Thomas of Maurienne

Saint Thomas of Maurienne, also called Thomas of Farfa, was the first abbot of the abbey of Farfa in Italy, which he founded between 680 and about 700, and he died before 720. The sources about his life are much later and interwoven with legends, but his historicity is not in doubt.

According to tradition Thomas came from Maurienne, where he had been a monk, before going to Italy. According to the 12th-⁠century Chronicon Farfense of Gregory of Catino, while on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, he had a vision of the Mother of God. She told him to go to Italy and re-⁠establish an abandoned basilica that had been founded in her name. With a small group of disciples and divine guidance, Thomas found the ruins of a basilica in a deserted region of the Sabina. The reliability of this account is, however, in some doubt because of the frequent use of commonplaces: the vision, the pilgrimage, the desert and "the reoccupation of an earlier Christian site".

His friend and fellow countryman Lucerius followed him to Jerusalem, where they stayed seven years, and then to Farfa. The abbey grew and became one of the most important in Italy. He is honored as a saint of the undivided Church.