Notre-Dame Cathedral, St. Omer

Whilst I was in Saint-Omer last year I visited the cathedral. The Cathedral is over 800 years old and a good example of Gothic architecture from the middle ages. Sadly there is no picture of this from me because it was covered with scaffolding. Just the excuse I need to go back :-)

Within the Cathedral lies the tomb of Saint Erkembode which is covered with shoes:

Saint Erkembode, who lived in the late 7th and early 8th centuries, was an Irish monk who travelled with several companions to Sithin, now Saint-Omer in northern France where he lived in the monastery. He was a disciple of saint Bertin (+709), himself a disciple of saint Columbanus of Luxeuil, the Celtic abbey in the French Vosges mountains. Later he was elected by the people as bishop of Thérouanne, while remaining abbot of his abbey. That abbey of Sithiu became part of the Order of Saint Benedict after the Carolingian reforms of Benedict of Aniane.

Meaning roughly "recognised envoy" (much like the word "apostle"), the name Erkembode comes from old germanic languages, as the region was, till 15th century, part of Flanders, Belgium. The region is now called French Flanders. The name of the See of Erkembode, Thérouanne, was already quoted as the capital of the Morini by Julius Caesar in his Gallic Wars book.

After 26 years of episcopacy, in a diocese that extended far into the mainland, Erkembode died in 734 and was buried in Saint-Omer Cathedral, where his tomb remains.

His shrine is still being visited by parents with crippled children and depressive people. To aid the recovery of their children, parents leave tiny pairs of shoes on the saint's tomb, which are periodically cleared away by roman-catholic cathedral authorities. Pilgrims come from everywhere. His liturgical feast is on April 12/27.