Wulmar, St.
WULMAR, ST.
Also known as Vulmar; hermit and abbot; b. near Boulogne (Pas-de-Calais), France; d. July 20, c. 710. When his marriage was annulled in its first years because of his wife's earlier betrothal to a noble Frank, he became a monk at Hautmont, where he received his education. When ordained, he obtained permission to retire to a hermitage in his native Picardy. He abandoned this life to found two monasteries: one for women at Wière-au-Bois, the other for men at Silvacius (later known as Saint-Vulmer, or-Samer), where he was abbot until his death. He was buried there. His relics were translated to Boulogne, then Ghent. His Vita 1 a dates from the middle of the 9th century and is of historical value. His Vita 2 a, written during the 12th century, is only an amplification of the first.
Feast: July 20; June 17 (translation).
Bibliography: Acta Sanctorum (Paris 1863—) 5:84–89. Analecta Bollandiana 3 (Brussels 1884) 450–454; 17 (1898) 250–251. f. a. lefebvre, Saint Vulmer (Boulogne-sur-Mer 1894). l. van der essen, Étude critique … des saints mérovingiens (Louvain 1907) 412–414. a. m. zimmermann, Kalendarium Benedictinum: Die Heiligen und Seligen des Benediktinerorderns und seiner Zweige (Metten 1933–38) 2:478–480. j. l. baudot, Vies des saints et des bienheureux selon l'ordre du calendrier avec l'historique des fêtes, ed. by the Benedictines of Paris (Paris 1935–56) 7:501–502.
[É. brouette]