Sainte Sève
Feast: 23 July (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Seve, also called Sev, Sewa, Loeve or Loaven, is a half-legendary saint of the sixth century. Very little is known about her, she is not recognised by the Church of Rome, and her day is 23 July.
She is remembered as a daughter of Hoel I, king of Domnonee, and of Saint Koupaia, and a sister of the bishop Saint Tugdual. Albert le Grand of Morlaix wrote in 1637 that Tugdual, travelling through Armorica, founded an abbey for her about the year 530 on the land of the village now called Sainte-Seve near Morlaix; she is patron of the parishes of Sainte-Seve and Langoat, and gave her name to the island of Loaven, where she is buried.
The miracles
There was never a formal cause: she has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.
Why that counted as sanctity
A sixth-century Breton woman for whom her brother is said to have founded an abbey near Morlaix.
Connected on this site
- Saint Pompeia Saint Parent, Mother
- Tudwal Saint Brother or sister
- Wikipedia (French) - Sainte Sève, translated (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Nominis (Conférence des évêques de France), 'Sainte Sève' — 'Sainte Sève, vierge en Bretagne (VIe siècle)' — the French bishops' conference carries her; the Finistère commune of Sainte-Sève is named for her and her feast is 23 July, as in the entry. (French Wikipedia notes she ha
- Wikidata Q3464563 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.