Bernard of Thiron

Saint Adelelmus
Statue of St. Adelelmus in the Monastery of Etival-en-Charnie
Born	Flanders, Belgium
Died	1152
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church
Feast	27 April

Bernard of Thiron, also known as Bernard of Ponthieu and Bernard of Abbeville, was the founder of the Tiron Abbey and the Tironensian Order.

Born near Abbeville in 1046. At the age of 19 he was accepted at the monastery of Saint-Cyprien, near Poitiers. He remained there ten years, before being transferred to Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe to fill the position of prior. When the abbot was convicted of simony in 1082, Bernard assumed the responsibilities of superior. Bernard left Saint-Savin in 1101 when his nomination as new abbot was disapproved by Cluny and Pope Paschal II.

Bernard went first to the hermit Peter of l’Etoile, before travelling to Vital of Savigny’s earlier hermit community at Dompierre near Passais, where following the example of the Desert Fathers, he lived detached from the world, in great poverty and strict penance. As a hermit, he supported himself by woodworking. He then went to Saint-Médard, in the region of Saint-Mars-sur-la-Futaie. He lived as a hermit there for a short period of time before being discovered by fellow monks from Saint-Savin. Unwilling to return to his previous post, Bernard fled to the island of Chausey, between Jersey and Saint-Malo, where he braved harsh conditions and lived in a cave, before finally listening to his former companions, Bernard returned to the mainland, settling in Fontaine-Géhard near Châtillon-sur-Colmont.

There he gained many followers to his hermit way of life, including Adelelmus of Flanders. The community grew into a centre for hermits, with many building cells around his. Bernard fame grew eventually gaining the attention of the Saint Cyprien Monastery. Abbott Renault then called for Bernard to return to the monastery bringing with him his new followers. Bernard returned and resumed the habit as well as being appointed Renault's successor.