Saint Gaugeric

The reputation of his knowledge and holiness drew the attention of all the surrounding Churches: thus, upon the death of Saint Vaast, Bishop of Cambrai a nd Arra Cambrai Principal episcopal see of Saint Aubert. s, some notable inhabitants went to Childebert II and begged him to give them Childebert II King of Austrasia, spiritual son and protector of the church of Verdun. Géry as their pastor. The sorrow of the pious Magnéric was great at this news; they were taking from him the one he hoped would one day succeed him. Nevertheless, he yielded to the royal request, which he regarded as the expression of the will of heaven, and his beloved disciple had to go to Reims, to Gilles, metropolitan of the province, to be ordained priest and receive the episcopal unction. The new prelate hastened, immediately afterward, to go into the midst of his flock.

Upon his entry into the city of Cambrai, at the moment when the bishop was crossing the streets leading to the church amidst the crowd, cries of pain and supplication rang in his ears. Saint Géry stopped immediately, and asking the cause of these lamentations, he learned that they came from the public houses, where twelve criminals, condemned to death, were begging him to have pity on their fate and to obtain their pardon. The bishop immediately turning toward Wa do or Gaud, Wado ou Gaud Governor of Cambrai at the time of Gaugericus's arrival. governor of the city, who was walking at his side, asked him to grant mercy to these prisoners and to entrust them to his pastoral charity. Wado refused; then the bishop, full of confidence in God, begged him to grant him what the justice of men refused him. A few moments later, at the moment when Saint Géry entered the church, the prisoners, restored to liberty by an effect of divine power, ran there in the presence of all the people. Such was, among the many bishops who then made the glory of the Church of the Franks, the worthy and pious figure of Saint Géry; but there is in his life a particular character, which distinguishes him among all: "It is that never in his presence or to his knowledge could prison and chains hold the unfortunate." This miracle is particular to him along with many other holy bishops.

It was above all from the sacred pulpit that he loved to make himself heard by his flock, placing himself, so to speak, within reach of all minds and elevating the simplicity of his discourse with a gentle gravity and a benevolent expression. "Now," continues the author of his acts, "Saint Géry spoke willingly of the love of God and neighbor, of the observance of the Lord's commandments, of frequent prayer, and of the rules of a holy life. He explained the ceremonies used in the celebration of the sacred mysteries and the sacraments. He also spoke to his listeners about the importance of religion, justice, peace, long-suffering, the forgiveness of enemies and the relief of the poor, the care with which one must maintain Christian virtues in one's soul, the meditation on the last things, and the desire for heavenly and eternal goods." It was through his instructions and the benign influence of his examples that Saint Géry brought about numerous conversions in the midst of his people. "Violent men became gentle, the proud practiced humility, the voluptuous practiced continence, the irascible practiced fraternal charity, the greedy learned charity, and the intemperate put an end to their excesses," and thus souls were gradually formed in the sweet virtues of Christianity.

From the first years of his stay in Cambrai, Saint Géry had noticed on the hill overlooking the city to the East one of those dense woods in which the pagans were accustomed to go to worship their idols. Local traditions and still-existing debris attested to this former purpose of a place that had become like a den of thieves. It was called Bublemont or the Mont-des-Bœufs (Mount of the Oxen). It was there that the venerable bishop built a house of prayer and placed a community of religious, to whom he gave his brother Lando as abbot. It is the first monastery to have been erected in the region. Saint Géry dedicated it to Saint Médard and Saint Loup, of whom he always carried some relics on his person, and he chose a place there for his own burial. The rest of his life shows us that he had quite intimate relations with King Clotaire II. It would be di fficult to indi roi Clotaire II King of Neustria and later sole King of the Franks, protector of Columbanus after his exile. cate their origin; but one can assume that the virtues and works of the Bishop of Cambrai had drawn to him the attention of a monarch so favorable to the clergy. Clotaire, therefore, whether he visited Saint Géry while traveling through the provinces, or whether he called him to the palace, loved to hear his exhortations, and following his example, the great men of the court honored him with all their affection. "He, for his part, spoke to them of the contempt of the world, of the fear of judgment, of the glory of the Saints, and of the eternity of the happiness of the just. All his speeches breathed Jesus Christ, and his sentiments were sentiments of peace and piety." One day among others, our blessed one had gone to the royal house of Chelles to take care, says the biographer, of the lives of the miserable. At the moment when he was near the monarch, he learned that two young men, held in prison by the orders of the lord L andri, were, th seigneur Landri Leude or lord at the court of Chelles. e next day, to expiate by their death the crimes they had committed. At this news, he felt his heart softened, and approaching the noble leude with respect, he begged him, for the love of Jesus Christ, to grant grace to these evildoers and to entrust them to him, so that he might lead them back to the right path they had had the misfortune to leave. Landri remaining deaf to these prayers, the holy bishop called the disciples who accompanied him and went with them to recite prayers, all night long, in a nearby church. In the morning, the miraculously delivered prisoners ran to the church to thank God and his worthy minister, promising him that they were going to purify their conscience and lead a new life. A few moments later, Landri himself entered the church to say his prayer, and, struck by what he had before his eyes, he ratified by a word of pardon the deliverance of the two condemned men.

