(6th century)
St. Budoc (aka Beuzec and Budeaux) was born at sea. In fact, his name could mean “saved from the waters,” if based on the Breton word “beuziñ,” which means “drown.”
Another interpretation comes from the Celtic word, “boudi” for “victory” and “profit.” In any case, a legend says that Budoc was grandson of the King Even of Brest. His mother, Princess Azenor of Brest, had been falsely accused of infidelity by her jealous stepmother, who had thrown the pregnant Azenor into the sea in a cask. (A tower of the Château de Brest is named for her.) Azenor invoked the help of St. Brigid. The cask drifted for five months. Shortly after Azenor’s baby was born, the cask washed ashore on the coast of Ireland.
A villager summoned the abbot of Beau Port, near Waterford, and the child was christened the next day. Azenor became the washerwoman of the monastery while raising Budoc there. Azenor’s stepmother fell ill, and upon her death bed she recanted the evil lies she had spread. Azenor’s husband sailed in search of Azenor, and arriving in Ireland, the couple was reconciled, but both died before they could return to Brittany.
Budoc would grow up to be the first the abbot of the house and then bishop of Dol, Brittany. Budoc ruled there for twenty-six years. Another tradition claims that Budoc was an Irish hermit who settled in Budoc, near Falmouth, England.
Adapted by A. J. Valentini from: Online, C. (n.d.-b). St. Budoc – Saints & Angels. Catholic Online. Retrieved Dec. 1, 2020, from https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=1852