Aubert of Avranches

The Holy Hierarch Aubert (Autbert) was bishop of Avranches, in Normandy, in the eighth century, and is regarded as the founder of Mont Saint-⁠Michel. He lived in the time of the Frankish king Childebert (695-711) and fell asleep between 720 and 725. His feast is on 10 September.

Beginnings

He was born into a noble family of Genetas and received an excellent education. When the see of Avranches fell vacant, Aubert, known for his wisdom and piety, was chosen bishop.

The Archangel Michael and the mountain in the sea

According to tradition, in October 708 Aubert had a vision in which the Holy Archangel Michael commanded him to build a place of prayer on the rocky island at the mouth of the river Couesnon, then known as Mount Tombe. The island rose bare and lonely in the bay where the coasts of Normandy and Brittany meet, barely joined to the mainland, covered with scrub and brambles and inhabited, besides wild animals, only by a few hermits. Aubert paid no heed to the vision, doubting that it was true. The Archangel appeared to him a second time, but the bishop still hesitated, fearing it might be some deception of the evil one. At last, according to the account, the Archangel appeared a third time and, to put an end to his wavering, pressed his finger on his forehead, ordering him to carry out the task. Where he touched him, Aubert was left with a hole in his skull and understood that the commands were true.

It is told that events ordered by God guided him in the work: a circle of dew, on a September morning, showed him the shape of the oratory, and a bull showed him the place. A spring of drinking water was found and a well was dug. On the top of the granite hill lay a huge stone, which, it is said, had been placed there by Satan; for the work to go on, the stone of pagan worship had to be torn out, and the only one who managed it was the child Bain, the twelfth son of one of the workmen, strong in his innocence.

The oratory was dedicated on 16 October 709. Aubert established canons there first, then later Benedictine monks. He is believed to have been buried at the oratory.

His skull, with the hole said to have been made by the Archangel's finger, can still be seen in the treasury of the Saint-⁠Gervais basilica in Avranches, called the head of Saint Aubert. Some scholars consider it an ancient skull showing signs of trepanation.