Saint of the Day – 5 August – St Abel of Rheims (Died c770) Bishop, Confessor, Abbot, Defender and Protector of the rights and property of the Church. Born in the British Isles, most likely in Ireland and died in c770 at Lobbes, Belgium of natural causes. Also known as – Abel of Lobbes.
Abel was the Archbishop of Rheims, for only four years. In the official chronology of the Diocese, he was placed in twenty-eighth place, after Milon of Trier and before Turpin.
Abel was the Shepherd of the Diocese of Rheims from 744 to 748. Of Scottish or Irish origin, he was a Monk at the Abbey of Lobbes , Belgium, in the Diocese of Liège. He was chosen as the Bishop by Pépin the Short, to replace Milon of Trier. The dismissed Bishop, Milon, made Abel’s life impossible, especially since Pepin the Short was very busy waging war and was, therefore, absent and unable to rebuke Milon and protect Bishop Abel from abuse. All of this relates to the constant interference and seizing of Church property of the Lords, very often assisted by the so-called bishops in situ – one of these being Milon.
After four years of constant defence of his See, Abel, who sought only the glory of God in everything, gave way to his anger in accordance with the evangelical precept, renounced his Office and withdrew to the blessed solitude of his old Monastery, there offering his prayers and penances for the defence of the Holy Church of Christ. Later Abel may have been appointed as the Abbot of Lobbes Abbey.
St Abel ended his days with a reputation for holiness between 750 and 770. His body, along with the other holy bodies of this Monastery, was transferred from Lobbes to Binghan in the year 1400to protect the holy Relics from the ravages of war.
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