WANDRILLE (WANDREGISILUS), ST.

Benedictine, founder of the Abbey of fontenelle; b. near Verdun, France, c. 600; d. Abbey of Fontenelle, July 22, 663. Wandrille came of a noble Frankish family, possibly related to Merovingian royalty, and served at the court of Dagobert I (d. 639) as comes palatii. By parental arrangement he married a young noblewoman, from whom, however, he separated by mutual agreement; he then entered the monastery of Montfauçon near Verdun. After a period of ascetical observance in this house, he moved on to live as a hermit. His restless spirit led him to bobbio, where the Celtic monastic practices of the rule of St. columban seemed to satisfy his need for the penitential life. Still unfulfilled, he went to live at the Abbey of romainmÔtier, and finally moved to rouen. There Bishop ouen ordained him a subdeacon, later promoting him to the diaconate, and enlisted him in pastoral activity. Ordained a priest by St. omer, he then founded Fontenelle (also known as Saint-Wandrille), March 1, 649. As its first abbot he also established a thriving monastic school; he continued to direct the abbey until his death.

Feast: July 22; March 3 (translation).

Bibliography: Vita Wandregisili, Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum (Berlin 1826—) 5:13–24. Acta Sanctorum (Paris 1863—) 5:253–302. Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Scriptores (Berlin 1826—) 30.2:814–820. e. vacandard, Vie de saint Ouen (Paris 1902). a. m. zimmerman, Kalendarium Benedictinum: Die Heiligen und Seligen des Benediktinerorderns und seiner Zweige (Metten 1933–38) 2:486–488. j. laporte, Histoire de St-Wandrille (St-Wandrille 1936). l. david, L'Abbaye St-Wandrille de Fontenelle (Saint-Wandrille 1957).

[o. j. blum]