Biography
Audomar of Thérouanne
About Audomar of Thérouanne
Audomar, better known as Omer, was a monk of Luxeuil before becoming bishop of Thérouanne in the seventh century. His father Friulph is said to have entered the monastery with him after his mother’s death. As bishop, he drew on the same monastic community for helpers: Momelin, Bertin, and Ebertram joined the work of spreading Christianity in his diocese.
His birthplace remains disputed. One tradition places it near Constance; another identifies the old place-names with Orval near Coutances in Normandy. The cathedral’s historical guide reviews both readings without treating the question as settled. A landowner named Adroald supplied property for the new foundations. Omer entrusted Bertin with Sithiu, an island in the River Aa, and with the church of Sainte-Marie on a nearby hill. The abbey became known as Saint-Bertin. Omer was buried at Sainte-Marie, and the later town of Saint-Omer grew between the two religious centers.
The diocesan account remembers him for helping poor people and ransoming prisoners. It also reports that a charter of 663 records his blindness and the assistance he needed to sign. His loss of sight belongs to the remembered circumstances of his later ministry, not a diagnosis that can be reconstructed today.
Devotion to Omer developed alongside devotion to Bertin. Their communities also competed over relics and prestige. Folcuin’s later chronicle tells of an attempted removal of Omer’s remains and portrays the thwarted transfer and subsequent punishments as the saint’s intervention. These are hagiographic interpretations of institutional rivalry, not independently verified miracles.
Omer was honored as a heavenly patron of the old diocese of Thérouanne. A chapel in today’s cathedral bears his name and houses a reliquary associated with his head. The city still honors him as its patron on September 9; the parish priest’s message links that celebration with the community’s shared history.
Wondering how to weigh the stories and sources? Learn how to read a saint biography.