Saint Salaun of Leseven

Also known as

  • Salomon

Memorial

Profile

A poor man who lived as a beggar in a forest clearing outside Leseven, Brittany, France. He greeted everyone with the expression “Ave Maria!”, and was known to sing Marian hymns in the woods all day. For many years he was considered the village idiot – until people realized that his simplicity, poverty and unworldliness was due to his concentration on his own spiritual development.

Died

  • 1358 of natural causes
  • legend says that when the people found his body, there was a white lily with the words “Ave Maria” in gold lettering on the petals growing from his mouth
  • the people buried him in the forest clearing where he had lived
  • the Basilica of Notre-Dame du Folgoët was built over his grave, and the spring of water he lived beside was channeled through the church
Additional Information

MLA Citation

  • “Saint Salaun of Leseven“. CatholicSaints.Info. 6 September 2020. Web. 29 April 2024. <>