Saint Kilian d'Aubigny en Artois

Kilian of Aubigny-en-Artois, known in French as Saint Kilien, was an anchorite monk of Irish origin who settled in Northern France and died on November 13, 669 (or 680, according to some sources) in Aubigny-en-Artois. A close associate of Saint Fiacre, he was sent by Saint Faron, Bishop of Meaux, to follow in the footsteps of Saint Vedast. He arrived in what was then the western third of Austrasia in 645, settled in Aubigny-en-Artois—where he was subsequently buried—and helped continue the evangelization of the surrounding area. His feast day is celebrated on November 13, in memory of his death. The Pas River, a right-bank tributary of the Authie flowing through the south of the Pas-de-Calais about twenty kilometers from Aubigny, was renamed the Kilienne (or Quillienne) in his honor, as it commemorates the miracle of its origin: it is said that Kilian struck the ground with his crozier, causing the water to spring from the mountain to satisfy the needs of a population reduced to desperation by a long drought. At the source of the Kilienne, located in Warlincourt-lès-Pas, stands a chapel containing a statue of the saint. The church in Aubigny-en-Artois is dedicated to Saint Kilien, as is the Saint-Kilien-en-Aubignois parish to which the place of worship belongs.