Wulphy of Abbeville

Saint Wulphy of Abbeville (also called Wulflagius) was a priest and hermit in Ponthieu in northern France, and he reposed around the year 643. He was born at Rue in the Somme, toward the end of the sixth century.

He was a cleric under the guidance of Saint Riquier of Centula and was ordained priest by Berchond, bishop of Amiens, though he was married and had three daughters, after he had vowed to live in chastity. He was the first priest of Rue and, according to tradition, founded a church there dedicated to the Holy Spirit. Having taken up family life again, he recognised his fault and went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land to do penance; on the way home he passed through Rome, where he received absolution from the pope.

Returning to Rue, he withdrew to a hermitage in the wood of Chelle, near Regnière-⁠Écluse, and there he reposed, after receiving the visit of Riquier, Saint Valery of Leuconay and Saint Judoc (Josse) and working miracles. He was buried for two years near his hermitage, and then his body was moved to the abbey of Forest-⁠Montiers, near Rue.

In the ninth century his relics were carried to the abbey of Saint-⁠Saulve at Montreuil, on the pretext of keeping them safe from the Viking raids. In 1635 a division of them between Montreuil, Rue and Amiens Cathedral ended in rioting, and the relics that remained at Montreuil are still there. The church of Rue bears his name and has a painting of the saint preaching to his parishioners. He is commemorated on 7 June as a saint of the West before the Great Schism (a saint of the undivided Church), by the New Calendar.