St. Ives

ST. IVES (ALSO YVES)

A. A. Macerlean

Born at Kermartin, near Tréguier, Brittany, 17 October, 1253; died at Louannec, 19 May 1303, was the son of Helori, Lord of Kermartin, and Azo du Kenquis. In 1267 Ives was sent to the University of Paris, where he graduated in civil law. He went to Orleans in 1277 to study canon law. On his return to Brittany having received minor orders he was appointed "official", or ecclesiastical judge, of the archdeanery of Rennes (1280); meanwhile he studied Scripture, and there are strong reasons for holding that he joined the Franciscan Tertiaries sometime later at Guingamp. He was soon invited by the Bishop of Treguier to become his "official", and accepted the offer (1284). He displayed great zeal and rectitude in the discharge of his duty and did not hesitate to resist the unjust taxation of the king, which he considered an encroachment on the rights of the Church; by his charity he gained the title of advocate and patron of the poor. Having been ordained he was appointed to the parish of Tredez in 1285 and eight years later to Louannec, where he died. He was buried in Treguier, and was canonized in 1347 by Clement VI, his feast being kept on 19 May. He is the patron of lawers, though not, it is said, their model, for—"Sanctus Ivo erat Brito, Advocatus et non latro, Res miranda populo".

Transcribed by Joseph P. Thomas
Dedicated to Michael Poovathumkal