This event, which had great repercussions at court, inspired King Clotaire II with even greater benevolence for the holy bishop of Cambrai; so much so that, according to the historians of the time, he appointed him one of the special distributors of his alms. On this occasion especially, considerable gifts were granted to him, so that he could satisfy his desire to relieve the poor. Thus, we see him, during the pilgrimage he made to the tomb of Saint Martin upon leaving saint Martin Spiritual model for Aquilin. the royal residence, spreading largesse everywhere along his path. At the moment when, surrounded by the crowd of people, he approached the city of Tours, a beggar, blind for thirty years and led by another poor man, came to throw himself at his knees, imploring him to restore his sight. At this sight, Saint Géry was moved with compassion, and placing his trust in the Lord, he made the sign of the cross over the blind man, pronouncing in a loud voice this prayer: "O almighty Jesus Christ, light of the world, you who once deigned to open the eyes of a man born blind, heal also this man, your servant, of his infirmity, and restore to him, in your goodness, the light he desires, so that by seeing this healing, Christians may give you glory through their gratitude." Scarcely were these words finished when the blind man, shouting for joy, blessed God for having restored his sight through the power of His servant. This miracle was promptly known in the city of Tours, where the religious of the monastery, charged with the guardianship of the body of Saint Martin, received the wonder-worker with all kinds of testimonies of respect. When he had satisfied his piety and distributed abundant alms to the poor, he traveled to the land of the ancient Petrocorians (Périgueux), where the church of Cambrai possessed property; then, after having settled the affairs that concerned his dear flock, he visited the tomb of Saint Front or Fronton, apostle of the region, paid him his respects, and returned full of joy to his episcopal city.

The numerous journeys that Saint Géry had to make during his long episcopate had already made his name popular in his two vast dioceses; and the traditions preserved by the city of Brussels i n particu Bruxelles City near the monastery where the court of the Count of Brabant resided. lar, allow us to glimpse many other facts of the same nature, which took place in the wildest regions of Brabant. "There, in deed," Brabant Region evangelized by Saint Gaugericus. says an author, "extended entire regions still sitting in the shadows of death. The rare inhabitants of these deserts appeared less like men than beasts. At every step, the Christian missionary found the distressing spectacle of the grossest idolatry. Saint Géry was probably the first who dared to venture through this wild country. Neither dangers nor fatigues could deter him. With a staff in his hand, he walked while praying, in woods without paths and without dwellings. Fierce men fled at his approach, and it was only by dint of benefits and miracles that he managed to attract them. He thus arrived at a small island formed by the Senne. The Christian Hercules ended his apostolic journeys there by raising a small chapel that the zeal of the converts soon changed into a church. Such is the humble origin of the city of Brussels, today one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Four centuries later, this island became the capital of the duchy of Lothair, when Charles of France came to shelter his palace in the shadow of the ancient church, and fix his residence on the island of Saint-Géry."

For fear that the multitude of affairs might make him forget what he owed to himself, and that by neglecting the care of his own salvation he might become less fit to procure that of others, he joined to the exercise of his functions a spirit of recollection and prayer. He would withdraw from time to time into some solitude to converse with God and to commend to Him both his own needs and those of the souls that had been entrusted to him. Finally, exhausted by fatigue, he went to enjoy eternal rest on August 11, 619. He was buried in the church he had built under the invocation of Saint Médard. This church having been demolished by Charles-Quint Emperor involved in the wars leading to the destruction of the convent. Charles V, who had a citadel built on the site, the canons who served it withdrew to that of Saint-Vaast, where they deposited the relics of the Saint. Since that time it bore the name of Saint-Géry; but the latter was also torn down during the Revolution. The title of Saint-Géry had to be transferred to that of the former abbey of Saint-Aubert, today one of the two parishes of Cambrai.

He is represented: 1st, healing a leper; this is how he was seen on one of the bas-reliefs of his reliquary; 2nd, with a dragon at his feet; probably because he banished the last vestiges of paganism from his diocese. He is regarded particularly as the apostle of the Brussels region.

Sources: La France Pontificale, by Fisquet; Vies des Saints des diocèses de Cambrai et d'Arras, by Abbé Destombes.