Saint Adjutor | |
|---|---|
 Statue of St Adjutor at the collegiate church of Vernon, Eure | |
| Born | June 24, 1073 Vernon, France |
| Died | April 30, 1131 Tiron, France |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Feast | April 30 |
| Attributes | throwing his chains into a whirlpool[1] |
| Patronage | swimmers, boaters, drowning victims, Vernon |
Adjutor (died April 30, 1131) is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church. He is credited to be the patron saint of swimmers, boaters, and drowning victims,[2] and the patron saint of Vernon, France. Adjutor was born in Vernon, France, on July 24, 1073, where he was made a knight in the First Crusade. The stories given for his patronage of boaters vary, though one common account was that Adjutor was captured by Muslims during the First Crusade, who tried to force him to abandon his faith, and when refusing, he escaped persecution by swimming.[2] He swam back to France and entered the Abbey of Trion. There he became a recluse until his death on April 30.
Additional legends state that it was angels who freed Adjutor from his captors, and his association with the seas came when he calmed a whirlpool by throwing Holy water and the chains of his captivity into it, and signing the cross.[3] In his later life he became a hermit.
- ^ Husenbeth, Frederick Charles. Emblems of Saints: By which They are Distinguished in Works of Art, Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 1860, p. 2
- ^ a b "Patron Saints Index:Saint Adjutor". Patron Saints Index. Catholic Community Forum. Archived from the original on 17 June 2006. Retrieved June 25, 2006.
- ^ "Vernon : Saint-Adjutor's Miracles". GiverNet. August 25, 2001. Archived from the original on 23 June 2006. Retrieved June 25, 2006.