Aaron of Aleth

Saint Aaron of Aleth (in Breton Aihran or Eran) was a hermit, monk and abbot at a monastery on the island of Cézembre near Aleth, opposite Saint-⁠Malo in Brittany. He is believed to have been born in Wales in the sixth century, and some sources say he crossed from Celtic Britain to Armorican Domnonia. He reposed around 552, or a little after.

He lived first alone, near Lamballe and Pleumeur-⁠Gautier, and then settled on an island separated from the settlement of Aleth. He attracted many visitors, among them, it is said, in 544, Malo, who chose him as spiritual father, and Aaron became their abbot. He seems to have died soon afterwards. Malo succeeded him in the spiritual rule of the district that was to be called Saint-⁠Malo and was consecrated first bishop of Aleth. At Saint-⁠Malo, within the walls, a chapel is dedicated to him on the rock of Saint-⁠Aaron, where he is said to have landed. He was buried in his abbey, and his skull and right arm were enshrined and placed in the cathedral of Saint-⁠Vincent at Saint-⁠Malo. The town of Saint-⁠Aaron near Lamballe bears his name. He is commemorated on 21 June at Saint-⁠Malo and on 22 June elsewhere; the Orthodox calendar lists him on 22 June, as a saint of the West before the Great Schism (a saint of the undivided Church), by the New Calendar.