IVO HÉLORY, ST.

Priest and lawyer; b. Kermartin, near Tréguier, France, Oct. 17, 1253; d. Trédrez, France, May 19, 1303. On completion of his theology and law studies, he became officialis of Rennes in 1280 and of Tréguier in 1284, rector of Trédrez in 1284, and, finally, curé of Louannec c. 1292. He resigned these offices in 1297–98 and retired to his native region, where he led a life of austerity and devoted himself to works of charity. To provide legal aid for the poor he created confraternities that have spread over France, Belgium, and Brazil and also to Rome. Proceedings for his canonization were opened in 1330, and he was canonized in 1347. His cult spread rapidly in Brittany, of which he is the second patron, and although his tomb was destroyed in the French Revolution, it was restored in 1890. He is the patron also of lawyers and of the University of Nantes. Each year on his feast day the famous pilgrimage procession of St. Ivo is held at Tréguier.

Feast: May 19.

Bibliography: Acta Sanctorum May 4:538–614. a. de la borderie, Les Monuments originaux et l'histoire de saint Yves (Saint Brieuc 1885). a. desjardins, St. Yves avocat des pauvres et patron des avocats (Paris 1897). u. chevalier, Répertoire des sources historiques du moyen–âge. Biobibliographie, 2 v. (2d. ed. Paris 1905–07) 1:2291–92. b. pocquet du haut-jussÉ, La Compagnie de St-Yves des Bretons à Rome (Rome 1919). c. de la ronciere, St. Yves (5th ed. Paris 1925). a. masseron, St. Yves (Paris 1952). p. la haye, Saint Yves de Tréguier (Châteaulin 1973). f. semur, Yves de Kermartin: magistrat et avocat du XIII ^e siècle (Bannalec, France 1983). a. rieck, Der Heilige Ivo von Hélory: advocatus pauperum und Patron der Juristen (Frankfurt am Main 1998). a. butler, The Lives of the Saints, ed. h. thurston and d. attwater, 4 v. (New York 1956) 2:351–353. Bibliotheca hagiographica latina antiquae et mediae aetatis, 2 v. (Brussels 1898–1901; suppl. 1911) 4625–37.

[É. brouette]