth called Mont-Saint-Michel. The chapter of canons was later replaced by Benedictines; Aubert's body was translated to the abbey June 18, c. 1009. Since the French Revolution, the only relic extant is in Saint-Gervais in Avranches. A fifteenth-century vita of St. Aubert is of little value.
Feast: Sept. 10.
Bibliography: Acta Sanctorum Sept. 8:76–78. Bibliotheca hagiograpica latina antiquae et mediae aetatis (Brussels 1898–1901) 1:858–860; 2:5951. e. dupont, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, ed. a. baudrillart et al. (Paris 1912) 5:222. r. aigrain, Catholicisme 1:1009–10. a. butler, The Lives of the Saints, ed. h. thurston and d. attwater (New York 1956) 3:533.
[g. j. donnelly]