Saint Laud of Coutances (variants: Lauto, Laudo, Launus, popularly: Saint Lô)[1] was the fifth bishop of Coutances and is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches.


Laud of Coutances
Statue of the saint
Bishop
Born6th century
Courcy, Manche, France
Venerated inRoman Catholic church
Eastern Orthodox church
CanonizedPre-Congregation
FeastSeptember 22

He was born in Courcy, near Coutances, in the 6th century AD and became bishop of Coutances around 525. The town of Briovere, associated with the saint, took his name and is now Saint-Lô in Normandy. He met with a conclave of bishops at Angers in 529 or 530.

As a healing saint, he is invoked for maladies of the eyes and especially blindness. The reputed healing spring at Courcy dedicated to him is a site of pilgrimage.

He is commemorated September 21 in the French Martyrology, and September 22 in the Roman Martyrology.[1]

St. Laud's Church in Sherington and St Laudus (Laud) in the civil parish of Mabe in Cornwall are the only churches in England known to be dedicated to Saint Laud.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b Smith, Sir William; Wace, Henry (1882). A Dictionary of Christian Biography, Literature, Sects and Doctrines, Being a Continuation of "The Dictionary of the Bible": Hermogenes, Myensis. Vol. 3 (Digitized Sep 4, 2008 ed.). J. Murray. p. 627.
  2. ^ "St Laud’s Church", Sherington Historical Society