Ivo of Kermartin

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Saint Ivo of Kermartin

Lawyer
Born	17 October 1253 at Kermartin near Treguier, Brittany
Died	19 May 1303 at Louannec, Brittany
Canonized	June 1347 by Pope Clement VI
Feast	May 19
Attributes	Depicted as a lawyer
Patronage	Brittany, lawyers, orphans.

St. Ivo of Kermartin (17 October 1253 at Kermartin, near Tréguier, Brittany, France - 19 May 1303 at Louannec, Brittany), also known as Yves/Yvo/Ives of Kermartin, Ivo of Helory or Advocate of the Poor is a saint and patron of lawyers. Saint Ives is also the patron saint of Brittany. His feast day is on May 19.

He was the son of Helori, lord of Kermartin, and Azo du Kenquis. In 1267 Ivo was sent to the University of Paris, where he graduated in civil law. He went to Orléans in 1277 to study Canon law. On his return to Brittany having received minor orders he was appointed "official", or ecclesiastical judge, of the archdeanery of Rennes (1280); meanwhile he studied Scripture, and there are strong reasons for believing that he joined the Franciscan Tertiaries sometime later at Guingamp. He was soon invited by the Bishop of Tréguier to become his "official", and accepted the offer in 1284. He displayed great zeal and rectitude in the discharge of his duty and did not hesitate to resist the unjust taxation of the king, which he considered an encroachment on the rights of the Church; by his charity he gained the title of advocate and patron of the poor. Having been ordained he was appointed to the parish of Tredrez in 1285 and eight years later to Louannec, where he died of natural causes.

[edit] Canonization and patronage

He was buried in Tréguier, and was canonized in June 1347 by Clement VI, his feast being kept on 19 May. He is the patron saint of lawyers. On his tomb was supposedly inscribed in Latin: Sanctus Ivo erat Brito,/ Advocatus et non latro,/ Res miranda populo. Roughly translated, this means: "St Ives was from the Breton land/ A lawyer, and an honest man;/ God works miracles now and then." Literally translated, it is a quip that refers to the fact that both lawyers and Bretons have a reputation for thievery. The church of Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza in Rome is dedicated to him.