Saint Magloire

Magloire, better known as Saint Magloire of Dol, is a Breton saint. Little reliable information is known of Magloire as the earliest written sources appeared three centuries after his death. These sources claim that he was a monk from Wales who became the Bishop of Dol-de-Bretagne in Brittany during the 6th century, and ended his life on the island of Sark, where he was abbot of a monastery. Although unlikely to contain any reliable biographic information concerning Magloire, the Vita Sancti Maglorii presents a narrative of his life. According to the text, Magloire was born in the early 6th century to Afrelia and Umbrafel, the aunt and uncle of Samson of Dol. As a child, he studied at Cor Tewdws under the tutelage of St. Illtud. After his ordination, he was made abbot of a Lanmeurian monastery where he governed for 52 years. Afterwards, he journeyed to Brittany with his cousin Samson, who became the archbishop of Dol. After Samson's death, Magloire succeeded him as his chosen successor to the archbishopric, although, having received instructions from a visiting angel, he soon resigned his post to Budoc and withdrew to the island of Sark, where he established a community of 62 monks. According to Butler's dating, he died around 575, but since the hagiography gives no dates, such statements are highly approximate. The Vita Sancti Maglorii attributes several miracles to St. Magloire, and claims that he acquired large swaths of land as a result of these miracles. It argues that Count Loisescon, whose illness was miraculously cured by Magloire, gave him a sixth of all his wealth. It also argues that Nivo, the owner of Guernsey, asked for Magloire's help to cure his daughter who was deaf and intellectually disabled. Magloire was supposedly granted a third of Guernsey for doing so. One of the most well-known and detailed stories about Magloire concerns his rescue of a group of children.