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- Saint Leudwinus, Count of Treves was born about 660 and died on September 29, 722. He founded an abbey in Mettlach. He was Archbishop of Treves and Laon. His feast day is September 29. He is the patron saint of Mettlach parish and his relics are carried by procession at the annual Pentacost celebration through the town.
He is the son of Saint Warinus, the paternal grandson of Saint Sigrada and his uncle was Saint Leodegarius.
Leudwinus was initially uninterested in an ecclesiastical career. Instead he married Willigard von Bayern, a descendant of Charibert I, the Merovingian King of Paris. They had issue:
Milo, Count of Treves
Gui Wido, Count of Hornbach
Chrotrude of Treves (Rotrude), who married Charles Martel and became Duchess of Austrasia.
According to legend, it all began when Leudwinus went hunting near Saar. He grew tired and and fell asleep under the shade of a tree. As he slept the sun changed positions exposing him to its scorching hot rays. An eagle swept down and sat on Leudwinus with its wings spread out. When Leudwinus awoke, his servant told him how the eagle had protected him from being burned by the sun. Coincidentally, Leudwinus happened to be napping at the site of the Miracle Eagle near the chapel of St. Denis of Paris. Leudwinus saw this as a God-sent sign to establish a Benedictine monastery at that site. Dionysius the Chapel soon developed into a Christian missionary center. In its place now stands the parish church of St. Gangolf in Mettlach.
Leudwinus died September 29, 722 at Reims. He was succeeded as Archbishop of Treve by his son, Milo, who brought his father's remains to Treve to be buried. However local customs prevented this and Leudwinus' family decided to let the dead saint choose his own place of burial. His coffin was placed alone on a ship that was sailed by itself, first to Moselle, then Saar and finally docked at Mettlach where the church bells began to ring.
In 1247, Leudwinus' relics were transferred to the newly constructed Leudwinus Chapel (Liutwinuskapelle). About 200 years later, his remains were reburied again in a new chapel connected to the Church at the Abbey. During the French Revolution, the monastery was purchased by the Boch family. They had the building demolished and built Liutwinus Cathedral in Mettlach, where the relics of the saint are located today.
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660 - 722 (62 years)
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