Died c. 1005. Saint Fingen, a celebrated Irish abbot, migrated to the
kingdom of Lothaire, where he acquired a reputation for restoring old
monasteries. One of them, Saint Symphorien's, was given over to him
about 991 by
Bishop Saint Adalbero (f.d. December 15)
and an Irish
community. At the insistence of the
dowager Empress Saint Adelaide (f.d. December 16),
Pope John XVII issued a charter that declared that only Irish monks
would administer the abbey as long as they could be found. She obtained
a similar charter from Otto III in 992.
Fingen's final work, with the help of seven of his Irish monks, was the
restoration of Saint-Vannes in Verdun. By 1001, Saint-Vannes was
attracting distinguished applicants, such as
Blessed Frederick of Arras (f.d. January 6),
count of Verdun, and his friend
Blessed Richard (f.d. June 14),
dean of the diocese of Rheims, who later became abbot of
Saint-Vannes. Fingen's relics can be found in Saint-Clement's Church in
Metz, where the necrology highly praises him
(
D'Arcy,
Fitzpatrick2,
Gougaud,
Kenney,
Montague,
O'Hanlon,
Tommasini).