Litany of Saints
Picture: Odbert · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Bertin

abbot and saint

SaintResearchedBenedictinesPre-congregation

Feast: 5 September (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)

Born
615
verified
Died
709
verified
Beatified
not needed: before formal processes
Canonised
By tradition
recognised before formal processes began

Who they were

Bertin, born near Constance about 615, became a monk at Luxeuil under the Rule of St Columban. About 638 he went with two brother monks to help his kinsman St Omer preach to the Morini, in the marshes of what is now Pas-de-Calais.

From a small house on a hillock they went out daily to preach; converts joined them, and they built a larger monastery at Sithiu, later named after him. He spent his last years preparing for a happy death, and died about 709. He was venerated as a saint soon after.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.

Why that counted as sanctity

A missionary monk who brought the Gospel to a people of the marshes.

Sources

Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.

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