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Saint Fromond (Fromundus, Frodomundus) of Coutances was a seventh-century bishop of Coutances in Normandy, venerated by the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. Tradition holds that he founded monasteries, including at Saint-Fromond and Le Ham, and shepherded his flock with pastoral love under King Thierry III. He died about 690–691 and was buried in a house he had founded; his liturgical memory is kept on 24 October.
Saint Fromond of Coutances, known in Latin as Fromundus or Frodomundus, is remembered as a bishop of Coutances in the second half of the seventh century. According to tradition he was born at Brévands. About the year 650 he founded a monastery for men at a place that later took his name, Saint-Fromond; he is said to have governed that community before being raised to the episcopal see.
He is traditionally counted bishop of Coutances from 677 until about 690. In 677 he founded the monastery of Le Ham near Montebourg. An altar inscription discovered in the church of Saint-Pierre at Le Ham, dating to about 679–680 in the sixth year of King Thierry III, records that Fromundus, pontiff and rector of Coutances, built and solemnly dedicated the temple and altar in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary at mid-August, and that he surrounded the monastery with solid walls. The same text praises him for exercising his pastoral charge in the love of the Lord: he established a happy sheepfold for his flock, sought to shield them from devouring wolves, and guided them toward the eternal pastures of Christ, united with the choir of virgins and with most holy Mary. The king granted land for the convent; Fromond himself began the building even before becoming bishop and later added further meadows through several gifts.
At his death about 690 or 691 the bishop was buried in the monastery he had founded, which became a place of pilgrimage. Traces of his cult appear from the twelfth century in certain abbeys of the region. He is honored as a saint by the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches; the Roman Martyrology commemorates him on 24 October. Some later catalogues identify him with a Rothmundus listed among the early bishops of Coutances. After the Norman Conquest the monastery of Saint-Fromond was attached to the abbey of Cerisy-la-Forêt.
May Saint Fromond intercede for us, that we may exercise pastoral care and love of neighbor with the same steadfast devotion he showed his flock.
Sources: Wikidata Wikipedia Causes of Saints Also listed Wikidata
General Roman Calendar · Liturgical Calendar API
