Kilian d'Aubigny en Artois

Who they were

Kilian (Chilianus) was an Irishman said to be related to St Fiacre, whom he visited in Brie on his way back from Rome. When St Aubert asked for missionaries for Artois, St Faro of Meaux persuaded Kilian to leave his solitude for the work. A story tells how a woman refused him a drink and her husband's barrels were found empty until Kilian was found and apologised to.

The same nobleman had a house at Aubigny, and Kilian made it his base, building a church on land given to him near the Scarpe and preaching throughout Artois until he died in the seventh century. Butler notes that his late Latin life contains much that is absurd.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.

Why that counted as sanctity

A seventh-century Irish missionary to Artois, based at Aubigny.