Winnoc

Holy Venerable Winnoc was abbot or prior at Wormhout and a founder in Flanders, who died around 716 or 717. He lived at Bergues, where his relics are venerated. He is a saint of the undivided Church.

He is usually called a Breton, but scholars think he was more probably of Welsh origin, of a noble family linked with the kings of Domnonia; his family had probably fled to Brittany from the Saxons. He may have been raised there, and in Cornwall an oratory at St Winnow is ascribed to him. He came to Flanders with three companions and founded a monastery at Sint-⁠Winoksbergen (Bergues), then went to the monastery of Sithiu, ruled by Saint Bertin, who sent him to found at Wormhout a dependent cell, which became a missionary centre for the region. It is said that in old age, when he was feeble, his prayers made the mill grind grain by itself for his brethren and the poor; a monk who came out of curiosity to see how he did so much work was struck blind, then healed through his intercession. According to a 14th-⁠century tradition, he reposed on 6 November.

His relics, buried at Wormhout, were moved to Bergues in 899. In the early 11th century the Benedictine abbey of Saint Winnoc grew up around his cult; his relics were invoked against drought, and the saint is a patron against fever, whooping cough and of millers. The monastery was burned by Protestants in 1558. The translation of his relics is kept on 18 September.

He is commemorated on 6 November, the liturgical date in the Orthodox calendar (the same day number on the old and new calendars).